With the coming of October, the oranges from all over Ningbo are entering the peak picking season. On the morning of October 11, at the “Youliang” honey orange planting base of the October Miracle Farm in Changjie Town, Ninghai County, one could see the golden oranges hanging all over the branches, creating a scene of abundant harvest.

“This year’s productivity is relatively high, with a yield of around 2,000 kilograms per mu’, said Wang Zhai, head of the October Miracle Family Farm. Currently, over 20 workers are picking, selecting, and packing the oranges every day. The daily sales volume is 5000 kilograms, with a wholesale price of around 14 yuan per kilogram, mainly to Shanghai, Jiangsu Province, and such cities in Zhejiang Province as Hangzhou.

This year, the weather of Ningbo is favorable for orange growth. Since mid to late September, the early oranges have entered the picking season. At present, the picking for the “Dafen” extra-early oranges has basically ended, and the early-maturing varieties “Youliang” and “Gongchuan” have entered the peak picking and sales season.

The high yield and harvest of oranges cannot be achieved without variety improvement.

Orange planting is one of the leading agricultural advantageous industries in Ningbo, with a perennial cultivation area of about 200,000 mu, mainly in such places as Xiangshan County, Ninghai County, and Fenghua District.

In the past, the orange varieties in Ningbo were mainly mid to late maturing varieties used for further processing. Due to restrictions on export orders, the orange products have experienced slow sales several times, affecting the healthy development of the industry. To promote industrial upgrading, departments concerned in the city have been constantly promoting the introduction of new varieties, accelerating the optimization and improvement of varieties, and innovating research and application of cultivation techniques. At present, there are over 100 citrus germplasm resources introduced to the city. Currently, the main varieties such as “Dafen”, “Youliang”, and “Red Beauty” are representatives of citrus variety introduction and breeding. The cultivation area of new citrus varieties in the city now exceeds 110,000 mu.

With the optimization of varieties, Ningbo’s citrus industry has ushered in another prime time. Xiangshan County is the largest citrus producing area in Ningbo. Currently, the mixed citrus cultivation area represented by “Red Beauty” in the county is over 40,000 mu, with an output value of over 20,000 yuan per mu. The planting area of “Youliang” oranges in Ninghai County is 5,500 mu, mainly in areas such as Huchen Township, Changjie Town, and Liyang Town, with an income of around 10,000 yuan per mu.

According to Fan Shulei, an agronomist at Ningbo Agricultural Technology Promotion Station, although the citrus industry in the city has ushered in another flourishing time, there are also some problems. Focus should be put on variety introduction and conducting selection work of independent varieties, to further support and promote the healthy development of the citrus industry.