China contributes nearly 350 billion kilograms of fruit annually, a third of global production. Traditionally, fruits in China are categorized by geographic regions into northern and southern varieties. Recently, southern fruits have been increasingly cultivated in the country's north.
In Yaomo village, Yuanzhou district, Guyuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, greenhouses facilitate the production of southern fruits. Liu Huiping, head of a family farm in Fangcheng subdistrict, Fangzi district, Weifang city, Shandong Province, stated, "We began growing southern fruits here around 2012, and after more than a decade of experimentation, over 30 tropical fruit varieties have now made their home here." This farm allocates about 150 mu (10 hectares) for these fruits. Harvests of grapefruits, dekopon oranges, blood oranges, and king white mulberries occur from January to March, followed by waxberries and jaboticaba from April to June. Later months see the harvest of dragon fruit, wax apples, and guavas.
In Beijing, a staff member at the municipal agricultural technology promotion station noted the expansion of facility-based cultivation of southern fruit varieties, grown on about 1,150 mu of land. Agricultural experts tie this trend to consumer demand, driving southern fruit cultivation northwards. Southern fruits now cover over 10,000 mu in northern China, including regions like Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Hebei, and Xinjiang.
Technological advancements in agriculture support this shift. Liu has developed more than 20 greenhouses, allowing for the monitoring and automatic adjustment of soil and environmental conditions. Such technologies support large-scale tropical fruit cultivation across regions. The modern facility planting area in China exceeds 40 million mu, supporting further expansion.
Industry experts forecast that by 2026, China's fruit retail market will approach 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion), with a focus on southern fruits.
Source: People's Daily Online