Entering the winter season, the fruit growers of Jingning County, having labored throughout the year, finally welcome a period of relative leisure. Beyond conducting winter orchard management, they are also busy inquiring about each other's apple harvests for the year. It is reported that in 2025, Jingning County's total apple output surpassed 1.25 million tons, with an estimated output value exceeding 7.8 billion yuan. The per capita net income from fruit for farmers reached over 8,800 yuan.
Stepping into the farmyard of fruit grower Du Xiqiang, a brand-new car is parked in the courtyard. "I cultivate 28 mu of orchard. This year, the apples grew exceptionally well, and the income has been quite substantial," said Du Xiqiang, an orchardist from Shangdu Village in Lidian Town, with a smile. "I just bought this new car a few days ago. Soon, I plan to go to the county town to shop for some new furniture for the home, waiting for the children to return for the New Year celebration."
This palpable joy is not just a snapshot of life for Du Xiqiang's family; it serves as a vivid microcosm of the high-quality development of Jingning's apple industry. In the past, apple prices were unstable, and high-quality fruit often failed to command good prices. After a year of hard work, farmers struggled to save much, and purchasing major items required careful deliberation. Now, stable sales channels and procurement practices that reward quality with better prices are making life for the orchardists increasingly promising.
The confidence behind this "promising" outlook stems from robust support at a critical link in the industrial chain: cold chain storage. Inside the Jingning Apple Origin Cold Chain Logistics Park, intelligent sorting lines operate at high speed. Workers are sorting and packaging apples retrieved from cold storage, preparing them for shipment to all corners of the country.
"This year, the benefits of the park's cold chain storage have significantly improved. We have achieved professional cold chain storage capacity for 20,000 tons of apples. Current inventory is ample, capable of meeting the procurement demands of merchants from various regions. During the peak harvesting season, the park's trading market cumulatively transacted 76,000 tons of apples. To date, the park has completed sales of 5,000 tons of apples, generating sales revenue of over 50 million yuan," introduced Sun Jiekun, the person in charge of the Jingning Apple Origin Cold Chain Logistics Park.
Cold chain storage not only solves the challenge of apple preservation but also enables farmers to avoid the price slump during the peak harvest period, achieving increased income through staggered sales. Simultaneously, the cold chain logistics park has created over 300 employment opportunities for residents in surrounding townships, fostering a virtuous cycle of "storage boosting income, employment adding security."
If cold chain storage fortifies Jingning apples with a "preservation line" and an "income floor," then the integrated online and offline sales model broadens the market space and income channels for this "sweet enterprise."
Feng Caixia, Director of the Jingning County E-Commerce Public Service Center, explained that Jingning County persists in simultaneously expanding markets and promoting its brand on the sales front of the apple industry. It strengthens negotiations and connections with merchants nationwide while opening up trade channels along the "Belt and Road" routes. By establishing "overseas warehouses" for Jingning apples and a global marketing network, the county has built a diversified sales structure encompassing "merchant procurement + supermarket orders + export for foreign exchange + online marketing." It adheres to a combination of "hosting open festivals" and "going out for promotions," conducting multi-channel, all-around brand publicity to continuously enhance the知名度 (fame) and reputation of the "Jingning Apple" brand.
In 2025, leveraging its strong brand influence and excellent quality, Jingning apples continued to lead the national origin procurement prices. Statistics indicate that the average procurement price in the main southern production areas reached around 5.5 yuan per jin, while the average in the northern areas was about 4.8 yuan per jin, demonstrating a very clear trend of "premium prices for premium fruit, stable volume and firm prices."
Each vibrant red apple is not merely a "golden fruit" boosting the income and prosperity of the growers but has also become a shining name card for Jingning County in advancing rural revitalization.