PR99738

YICHANG, China, March 9, 2023 /Xinhua=KYODO JBN/--

Yichang, a city in central China's Hubei Province, is the main orange producing

area in China and one of the cradles of orange on earth. In 2021, the output of

orange in Yichang reached 4,046,900 tons, close to one tenth of the country's

total output.

Orange has become the top specialty and competitive agricultural industry in

Yichang and a pillar industry for farmers to increase their income. Yichang

orange industry mainly features three well-known varieties, which enjoy high

reputation at home and abroad.

Attracted by Yichang's fame as China's "Orange City", Thomas Ramsey, professor

from College of Foreign Languages with China Three Gorges University, made a

visit recently with his friend Tian Shidou to explore the culture and

innovation behind Yichang's orange, and feel its vivid and extraordinary

development, according to Yichang Three Gorges International Communication

Studio.

They made their first stop at Shuitianba Township, Zigui County, which is

located at 30 degrees north latitude and on the banks of the Three Gorges of

the Yangtze River.

Surrounded by green hills and gurgling rivers, the township is a most suitable

area for oranges to grow. They visited Zheng Jiayu, a famous local orange

photographer who has been following the industry's development closely.

According to Zheng, local people, building on the characteristics of

mountainous terrain, have learnt to use aerial ropeways and ground double-track

orchard transport planes to replace manpower with machinery, so that local

oranges could be shipped out of the region and even China at a quicker pace.

Besides, local people use grass cultivation techniques to develop green manure

in fields and ladders to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,

contributing to the region's green development.

All the year round, one can see fresh oranges hang over trees in Yichang,

making a unique scenery. This is partly thanks to Deng Xiuxin, an academician

with the Chinese Academy of Engineering who devoted himself to orange research

and cultivation.

Through scientific and technological innovation, Yichang can produce oranges

all year round. Tom and Tian set their second stop at Jiuwan Creek orange

seedling breeding base, the largest high-quality orange seedling germplasm bank

in the Three Gorges Reservoir area.

The base is home to more than 100 top-quality domestic and foreign orange

varieties. After several years of cultivation by researchers, the top-notch

fruit varieties with the best fruit type, color and sugar content can finally

be screened out.

Looking at the dizzying seedling varieties in the base, Tom and Tian couldn't

help but marvel at the huge scientific and technological input within these

small fruits.

In Yichang, oranges are not only fruits, but also ingredients for cooking

dishes and raw materials for deep processing. In Zigui County's Qugu industrial

park, oranges are processed into orange wine, cakes, vinegar, snacks, canned

food and other products. Famous Hubei dishes like orange-flavored beef and

stewed bacon are also served with preserved orange peel.

The orange industry has made full use of the fruit, from its flower, fruit,

peel to pulp remaining, with zero material waster thanks to the industrial

chain's development.

At their exploration's last stop, Tom and Tian were drawn by an old man who

leveraged livestreaming to boost orange sales. The man named Zhou Gongshou is a

fruit farmer in Zigui County. At 67 years old, he refused to retire like elders

in urban areas, but insisted to keep learning new tricks, promoting local

oranges via Internet technologies.

Nowadays, with the support of the local government and Internet platforms, many

fruit farmers like Zhou have embraced a new life via the Internet. These

efforts have expedited the sales of oranges out of the mountains, turning them

into golden eggs for local farmers.

Source: Yichang Three Gorges International Communication Studio

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   Caption: Yichang: China's "Orange City"