Burgeoning kiwi fruit sector boosts economy in Xiuwen

A farmhand picks kiwi fruit in Liutong town, Xiuwen county. [Photo/Guiyang Daily]

The flourishing kiwi fruit industry has reportedly boosted the incomes of farmers and sped up the modernization of agriculture in Xiuwen county – located in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The county has established working relations with several scientific research institutions, to help local plantations adopt new equipment for kiwi fruit cultivation and advanced planting technology has been introduced from major kiwi fruit producer New Zealand.

Enthusiasts and the plain curious can now take a close look at the growing process for kiwi fruit by visiting Guizhou Shengdi Organic Agriculture Co. Its business covers a kiwi fruit plantation, technological materials supplies, standardized production, brand marketing and fruit-tourism.

Zhao Gaoming, a technician at the company's demonstration plantation, recently recommended it set up a meteorological monitoring site, where eight sets of monitoring equipment were subsequently installed which can collect data for kiwi fruit management.

"Through the monitors, we can learn about how the leaves are growing and the conditions to prevent plant disease and pests," Zhao said.

"The monitoring site can also provide real-time supervision of the climate and soil. That provides solid support for kiwi fruit growing," he added.

Zhao also explained that the application of new planting technology would help the plantation improve its yields to 1.2 million grams.

In recent years, the local authorities have taken an active role in expanding distribution channels by developing e-commerce, issuing attractive incentives and policies, encouraging online sales and creating new methods to integrate production and marketing. 

More than 1,000 people – from local farms, farming cooperatives and traditional sales enterprises – have now received training on e-commerce technologies. It's estimated that currently the county has more than 2,300 e-commerce enterprises or personal online stores selling kiwi fruit on third-party e-commerce platforms, such as Tmall, JD and Meituan. 

Guizhou Shengdi Organic Agriculture Co has opened online stores that have helped sell its products across the country, to markets including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

"Currently, we have 500,000 online orders," Zhao said.

The county has also opened Xiuwen Agricultural Special Products Store where the county's e-commerce association and the Tsinghua Culture Industry Planning Design and Research Institute set up a live-broadcasting site to promote the sales and brands of Xiuwen's kiwi fruit.

The planting area for kiwi fruit in Xiuwen has now reached 167,000 mu (111.33 hectares), ranking it third in the country and first in Guizhou.

The county has more than 6,900 kiwi fruit farmer households in 108 administrative villages, providing jobs for 28,000 people. The estimated output of kiwi fruit of this year is 70,000 metric tons, which will bring in profits of about 2.5 billion yuan ($397.66 million).