Yuan Shougen devotes himself to the development of navel orange industry and leads fruit farmers to become rich

Yuan Shougen, a fruit grower in Xinfeng, has invested 43 years in the cultivation of navel oranges in Gannan, which has now become a gold-lettered signboard in Jiangxi fruit industry. Recently, the reporter interviewed Yuan Shougen.

The first navel orange made a name for itself.

Yuan Shougen, 73, is originally from Zhuji, Zhejiang Province. at the end of 1971, a 600-mu high-standard horticultural field was built in Anxi Town, Xinfeng, and Yuan Shougen was officially transferred to be the only technician in the horticultural field. Yuan Shougen believes that the local soil is suitable for growing citrus seedlings. Then 156 navel orange seedlings were obtained from Shaoyang, Hunan Province alone for trial planting.

After 3 years of careful management, navel oranges bear the first batch of fruit, which tastes very sweet. In 1977, Yuan Shougen sold 1000 kilograms of navel oranges to the Hong Kong market at a high price.

Develop rapidly into "the fruit of getting rich"

In 2013, the total planting area of navel orange in Gannan has reached 1.83 million mu, with a total output of 1.5 million tons. Ganzhou has become the world's largest navel orange planting area, the third largest in the world and the largest in China. Gannan navel orange is among the "well-known trademarks in China". The navel orange industry directly benefits 700000 fruit growers from 250000 growers in Ganzhou. In order to dream, Yuan Shougen, who is in his 70s, often steps into the navel orange orchard to have a look. He said that being able to expand and strengthen the navel orange industry and benefit millions of Gannan fruit farmers is the happiest and happiest thing in his life.