Experts from the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences, in collaboration with specialists from Shandong Agricultural University and Qingdao Agricultural University within the national apple industry technology system, recently traveled to Yedian Town and Changlu Town in Mengyin County, Linyi City. Their mission was to conduct training sessions on new apple rootstock varieties and innovative techniques, aligning with the system's experimental demonstration requirements, thereby providing precise technological support to boost the fruit industry in this historic area.
The Yimeng mountainous region has a long history of apple cultivation, which serves as a vital pillar industry for increasing local farmers' incomes. However, as apple varieties and planting models undergo upgrades, the local apple industry faces multiple challenges: over 80% of the orchards are old, characterized by advanced tree age, limited variety diversity, and traditional management practices, leading to unstable fruit yield and quality; the mountainous terrain features poor, thin soil and uneven water resource distribution, which hinders the promotion of modern cultivation methods; with rising consumer market demands for superior apple quality, the local industry urgently needs breakthroughs in variety structure, standardized production, and brand development, currently standing at a critical transitional phase of replacing old growth drivers with new ones and cultivating new quality agricultural productive forces.
During the training, experts from the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences systematically introduced the varietal characteristics and simplified cultivation techniques of the "Qingzhen" series of apple rootstocks, which were independently developed by the academy. As a domestically bred dwarfing rootstock, "Qingzhen" offers outstanding advantages such as drought resistance and tolerance to poor soils, strong adaptability, low orchard establishment costs, and early fruiting with high yields. Its well-developed root system is particularly suitable for the sloped land and gravelly soil conditions found in the Yimeng mountains; its strong trunk structure allows for trellis-free cultivation, saving over 5,000 RMB per mu in establishment costs; its dwarfing characteristics facilitate shaping, pruning, and mechanized operations, significantly reducing labor costs by approximately 1,000 RMB per mu; it exhibits good graft compatibility, effectively enhancing fruit quality and uniformity; additionally, it possesses strong resistance to soil sickness, meeting the dual needs of renovating old orchards and establishing new ones.
Throughout the training period, the expert team engaged in in-depth discussions with local town government officials, agricultural cooperatives, and representative fruit growers. Plans were made to select typical plots within the Yimeng mountainous area for small-scale trial planting and promotion of the "Qingzhen" rootstock, aiming to establish experimental demonstration orchards and explore light, simplified, and efficient planting models suitable for the local conditions.
To further solidify the technical support mechanism, Mengyin County formally appointed four experts from the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, and Qingdao Agricultural University as technical consultants for the local apple industry. They will provide ongoing guidance in the future regarding variety selection and matching, cultivation management, and pest and disease prevention and control.
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