Wu Kangyin, general manager of Xishuangbanna Miso Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd
After half a year, I saw Wu Kangyin again. The last time was in Yuanmou, he traveled thousands of miles from Xishuangbanna to the banks of the Jinsha River to describe the difficulties and confusions he encountered in investing in agriculture over the years.
A native of Zhejiang, he came to Yunnan in 1988 and established a family in Pu'er, engaged in the foot care industry, with a good income. In 2016, the contracted land in Xishuangbanna Manna Village began to plant "Dong trial early" (commonly known as "Dai grapefruit"), and the area developed from the initial 200 mu to 730 mu.
The turning point occurred around August 20, 2021. In the early stage, there was little rainfall, the sugar content of the grapefruit was above 12%, the quality was stable, and Wu Kangyin's supply of first-class fruits was maintained at 14.2 yuan / kg; After 9 consecutive days of rain, a large number of early autumn shoots germinated, resulting in a decline in sugar, and the price also fell, and finally dropped to 8 yuan / kg.
A grapefruit planting base located in the Olive Dam
Fortunately, Wu Kangyin's more than 500 tons of grapefruit were basically sold out, while other growers in the olive dam had different degrees of slow sales, export sales were weak, and the price in the local market fell to 3 yuan / kg, followed by large-scale abandonment of gardens, cutting down trees or high-end other varieties.
Due to the funds and partners, Wu Kangyin also gave up the newly built 260-mu high-standard park and concentrated on managing the 470-mu production park.
"When I came here in 2016, there were very few grapefruit plants here, and after I planted them, everyone developed with a large area, and now there are more than 2,000 acres of area around here alone." Climbing to the commanding heights of the park, Wu Kangyin pointed to the endless yuzu garden around and sighed, "Because I have a brother-in-law who is the local 'yuzu king', others see me planting, and they all follow it." There is also an important reason, in the past, bananas were planted here, and bananas have withdrawn from the olive dam because of blight, and there are land resources. ”
Palatial Dai temples
"How much does the rent here cost per acre?" The first time I came to Xishuangbanna, I felt quite fresh about the land, climate, folk customs and houses here. Next to the base storehouse, there is also a temple in the village of Manna, which is magnificently built.
"When I took the land, it was 1500 yuan / mu. Originally, when planting bananas, the ground rent was more than 3,000 yuan / mu, and they had a lot of land, and at that time, the family with the least land had a year's rent income of 60,000 or 70,000 yuan. Wu Kangyin said.
"No wonder! It turned out that they were the landlords. I laughed. When I first entered the village, I saw the newly built villas in the village, and the level of wealth was not inferior to that of the countryside in Jiangnan.
The villa complex in Manna Village, with traditional bamboo buildings in the middle
"They have a good life, grow some grain and vegetables themselves, and then work part-time with us, 120 yuan a day, and when they encounter festivals, they don't come." Wu Kangyin smiled bitterly: "We have almost invested all the money we earned in other industries in the early stage here, and now we still need loans." ”
"Aside from the problem of funding, what is the biggest problem that is being encountered at the moment?" I get back to the point.
"There are two problems, the first is the stability of quality, and the second is the problem of sales." Wu Kangyin thought about it and added: "In the final analysis, it is still a problem of taste, and the quality is unstable. ”
Wu Kangyin (right) introduces the technical bottleneck to Zhang Feiyu (Jason Nongke).
"Does your brother-in-law's grapefruit also have a problem with unstable quality?" I'll look for a reference first, "For example, compared with your earliest batch of trees compared to your brother-in-law's grapefruit, is there a difference in quality?" ”
"If you compare with the grapefruit of his old base, there is still a gap." Wu Kangyin said truthfully: "His taste is more stable, the fragrance is stronger, which is related to the age of the tree and the technology." He has been planting that tree for more than 20 years, and every year he invests a lot of organic fertilizer, with two packs of one tree, 80 kilograms. After all, after making money, we are willing to invest, we are still in the investment period, not so much, a tree with 20 to 30 kilograms. ”
"The key is the age of the tree." I calculated that the tree that Wu Kangyin first planted was only 7 years old, and according to the experience of planting Wenzhou mandarin oranges in Taizhou, Zhejiang, it would take at least 8 years for the quality to gradually enter a better state. Oranges like Linhai Yongquan selling dozens of yuan a pound are more than 20 years old, thin skin, slag, high sugar, strong flavor, is the quality of wide-skinned citrus "ceiling".
The older the tree, the more stable the quality
"Are there any other technical differences?" I went on to ask for details.
"We did agriculture as a little white, and we didn't understand it at all when we first started. Although my brother-in-law is the king of grapefruit, in fact, I am still more influenced by your article. Wu Kangyin introduced in detail: "Our organic fertilizer is to dig a pit and apply it, and we must move the soil once a year; My brother-in-law is a sprinkler and does not move the soil. And I use fertilizer more times than them, mainly to beat foliar fertilizer, mainly medium and trace elements, basically 3 times a month ..."
I listened a little confused, over the years my articles focused on the labor-saving cultivation model, how to get to him to become this traditional fertilization method. More than ten years ago, when I was doing soil transformation in the sea tusks, I also emphasized the cultivation of raw grass + immovable soil, raising grasses with grass, raising land with worms, and raising trees with the ground, and transforming the very compact sea tutu land into very soft land in three or five years.
Workers ditch in the loose soil to prepare for potassium fertilizer
To put it bluntly, it is to let free soil micro-creatures replace expensive and lazy artificial labor.
"I don't have enough manpower this year, there is a precinct that has not been loosened, the same fertilization method, the effect is very different." Wu Kangyin went on to say, "So I bought two small excavators, one for trenching and draining, and the other for loosening the soil, and the digging machine can use machinery as much as possible..."
"'East Trial Early' you have also been selling for a few years, from the perspective of the market, where do you think its advantages are?" I have not been engaged in technology for many years, and in the tropics where the climatic conditions are completely different, I dare not make suggestions on technology, so I turn the topic to the market.
Fruit shape is more standard "East test early"
"One is early and the other is taste." Wu Kangyin said: "If the 'East Trial Early' can achieve the best taste, it can be completely comparable to Thailand's 'ruby', very sticky, very soft, slag, quite a lot of moisture, and has a strong grapefruit aroma." If this variety is red in flesh like the 'three red grapefruit' in Fujian, it is more popular in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. ”
"When will the 'Three Red Grapefruits' ripen here?" I suddenly thought of another question.
"In July, the 'Three Red Grapefruit' was a little earlier than the 'East Test'." Wu Kangyin said: "But its taste is not as early as the 'East Test', it is completely two kinds of taste, so the price is still a lot worse, basically 7 yuan / kg." Its advantage is that it is early, and it can be harvested early, and it can be picked when it reaches eight ripeness. ”
Wu Kangyin (left) and Li Chao showcasing the packaging of "Misuelo" (2021)
"Last year, we talked to Li Chao (Dianguo out of the mountain) in Stone Forest about the two ways out of The Grapefruit, in addition to improving the quality, there is also a direction to advance the ripening period and end it early to the Mid-Autumn Festival, is there a specific technical plan now?" I asked.
In the morning at the Xishuangbanna Nangha Tropical Fruit Garden, Huang Shengji, who is keen on new and exotic varieties, raised concerns in this regard. Once a large number of Fujian grapefruits with large volumes and low prices are listed, the "East Trial Early" will once again face last year's dilemma.
Wu Kangyin looked for it in the orchard, picked a grapefruit with a slightly yellowish peel, and introduced: "This is an early-flowered fruit, which bloomed from November to December last year and began to ripen in June." ”
On the left are early-flowered fruits, and on the right are the seasonal fruits
"You can try using early flowers and fruits!" I think of the "Wo Mandarin" anti-seasonal fruit I saw in Yuanmou last year, although the quality is far inferior to the seasonal fruit, but the price is not bad.
Not only citrus fruits, but also many crops, including grapes, are mainly out-of-season, which is Yunnan's advantage.
"We've been observing this early-blooming fruit for years. From the time I started growing to now, only one year has tasted good. With that, Wu Kangyin peeled off the grapefruit in his hand, and then handed me a petal, "You taste it first." ”
Wu Kangyin (right) introduces the characteristics of early-flowered fruits
There is no tender taste that Wu Kangyin just described, it is a bit dry, and the flavor is quite similar to the "jade ring grapefruit" in his hometown. "I really like the texture, it has the original taste of grapefruit." Maybe it's because I'm used to the taste of my hometown, but I don't really like the tender texture of "ruby", especially the feeling of juice dripping.
"We feel that this taste is far from the quality that 'East Trial Early' should have, so it sells a 'early' word." Wu Kangyin shook his head and said, "There is another problem, if a tree has both early flowering fruits and seasonal fruits, there will be a conflict in the use of fertilizer." When the early-flowered fruit enters the ripening stage and needs to control water and fertilizer, the seasonal fruit just needs a lot of fertilizer and water. Unless you don't want seasonal fruit. ”
"Yes! For example, I have 400 acres of land, of which 200 acres I do early flowers and fruits by circumcision, not in season; The other 200 acres or do the seasonal fruit, can extend the supply period, this program is not OK? I suggested.
Ground-covered floor cloth prevents rainwater from seeping into the soil
"There's also a problem." Wu Kangyin still shook his head, "How to make the flowers bloom in the season from February to March, there is also the problem of spring shoots, this technical bottleneck still needs to be broken." What we can do now is to bud in advance to January, flower in February, and then control water and fertilizer in July and August, which can not only ensure quality, but also complete sales before the Mid-Autumn Festival. ”
In 2021, in order to solve the problem of unstable quality, Wu Kangyin tried to cover the tree tray with a 'Special Wei Qiang' ground cloth to prevent rainwater from seeping into the soil, and the effect was very good. The disadvantage is that the cost is relatively high, a one-time investment of 6,000 yuan per mu of land, according to the service life of 3 years, a year also to increase the cost of 2,000 yuan / mu. So this year, we tried to replace expensive imported floor cloth with bagasse to see if it could have the same effect.
Wu Kangyin checks the water seepage of bagasse after the rain
"I stay at the base every day now, to see how the tree changes, how will it react every time I fertilize, every time I medicate, every time I prune?" My goal is to achieve the best quality of the 'East Trial Early' variety. Wu Kangyin said confidently.
Although I have not yet tasted the best quality "East Trial Early", in Wu Kangyin's description, I see the core competitiveness of this variety of "early and excellent"; In Wu Kangyin's body, I saw the "ingenuity" that a grower should have. Under the influence of these two key factors, I believe that Dai Yuzu can quickly go out of the shadow of the year and enter the national market in a relatively good state.
As Wu Kangyin said: "The less hope others see, the more hope I have." ”
May 12, 2022