In early summer, the Longdong Loess Plateau is lush with greenery. Recently, in apple orchards across the northern and southern plateaus of Jingchuan County, Pingliang City, Gansu Province, a concerted effort to enhance the quality and efficiency of the apple industry is underway. Fruit growers are gathering around experts to learn pruning and branch training techniques, volunteers are assisting farmers with film mulching, and officials are competing in skills alongside the people, all part of a "summer campaign" to revitalize this traditional crop.
Lifelong orchardist Zhang Ziyong has had a significant realization this year. "We used to rely entirely on old methods and could never quite master branch training to control excessive growth. It was a problem that bothered me for years, but with the experts' hands-on guidance this year, it finally clicked," he said. In key demonstration zones, such as the Thirty-Shop Shangwan and Dongpo Tiefo areas of Gaoping Town, technical staff from the county's fruit industry bureau have moved their classrooms into the fields. They provide live demonstrations of crucial techniques like young tree training, branch manipulation, and fruit bagging, with attentive growers eagerly asking questions to ensure they miss no detail.
Shifting mindsets has proven more challenging than implementing new techniques. Feiyun Town in Jingchuan has developed an "on-site comparative teaching method," taking growers to two orchards with starkly different management standards. This visual contrast is used to encourage a change in cultivation philosophy. Concurrently, Feiyun Town has established 916.4 acres of new high-density dwarfing apple orchards in Potou, Yuanchao, and Nanzhuangtou villages. These orchards feature a standardized 1.5m x 4m layout, supported by trellis systems and intelligent drip irrigation facilities. "Through high-standard transformation and meticulous management, we are driving the apple industry to 'shift gears and upgrade,' solidly developing this 'tree of prosperity' for the people," stated Shi Weihua, Mayor of Feiyun Town.
The delivery of technology is being matched by deep, on-the-ground service. Yaodian Town and Fengtai Town in Jingchuan are seizing the critical summer management period by mobilizing town and village cadres, party member volunteers, and agricultural technicians to work directly at the grassroots level, providing regular assistance to farmers. In Fengtai Town, over a thousand cadres and volunteers gathered in the newly established orchard of Yanglaochi Village, efficiently completing tasks like land rotary tillage, ridging, and film mulching in one seamless operation, turning the worksite into a practical training ground. In Nanbaozi Village, grower He Xiaoxia was instructing workers on bagging techniques. She calculated, "The 30-acre orchard is expected to use about 500,000 bags, and year-end income is expected to reach a new high."
The push for quality and efficiency extends beyond planting and management. Jingchuan County is continuously deepening the development of the entire industrial chain. It is promoting disaster prevention facilities like hail nets and frost protection fans across the region while also polishing the "Jingchuan Apple" brand. The county is building platforms to connect production with sales, driving the transition from "growing well" to "selling profitably." From relying on old experience to embracing new technology, and from field-based practical classes to modern, intelligent orchards, Jingchuan County is using technological empowerment as its core and refined management as its tool to comprehensively advance the transformation and upgrading of its apple industry. The goal is to ensure the apple trees on the Loess Plateau truly become a "golden tree" for increasing people's incomes and prosperity.
Comments