On May 20th, the China International Tropical Crops Industry Conference and the 7th Litchi and Longan Industry Conference will be held in Maoming.

The conference this year will eye more on releasing a large number of achievements such as international cooperation cases, new varieties and technologies, and reports on the development the of the tropical crops industry. The conference will also host a series of subforums, including the Summit Forum for Research Institution and Business Organization on Tropical Crops, the High-Quality Development Forum on Litchi and Longan Industry, and the Inaugural Meeting of China State Farming International Cooperation Alliance and National State Farms Symposium on International Exchange and Cooperation. As of May 12th, 6,666 tons of litchi export orders were intended for key enterprises in Maoming, an increase of nearly 30% compared with 2022.

Maoming Litchi's Full-Value Chain Surpasses 10 Billion Yuan

As the home of litchi in China, Maoming has a history of more than 2,000 years of litchi cultivation, with a lychee cultivation area of about 1.39 million mu (92,666 hectares), churning out over 500,000 tons annually, accounting for about half of Guangdong Province’s output, one-fourth of the national output, and one-fifth of the global output.

In the past few years, Maoming has promoted the standardization of litchi cultivation and variety optimization to achieve staggered marketing, exceeding 10 billion yuan in the full-value chain. At present, Maoming litchi enjoys more than 80 varieties such as Baitaying, Fei Zi Xiao, and Gui Wei, 80% of which are high-quality varieties with four regional public brands and four national geographical indication products.

Preservation Technology Helps Litchi Export Overseas

"To get prepared for the litchi season in May or June, we have upgraded our sorting equipment, cold chain preservation and automated packaging." Huang Qichao said. This year his company invested in precooling technology based on differential pressure for preservation to further enhance the quality of litchi after harvesting and extend its shelf life.

Based on the upgraded cold chain logistics, more and more fruit farmers flocked to the e-commerce business. Under the market's catalysis, litchi e-commerce has formed unified standards in many aspects such as branding, packaging, supply chain, and after-sales. At the same time, a number of express companies for litchi in Maoming enlarged their market investment to build a set of infrastructures covering the main litchi-producing area, including processing centers integrated cold storage, pre-processing, and distribution, as well as the cold chain logistics infrastructure backbone network.

Rich choices for Litchi Processed Products

There is a wide variety of deep-processed products made from litchi and longan like litchi drinks, litchi wine, dried litchi, longan meat, and dried longan.

Currently, Maoming has developed two major series of processed products from litchi and longan for leisure and health, with about 3,000 litchi processing enterprises, 22 leading agricultural enterprises involved, and about 3,000 longan processing enterprises. Notably, Fenjie Town in Gaozhou, a county-level city in Maoming, is ranked as "the First Town for Longan Processing in China."

Integrating Cultural and Tourism Development Promotes the Development of the Litchi Industry

During the conference last year, three national brand platforms, including the China Litchi Expo Center, the China National Litchi Germplasm Resource Nursery, and the China Litchi Industry Conference Site were completed and put into use.

Not far from the three platforms is the litchi garden in Baiqiao Village, a local scenic spot in Maoming. There are ancient and new trees intertwined and litchis on the branches turning red. Tourists weave in and out of the thousand-year-old litchi forest to take photos, art enthusiasts make art collections and sketch under the trees, and children from the village play in the garden.

During previous industry conferences, auctions were held for the picking rights of ancient litchi and longan trees, with each ending up over one million yuan. This year, litchis sold by vintage in high-end customization are popular in the market. As of May 15, customized litchis surpass 17,000.　

Data　

●In 2022, the litchi planting area in Maoming reached over 1.3 million mu (86,666 hectares), with 2,158 large-scale planters of over 30 mu (2 hectares). The city's total litchi output was 550,600 tons, accounting for 48.21% of the Guangdong level and 21.86% nationally.

●The exports volume of litchi in Maoming was 5,156 tons, a growth of 77.18% on a year-on-year level, while the total sales volume reached 543,000 tons achieving a sales revenue of 8.07 billion yuan with a total of 17,000 purchasing merchants visiting planting area in Maoming.

●The comprehensive wholesale price of litchi in Maoming was 18 yuan per kilogram in 2022, reaching a new high in recent years and maintaining a strong sales trend throughout the sales season.

●During the peak season of litchi in 2022, the number of tourists visiting rural areas in Maoming topped as high as 21,000 per day, which even reached 318,600 during the Dragon Boat Festival.

中国国际热作产业大会暨第七届中国荔枝龙眼产业大会将在茂名召开

5月20日，中国国际热作产业大会暨第七届中国荔枝龙眼产业大会将在茂名举办。

今年的产业大会将集中发布热作产业发展报告、国际合作案例、新品种新技术等一大批成果，举办热作科企高峰论坛、荔枝龙眼产业高质量发展论坛、农垦对外合作联盟成立等一系列活动。截至5月12日，茂名市重点企业荔枝出口意向订单6666吨，与去年全年出口量相比，增长近30%。　　

赋能发展“荔”竿见影

作为“中国荔乡”，茂名已有2000多年种植荔枝的历史，荔枝种植面积约139万亩，年产量超50万吨，约占广东的1/2，全国的1/4，全世界的1/5。

过去几年，茂名推动荔枝种植标准化、品种优良化，实现错峰上市，全链条产值突破百亿元。目前，茂名荔枝已拥有白糖罂、妃子笑、桂味等80多个品种，优质品种占80％，拥有4个区域公用品牌，4个国家地理标志认证产品。

勇立潮头“荔”拓新路

“为了迎接荔枝季，我们在分选设备、冷链保鲜、自动化包装等方面都进行了升级。”黄其超说，今年公司投入压差预冷保鲜技术，进一步提升荔枝采后品质，延长保鲜期。

在冷链物流完善基础上，越来越多果农涌入电商大军。在市场催化下，荔枝电商在品牌、包装、供应链、售后等多方面形成统一标准。同时，茂名市内多家荔枝寄递企业加大市场投资力度，建设集冷藏、预处理、集散的处理中心，冷链物流基础设施骨干网覆盖荔枝主产区。

产业升级“荔”兵秣马

荔枝饮料、荔枝酒、荔枝干、桂圆肉、龙眼干……荔枝龙眼深加工产品琳琅满目。

目前，茂名开发有休闲和保健两大系列荔枝龙眼加工产品，现有荔枝加工企业约3000家，涉荔农业龙头企业22家，有龙眼加工企业约3000家，高州分界镇更是被誉为“中国桂圆加工第一镇”。

产业融合亭亭玉“荔”

去年产业大会期间，中国荔枝博览馆、国家荔枝种质资源圃、中国荔枝产业大会会址三个国字号平台建成使用。

距离三个国字号平台的不远处是景区柏桥村荔枝种植园。柏桥种植园里古木新树交杂，枝头荔枝逐渐转红。游客穿梭在千年古荔林间拍照打卡，文艺爱好者在树下采风、写生，柏桥村的孩童在园中嬉戏。

历届产业大会期间，古荔树、古龙眼树采摘权举行拍卖，每场拍卖活动均以超百万元的价值成交。今年，“年份荔”高端定制深受欢迎，截至5月15日，全市荔枝定制已超1.7万棵。　

数说　　

●2022年，茂名荔枝种植面积139.22万亩，全市30亩以上种植大户2158户。全市荔枝总产量55.06万吨，占广东的48.21%、全国的21.86%。

●2022年，茂名荔枝出口5156吨，同比增长77.18%。全市荔枝销售总量54.3万吨，实现荔枝鲜果销售收入达80.70亿元，进入茂名产区的收购客商累计达1.7万人次。

●2022年，茂名荔枝全年综合批发价每公斤18元，销售价格创近年新高，呈现高开高走、一路坚挺的态势。

●2022年荔枝销售旺季期间，入茂“乡村游”的游客最高达2.1万人次/日；在端午节假期达到高峰，当天达31.86万人次。

文｜羊城晚报全媒体记者全良波 詹翔闵 通讯员卓剑斯
图｜羊城晚报全媒体记者 曾育文
翻译｜陈萱
责编｜王瑜瑛
校对｜桂晴