Recently, the 2023 "Taste Yantai Apples, Enjoy a Sweet Life" brand building theme promotion and national media linkage reporting activity hosted by Yantai Agriculture and Rural Bureau walked into the Nancun orchard in Longkou City.
In 2023, Yantai apple brand building and high-quality development will usher in highlight moments one after another, the first of which is the new yellow apple variety "Yanjin Honey" selected and bred by the Yantai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, which was successfully transferred to Longkou Nancun Orchard Fruit Industry Co., Ltd. at a price of 6.68 million yuan.
This is another historic moment for Yantai apples, and "Yanjin Honey" is the first new apple variety independently selected and developed in Yantai that has been successfully transferred and developed, and it is a completely independent new variety with independent intellectual property rights in China. Because of this, the new owner of the variety, Shao Gang, general manager of Longkou Nancun Orchard Fruit Industry Co., Ltd., called it "the nation's tobacco golden honey".
We need a national breed so badly.
Looking at the apples in the current domestic market, almost all of them are dominated by foreign varieties. The Fuji and Venus series of apples are from Japan, and the Aifei series is from New Zealand. Even if China's apples are exported abroad, they are only a different place for internal fighting, and there are no varieties with independent advantages. In Shao Gang's view, in order to completely get rid of this situation, "Tobacco Gold Honey" not only has the conditions, but also has the responsibility.
Shao Gang can be said to be a legendary figure in the development of Yantai's apple industry.
As early as more than 20 years ago, the apple market of that era, both domestic and international, was still blindly keen on the appearance of red and pink, and the dark red apples indicated that the color was old, and they could only be sold at the price of second-grade fruits. In order to cater to the market, fruit farmers try to keep apples picked at pink as much as possible, resulting in early apple harvesting and poor taste. Some fruit farmers do not hesitate to cut off new varieties that color quickly and graft old varieties. Shao Gang feels that this situation will cause China's Apple to be in a low-end cycle and it will be difficult to break through. He led the team to organize fruit farmers to learn Xi fruit tree management knowledge in the area of Penglai Longshan Store in the winter leisure time, guide variety improvement, and advocate fruit farmers to return to apple quality and make all-red and dark red apples, because Fuji apples have a good taste because of their dark color. In this regard, he also guided fruit farmers to plant high-end apples in the way of "you grow apples, I send organic fertilizer", and promised that once he received the bottom, he would not reduce the price of the market, and he would follow the price increase in the market.
After five years of perseverance, Nancun Orchard has not only opened up the domestic all-red apple market, but also expanded the all-red apple market to international markets such as Southeast Asia, India and the United Kingdom.
This is Shao Gang's first confrontation with the planting process to cultivate high-end apples, compete with the market, and compete with foreign apples. During this period, he also deeply realized that in addition to the quality of apples, the brand and variety also determine whether domestic apples can stand out among foreign apples.
In this regard, as early as 2001, Shao Gang registered the trademark D.D.D, the highest grade of diamond is D, the first letter of the distinctive English is D, and the first letter of the delicious English is also D. Shao Gang directly put Yan Tai China D.D.D on the Apple label, which is very international.
Compared with establishing a brand, a high-end new variety with independent intellectual property rights is rare but not sought. Until 2017, at the observation meeting of new apple varieties organized by the Yantai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shao Gang discovered "Tobacco Golden Honey" and brought it back to Nancun for trial planting, and after 6 years of observation, all aspects reached his ideal new apple variety standard.
Surprise, calm, crisp, shot!
Shao Gang did not hesitate too much, why do people live? In Shao Gang's words, people should have value in life, and this value does not mean how good they are, but what they can bring or leave behind to society. In the next life, I will be a farmer at a time, and I will spend my life to make Chinese apples world-class. He found the carrying point of his life's value.
With Shao Gang's unique vision of the apple market for more than 20 years, he firmly believes that "Yanjin Honey" can be world-class.
The appearance of "Smoke Gold Honey" has an extraordinary oily and golden color, like a beeswax-like feeling, and a sense of nobility. The taste is layered, pure sweet like white sugar, plus a little comforting acidity, like the taste of a natural drink. The fruit surface is clean and rust-free, with an average soluble solids content of 17.5%, moderately late picking, and molasses fruits are above 60%. The early fruit has good yield, and the fruit ripens in early October, and there is no fruit drop. The yield per mu is more than 3500kg during the peak fruit period.
6.68 million is worth it, Shao Gang thinks that "smoke gold honey" is priceless.
During the reporter's interview, Shao Gang's phone call has never been interrupted, and it was all about the consultation of "Yanjin Honey", which was basically "postponed" by him. Shao Gang said that for a long time, the traditional development of new varieties has been mired in the dead cycle mode of "seedling speculation and disorderly development". This all-or-nothing bet will be made with the Yantai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, after careful consideration, to create a systematic closed-loop industrial chain with a new model, joint planting, unified brand, unified quality, unified sales. Down-to-earth, step by step, hand in hand with like-minded people with lofty ideals, to witness the future of "Yanjin Honey" as a national variety, on behalf of the national brand, to the first echelon of the global apple industry.
Editor in charge: Wang Pengjing
Reviewer: Wang Lei