A generous harvest of 4,500 tons of fleshy lychee ready to be popped from their shells is in sight this year as the first ripe fruits from Doumen District will enter the market within a month.

Longtou Mt Orchard near the Qianwu Reservoir in Bajia Village, for instance, is planted with more than 130 mu (8.7 hectares, 21.4 acres) of lychee. Trees are in blossom there a dozen days earlier than in previous years and are beginning to bear satisfactory fruitlets in quantity and quality. It is estimated that the output of this orchard alone will exceed 20,000 kilos -- five times that of last year.

According to farmer Lin Fenghe, pleasant weather and moderate rainfall were conducive to the growth of lychee trees, resulting in a high flowering and fruiting rate.

Throughout Doumen there are 20,600 mu (1,373 hectares, 3,393 acres) of lychee trees, the fruit being especially popular among Cantonese populations.

Known as "King of Fruits," lychee is one of the four most common fruits grown in South China together with banana, pineapple, and longan. With a general fruiting rate of 80 percent, it constitutes a bumper harvest if there is no heavy fog or continuous downpour and when protection, water and fertilizer management, and pest prevention and control are properly carried out, according to the Fruit Office of Doumen Agriculture & Rural Affairs Bureau.

Lychee trees in Doumen District bear fruitlets [Photo by Zeng Yao / Zhuhai Daily]