A steady stream of express parcels labeled with golden passion fruit are neatly stacked at the postal office in Banglao Township, Cangyuan County, departing on schedule every day.
Inside the passion fruit warehouse in Xiabanlao Village of the township, the hum of machinery fills the air as villagers busily sort, weigh, and pack the fruit.
Village Party branch secretary Xiao Hong explained that the fruit is harvested from the fields during the day, packaged overnight, and shipped out early the next morning, reaching Guangdong and Shanghai within two to three days.
Each plump, golden passion fruit connects the rural fields on one end with distant markets on the other, bearing witness to the thriving vitality of Xiabanlao Village's specialty industry.
The industry takes root with targeted support
Since the golden passion fruit industry was established in Xiabanlao Village in 2022, dedicated assistance funds have been continuously injected under the coordinated guidance of the township Party committee and government, along with the support of China Eastern Futures Co., Ltd.
The village has partnered with enterprises and large-scale growers, brought in professional management teams, and standardized the promotion of techniques such as water and fertilizer management, green pest control, and branch pruning and fruit thinning, moving away from the previous extensive model of farming based on experience alone.
"We used to grow fruit entirely by old methods, but now a technician teaches us every step of management hands-on," said villager Ye Di, speaking from experience.
Under standardized management, the fruit's shape, sweetness, and appearance have improved year after year, and its competitiveness in the market has steadily strengthened.
Innovative model drives quality and efficiency
To address the shortcomings of old vines aging easily and output being concentrated in peak season, Xiabanlao Village has innovatively implemented a model of rotating new seedlings with stable production from old vines, pushing the industry from scale expansion toward quality improvement and efficiency gains, and from seasonal harvesting toward year-round continuous output.
Currently, the village has a total passion fruit planting area of 178 mu, of which 73 mu are two-year-old old vines and 90 mu are newly planted spring seedlings; another 15 mu of autumn-planted new seedlings are expected to bear fruit and hit the market early next year.
Through staggered planting and off-peak fruiting, the village achieves fruit production in all four seasons and harvesting throughout the year.
One passion fruit opens multiple paths to income growth
Xiabanlao Village has built a multi-dimensional mechanism linking farmers and driving them along, achieving diversified benefits including increased collective economic income, villagers' employment, independent planting, land transfer, and skills improvement.
The village's collective economic income remains stable at over 100,000 yuan annually; the base employs more than 40 villagers on a regular basis for nearby work, and absorbs even more villagers for temporary employment during peak harvest season; the village has revitalized 200 mu of land for transfer and operation, with rental income benefiting 48 households.
This year, Xiabanlao Village's passion fruit output is expected to reach 160 tons, with an output value of 1.28 million yuan.
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