In recent years, the local area has revitalized idle assets and fully utilized its climate advantages to develop characteristic fruit planting for wealth.

 

On September 17, walking into the passion fruit plantation in Guanshan Village, Fangyuan Town, one could smell the fragrance before seeing the fruit.

 

Under the green branches, the plump yellow-green fruits hung from the vines. When the breeze blew, the sweet aroma of the fruit filled the air, making people's mouths water. 

 

Several fruit farmers were busy picking the ripe fruit into buckets under the trellis with the joy of harvest.

 

 

“We now have more than a thousand orders every day. The fruit is mainly sent to Changsha, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. It is in short supply,” said Liu Yuanping, the person in charge of the plantation.

 

Passion fruit is known as the “king of fruit juice” because its juice is rich in various vitamins and nutrients, and it has a fragrant and pleasant aroma, which is favored by consumers.

 

However, three years ago, this passion fruit plantation was still an abandoned wasteland. Liu Yuanping, a villager, saw the unused land in the village and came up with the idea of planting characteristic fruits. 

 

So she and several other villagers transferred more than 300 mu (20 hectares) of land in the village, cleared it, and planted 60,000 golden passion fruit seedlings introduced from Fujian Province.

 

Guanshan Village has a mild climate, abundant rainfall, and sufficient sunshine, creating excellent growing conditions for passion fruit. 

 

Its fruits have high levels of vitamins, trace elements, and a strong aroma. 

 

“This year is another harvest year. The fruit is big and good, and the yield per mu increases by four to five hundred catties.” The villagers proudly showed the passion fruit to the reporter.

 

 

The plantation’s expansion also provides an excellent opportunity for surplus labor in rural areas to work close to home. 

 

Xiao Bohua, a villager who is 70 years old this year, used to farm at home, barely making ends meet. Now when the fruit is ripe, she goes to the plantation to pick and pack the fruit, earning more than 2,000 yuan a month. “Nowadays, my life is as sweet and fragrant as the passion fruit!” Xiao Bohua said with a smile.

 

The local farmers join in passion fruit planting, management and sales  through the model of “family farms + farmers” to achieve shared benefits and interests.

 

The plantation pays the villagers 100 yuan per mu of land each year as a transfer fee, and it has also driven nearly 100 villagers from three surrounding villages to work in the plantation. 

 

Today, Guanshan Village’s golden passion fruit is sold in many places such as Guangzhou, Yunnan, Shanghai, and Beijing, with an expected annual output value of 6 million yuan.