Orchardists are delivering apple blossoms at a collection point. Currently, it is the crucial period for thinning apple blossoms in Jingning. In Shangcha Village, Ganggou Town, Jingning County, orchardist Zhang Guotuan arrived at the village collection point carrying a full bag of freshly picked apple buds. After weighing and settlement, which took less than ten minutes, he pocketed 100 yuan. "I only knew apples could be sold for money before; I never thought apple blossoms would become valuable too!" Zhang Guotuan expressed with great joy.
Workers are sorting the apple blossoms. In the past, most of the flowers removed during the thinning process were discarded and wasted. Now, Gansu Xiwu Youpin Biotechnology Co., Ltd. purchases them directly, turning these apple blossoms into a sought-after commodity. Villagers can earn up to over a hundred yuan per day from picking and selling the blossoms. Thus, the labor-intensive task of thinning has been transformed into an income-boosting activity.
At the company's collection point, a steady stream of orchardists arrives with bags of fresh buds, waiting in line with smiles on their faces. Inside the company's workshop, uniformly dressed workers systematically sort, wash, dry, and screen the apple blossoms. Through these processes, the once insignificant buds are transformed into fully formed, fragrant apple blossom tea. After elegant packaging, this tea is sold to major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, where it is highly popular among consumers.
"We use patented techniques to preserve the fragrance and nutritional value of the apple blossoms to the greatest extent," said Liu Xiaomei, head of the sorting department. The company has already purchased five tons of apple blossoms, which not only addresses the wastage issue for orchardists but also provides ample raw materials for the industrial chain, "making every apple blossom a 'flower of happiness' for rural revitalization."
This change stems from the local government's in-depth exploration of the apple industry chain. Jingning County is a nationally renowned major apple-producing region, where the focus was traditionally solely on the fruit itself. In recent years, the local area has prioritized industrial revitalization, continuously extending the fruit industry chain, and precisely developing the economic value of apple blossoms to promote their industrialization and commercialization.
From solely selling apples to generating dual income from both apples and apple blossoms, orchardists are finding increasingly diverse pathways to increase their earnings. Utilizing local resources and processing them locally not only reduces agricultural waste but also strengthens the scale of distinctive local industries. The humble apple blossom vividly illustrates the transformation of Jingning's apple industry.
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