Yuncheng in Shanxi recently organized a festive ceremony for the abundant watermelon harvest in Salt Lake. The theme of this ceremony was 'Yuze and Salt Lake, watermelons are everywhere'. The ceremony was hosted by the Salt Lake Agricultural Development Center and organized by Yurun (Shanxi) Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd.
The Yurun watermelon plantation in Salt Lake covers an area of more than 53 hectares. In addition, Yurun has watermelon plantations in other counties and cities so that their overall surface area devoted to watermelon plantation in Yuncheng exceeds 1,333 hectares. Their overall production value is around 300 million yuan [46.63 million USD]. Yurun (Shanxi) Agricultural Science and Technology Development received great support from the Salt Lake Agricultural Development Center to expand watermelon plantation in Salt Lake. This project added another important fruit to the list of agricultural products in Salt Lake, just behind pears, winter jujubes, muskmelons, grapes, and Chinese leek.
"The purchase price in Chinese watermelon plantations is more or less the same as last year. There are no significant fluctuations. The major difference with last year is a shift from 8424 watermelons to Meidu watermelons. The Meidu watermelon is a mixed variety that ripens in the middle of the season. Compared to other varieties the Meidu watermelon has a firmer fruit rind and therefore endures storage relatively well," said Mr. Fan Zhiqiang, spokesperson for Yurun (Beijing) Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd.
The official ceremony
When asked about their retail strategy, Mr. Fan Zhiqiang replied: "On the day of the ceremony several major clients signed a contract for more than 10 million kg of Salt Lake watermelons. These clients include Kunming Youxian Meijia, Hunan Xingqin Fruit Industry, Xi'an Guoguo Jia, and Beijing Shouhang. That is a great start and a good indication for the rest of the season. We have not yet started online sales because the watermelon is a fragile fruit that is best sold fresh. However, we are preparing online retail channels for when the season is well under way. At the moment we mainly sell our watermelons in more than 20 cities and regions, including Beijing, Yunnan, Xi'an, Harbin, and Heilongjiang."
For more information:
Mr. Fan Zhiqiang
Yurun (Beijing) Agricultural Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
Tel.: +86 139 9487 5993
E-mail: 980936162@qq.com