The “Time Journey” of a Yangmei

At 6:00 in the morning, on the hillside of Guantuan Village, Quyang Town, Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province, Sun Bailing led the fruit farmers to get busy early. He found many plump red bayberries in the dense branches and leaves, gently picked them off, and soon the bamboo basket was full. The quality of Yangmei in the morning is good, we need to hurry up and pick it, “said Sun Bailing.

Jingzhou Yangmei has a planting history of over 2000 years, and its fruit is large and juicy, with moderate acidity and sweetness, earning it the reputation of “the first plum in Jiangnan”. However, due to the direct exposure of Yangmei flesh to the air, its quality is easily affected by the external environment and its preservation is difficult. Therefore, the annual Yangmei harvest is a race against time.

In the past, the picking period for red bayberries was only about ten days, and if it rained, it became shorter. If not picked in time, it was easy for insects to rot. “Sun Bailing said, which caused a large number of red bayberries to be concentrated in the same period of time for sale, often unable to sell at a high price. If they wanted to sell to big cities, long-distance transportation was difficult, and local fruit farmers were amazed by the” plum “and once wanted to give up.

On the local Yangmei Mountain, many Yangmei trees are carefully protected by a mosquito net like Luoman net. “This is a net room cultivation technique popularized in recent years. In addition to alleviating the impact of fruit flies and bad weather, it can also lay a sunshade net outside to reduce the time of light, further extend the harvest period of red bayberry, and avoid piling up for listing,” said Hu Xiaojin, senior agronomist of the Agriculture and Rural Bureau of Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County.

It is understood that by using technological means to advance the market launch time and postpone the picking time, the harvesting period of Yangmei has been extended to over 40 days, achieving the goal of “seeking benefits from time”. Last year, the fresh fruit sales revenue of Jingzhou Yangmei reached 420 million yuan. Nowadays, with the support of the government, the facility cultivation area of Yangmei in Jingzhou has reached 500 acres.

In the sorting workshop of the cooperative, the reporter saw that some sorted bayberries were not immediately packed and transported away, but were instead sent to the cold storage. Previously, I was eager to sell Yangmei after receiving it. Now, pre cooling and dehumidifying it in a cold storage for a period of time can cool down the internal temperature of Yangmei, improve its hardness, and be more conducive to long-term transportation, so that Yangmei can be transported farther and sold more widely, “said Sun Bailing.

Entering the production workshop of Hunan Yipin Dongfang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., the juicer machine was running at full power. We have received about 2000 tons of fresh bayberry fruits this year during the picking season, and we are working hard to ensure the freshness of the products these days. Li Hui, Deputy General Manager of Hunan Yipin Dongfang Biotechnology Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company’s main bayberry juice products have exceeded 1.2 million units in annual sales. In the future, we will continue to develop new bayberry products according to market demand.