The South of Wenling City, Zhejiang Province: a New way for small figs to get Rich

Tourists pick figs at the fig planting base 500 meters from the exit of the south toll station of the Tengling Tunnel in Chengnan Town, Wenling City, on September 3.

The Beginning of Autumn passed, as if overnight, figs suddenly released all its enthusiasm. The fruit is big, ripe and red. In the south of the city, dock root and other places, many orchards of figs ushered in the full fruit period, bearing a lot of fruits, the market is so that fruit farmers happy.

Figs from the United States capture the taste buds of many people.

In the fig planting base in the south of the city, the fig trees are not very tall and the branches are covered with fruit. The ripe figs are half the size of an adult fist, with a purplish red skin and a small crack at the bottom, revealing the red flesh inside. Once pinched, the fruit is soft, the skin is thin and the flesh is thick. Put it into your mouth and gently bite it. It is fragrant and sweet.

"during this period of time, the weather is sunny, the light is abundant, and the fruit is very sweet." Lin Chuxiang, head of the orchard, told me that the fig variety they planted was "Maas Yituofen", which was introduced from California in the United States and had the characteristics of large size, red color, high sweetness and high yield. At present, the vast majority of figs sold in the fruit market are figs of this variety.

After the figs are ripe, they attract many people to come to pick them. "figs are so nutritious that both old people and children can eat them." On the weekend, Ms. Chen, a citizen, took her children to the orchard to pick. Just as she was preparing to pick with her bare hands, a fruit farmer came to stop it. "you can't pick it like this. The liquid flowing from the branches will hurt the skin." It turns out that the fruits, stems and leaves of figs contain proteases, milk-like substances that flow out. Long-term picking to wear rubber gloves to prevent skin redness and swelling, allergies. When picking, but also carefully observe the color of the fruit, make sure that ripe can be picked, only mature will be sweet.

The retail price is more than 15 yuan per jin, but the supply still falls short of demand.

In the early years, figs were planted on a large scale in the area of Shiqiaotou, but they were not planted for some reason. Lin Chuxiang said: "the fig varieties over there were not selected correctly. Coupled with the influence of diseases and insect pests, the yield and quality of figs were not very good."

"at present, only Jiaxing and Jinhua in Zhejiang are planting figs in large quantities, but we do not grow many figs here and have not formed a scale." Lin Chuxiang contracted more than 20 mu of land in Chengnan town to grow agricultural products, of which figs accounted for half. Figs bear fruit less than a year after planting. "Last year, it was picked in less than a month." Lin Chuxiang told me that figs have entered a high-yield period since mid-August this year and are expected to last until the end of October.

"the usual picking price is 25 yuan / jin, but recently I have made a lot of money through activities, and the price has dropped a little." Lin Chuxiang said: at present, the retail price of figs is more than 15 yuan per jin, with an average of 22 taels each, and there are only four or five figs per catty. If you are bigger, the price will go up. Even if the price is not cheap, the supply of figs on the base is still in short supply.

Due to the poor storage of figs, they began to deteriorate the next day after picking, and many figs shipped from other places were of poor quality. "the competitive advantage of local cultivation will be more obvious." In terms of storage, Lin Chuxiang said that the fresh fruit can be stored in cold storage, the shelf life of fresh fruit can be extended to 10 days, and can be extended to one year after low temperature freezing. "I didn't sell enough here, so I didn't build a cold storage." Lin Chuxiang said that he has now basically opened up the local market. In addition to being picked by the public, some figs are sold in supermarkets and fruit stores. The daily supply in the urban area is about 200 jin. In addition, he also tried to make fig jam, dried figs and other products.

The cost of open-air planting is low, and the cultivation management is simple.

The author checked on the Internet and found that the cultivation and management of figs was relatively simple, with fruit in that year and high yield in three years. Figs like adequate light, warm and humid environment, not resistant to waterlogging, more tolerant to drought. "the planting conditions are similar to those of dragon fruit, and figs are more resistant to freezing." Lin Chuxiang said that figs are cultivated in the open air and the investment cost is low. The cost of planting figs is mainly labor. "the annual cost of weeding alone is a large expense." To this end, he also specially went to Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University to study, and now the orchard is covered with "anti-lawn cloth." The surface is covered with plastic film, and then it is covered with grain husks.

In addition, figs have the habit of ripening day by day and need to be picked at any time to prevent a large number of fruit falls. Lin Chuxiang also pulled up a large net above the orchard. "this is to prevent birds from stealing food." He said he used a blue screen (a kind of fishing net). "Last year, I used a transparent net and found it was not very strong, and it broke down less than a year later." The author found that some fruit growers in Wenling planted figs in the greenhouse. Lin Chuxiang said that it is not advisable. "planting in the greenhouse can prolong the picking period, but the planting cost is also high and it is not worthwhile." Led by Lin Chuxiang, there are some farmers planting figs in Daxi, Ruoheng and other places.

What is the market prospect of figs? Can it be planted on a large scale? "figs have a unique dietotherapy effect and have great market potential, but ripe fruits are not resistant to storage and transportation, so we should not expand the planting area blindly." In this regard, Wenling Agriculture and Forestry Bureau Wang Tao suggested that fruit growers can combine the sales model of WeChat business to locate the local market, and the planting scale of a county (city, district) should be controlled at about 50 mu to 100 mu.