Fruit industry burgeons in Pingyao

The scale of the fruit industry in Pingyao county in North China's Shanxi province burgeoned considerably during the 13th Five Year Plan period (2016-20), with its structure and variety of fruit optimized and the organization of fruit farmers improved.

Local Xiangyuan town, a major production area for pears in Pingyao, provides a great example of the progress that has been made during the period. The town planted pears covering 40 square kilometers with annual output of 120,000 metric tons -- forming a one-stop industrial production, storage and sales hub. 

Shanxi Yiming Fruit Co, based in the town, has further expanded its market of crisp Pingyao pears, by applying organic fertilizers and bee pollination technology to pear quantity and quality improvement. 

During the period, Pingyao formed a fruit industry belt in the southeastern part of the county and implemented orchard upgrades. This took the Xiangyuan town pear planting area as the core region and focused on the redevelopment of old orchards, road renovations and the eco-friendly prevention and control of fruit diseases and pests. 

Old orchards covering 10 sq km have been rejuvenated and hail prevention nets covering 1 sq km have been installed, while some 100 km of roads in orchards and fruit production areas have been rebuilt. The fruit planting area that has adopted eco-friendly prevention and control of fruit diseases and pests have been expanded to 2 sq km, which has strongly promoted the expansion and improvement of the local fruit industry. 

By the end of 2019, the fruit planting area of Pingyao -- mainly pears -- covered 150 sq km and reported total annual output of 205,500 tons, with the planting area, output and management ranking among the top 10 in Shanxi province.