Has the price of lychee decreased? Is there a situation of "big diving"? Some Local | Sir | Big Dive
This year is a fruitful year for lychees. Since the large-scale listing of lychees in June, there have been reports of a significant drop in lychee prices, with some cheering for the realization of "lychee freedom" and others worried about the loss of profits for farmers.
What is the situation in the lychee market? Guangdong's lychee production accounts for about half of the country's total. Recently, reporters visited markets, orchards, procurement enterprises, and agricultural departments in Dongguan, Maoming, and other places, and found that although there are some concerns about the "big drop" in lychee prices, how to effectively cope with price fluctuations during the lychee year and increase the income of lychee farmers is indeed a test question.
The price has improved and the fruit is selling well
Has the price of lychee decreased? Indeed. Recently, the reporter saw on Jinshu Road in Dongguan City, where fruit shops are densely packed, that locally produced Guiwei lychees cost 9.9 yuan per kilogram and Nuomici costs 16.8 yuan per kilogram, while lychees with poor freshness are as low as 3.3 yuan per kilogram. "We are a fruit orchard direct seller. Last year, Guiwei lychee was sold for 14 yuan per kilogram, and Nuomici was sold for 18 yuan per kilogram. This year, we have a good harvest and are selling cheaper," a salesperson at the local "Mr. Guo" fruit store told reporters.
Is there a situation of "big diving"? Many orchards and procurement companies in different regions have not heard of it. Entering Mingerlang Farm in Dalang Town, Dongguan, workers are busy cutting and packing bright red lychees. "This year, the orchard has increased production by 20% compared to last year. We have sold 60000 kilograms of lychees, of which 90% have been sold out. The main varieties are glutinous rice balls and Guiwei, with an average price of about 25 yuan per kilogram." said Han Weiming, the general manager of the farm. In the main lychee producing area of Gaozhou City, Maoming, He Dawei, the general manager of Litchi E-commerce Fengsheng Food Co., Ltd., stated that he did not feel any signs of a "sharp decline" in the lychee market this year. "We are worried about the supply of goods, and the price is so high that we have never dared to process dried lychees. We started processing lychee in the middle of the 2021 season and only dared to process it towards the end of this year."
In fact, good varieties and high-quality lychees are not only not on sale, but also very scarce. Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan City is the main production area of Guanyin Green, one of the top ten high-quality lychee varieties promoted by Guangdong Province. According to Wang Minkang, the general manager of Lingnan Liyuan in Zhangmutou Town, about 30000 kilograms of Guanyin Green have been sold in Liyuan this year, with an average price of 80 yuan per kilogram, and more than 80% have been sold out. Huang Zhiqiang, the president of Dongguan Guiguan Litchi Professional Cooperative and Guangdong Litchi Craftsman, recently called out on his social media for the pre-sale of high-end lychees he has cultivated: "The new variety will be launched on the 26th at a price of 760 yuan per kilogram, with limited supply. Customers who want to buy it should quickly place an order."
Where did the term "great diving" come from? How to explain the price contrast again? "We should have a rational view on the price of lychees. The so-called 'diving price' is only a small-scale and phased situation. Lu Daming, Deputy Director of the Dongguan Agriculture and Rural Bureau, told reporters that this year's major production areas in Guangdong, such as Maoming and Zhanjiang, have been in high yields. Although the Dongguan production area is in the middle of the year, production has also increased. Due to the large number of lychees being listed and concentrated within one or two weeks, it has brought great challenges to sales.". Rainwater is the "natural enemy" of lychees. Before the Dragon Boat Festival, Guangdong's "Dragon Boat Water" rained continuously for several days. Some fruit farmers were afraid that lychees would burst on the trees, and they were also worried about unsold after the festival. In addition, rainy and cloudy days led to a decrease in the flow of leisure picking customers. Several factors combined, causing psychological turmoil among a few growers and selling lychees at low prices. With the weather clearing up after the Dragon Boat Festival, prices have already rebounded.
In addition, the price increase of high-end lychees also conforms to market trends. According to Lu Daming, the price fluctuations of lychee in Dongguan are mainly concentrated in the two high-yield popular varieties, Guiwei and Nuomici. However, the production of high-end lychee varieties is not high. With the recognition of Dongguan brand lychee by high-end consumers, some varieties are in short supply in high-end supermarkets in big cities and have long been fully booked. The production of Dongguan ice lychees this year is only about 10000 kilograms, and premium ice lychees can be sold for 760 yuan per kilogram in high-end department stores.
Dealing with fluctuations and cracking "checkpoints"
It is understood that lychee growers are sensitive to price information, whether it is "diving price" or "sky high price lychee", extreme price information often affects the confidence of lychee farmers and the healthy development of the industry. "When the 'Dragon Boat Water' is dense, we heard that some fruit farmers are selling good lychees at a low price of 2.8 yuan. We are very saddened. Of course, consumers hope for good quality and affordable prices, but this year they have enjoyed the 'lychee freedom' that the farmers are losing money on. The production may decrease next year, so it is crucial to maintain stable lychee prices," said Lu Daming.
This year's lychee season, leading enterprises in various fields such as agriculture and technology in Guangdong, as well as lychee distribution and processing, have actively taken action to address the "bottleneck" of lychee entering the market and dining table, supporting lychee prices and stabilizing the confidence of lychee farmers.
Severe weather is a major factor causing drastic fluctuations in lychee prices, and many regions in Guangdong have provided protection for lychee farmers through innovative agricultural insurance. The characteristic innovation lychee meteorological index insurance developed in Dongguan effectively reduced the losses of many lychee farmers during the "Dragon Boat Water" period. "Litchi meteorological insurance provides high coverage and simple compensation, making it very popular among litchi farmers. As long as the meteorological indicators such as heavy rainfall and strong winds meet certain conditions, there is no need to verify whether the litchi farmers have actually suffered losses, and a compensation of 5000 yuan per mu can be triggered. Since its launch last year, it has provided protection for 103000 acres of litchi, with a coverage amount of 300 million yuan. Many farmers have called early this year to inquire about government subsidies for insurance," said Mo Lingying, head of the Planning and Finance Department of Dongguan Agriculture and Rural Bureau.
The characteristic of lychee, which changes color in one day and fragrance in two days, makes the preservation ability of picking, storage, and transportation an important factor affecting the price. This year's lychee season, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology launched the "Technology Assists Rural Litchi Preservation and Income Increase Action", organizing research institutes and enterprises to go deep into the main lychee production area of Gaozhou City, Maoming, to carry out lychee pre cooling services and promotion of preservation technology, solve the "first mile" problem of preservation, and it is expected to complete 4000 tons of lychee pre cooling preservation treatment, drive farmers to increase sales by 40 million yuan, and reduce circulation losses for fruit farmers by 8 million yuan. At the same time, in response to the problem of insufficient transformation of lychee preservation technology, Guangdong has organized a lychee preservation technology integration and application demonstration project, driving the province's lychee farmers, cooperatives, and e-commerce to achieve preservation technology.
Extending the deep processing chain of lychee and expanding the industrial radius are also key measures to cope with market price fluctuations. Data shows that over 90% of Guangdong's lychee industry is mainly focused on fresh fruit sales, with a precision processing rate of less than 10%. In the past two years, Guangdong has vigorously promoted leading enterprises to purchase fresh fruits for deep processing, providing peace of mind for farmers. "Guangyao Wanglaoji has stabilized market prices for local lychee fresh fruit sales by purchasing large quantities of varieties such as black leaves and white wax that are not suitable for fresh fruit sales," Zhao Min, Executive Vice General Manager of Guangzhou Wanglaoji Health Industry Co., Ltd., told reporters. This year, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group has purchased 2 million kilograms of fresh fruits from multiple lychee cooperatives in Gaozhou, Guangdong for deep processing production lines. "In the past, when the production was high, some companies would lower prices to harvest. Now, large companies are participating in the deep processing of lychees, which has added new sales opportunities for farmers," said Lin Changzhen, the director of Baiqiao Agricultural Innovation Park.
Be a beautiful brand, Renren TESCO Group
In the long run, the stability of lychee market prices also depends on the multi pronged approach of the entire lychee industry chain in terms of variety, quality, brand, etc., and the establishment of an efficient market system. In this regard, various lychee producing areas in Guangdong are exploring tailored measures to local conditions.
"To play the lychee card well and solve market problems, Dongguan has the 'three searches'. Lu Daming said," One is to search for history. Dongguan had a large lychee garden during the Tang Dynasty, and the' Dongguan lychee 'has excellent quality and has been listed as an important agricultural cultural heritage in China. It can definitely play the historical and cultural card well. The second is to find a positioning. For many years, high-quality lychee varieties in Dongguan account for more than 80%. Among the top ten lychee varieties promoted by Guangdong Province, Guanyin Green, Bingli, Lingfengnuo, and Tangxiahong are all bred in Dongguan. Dongguan lychee is positioned as high-end and has a strong foundation. The third is that... "Looking for the market. Today, Guanli has gone out of Guangdong and held high-end brand promotion events in Beijing, Shanghai, and Changsha. Together with major channel merchants such as JD.com, Changsha Red Star Global Agricultural Batch Center, and Beijing Shouheng, we have developed the Guanli Tiantuan anime IP to cover public transportation, subway, and high-speed rail, gradually bringing the brand image of" high-end lychees out of Dongguan "into people's hearts."
It is worth mentioning that in recent years, the agricultural department of Guangdong has made every effort to promote the construction of the "12221" market system for agricultural products, launched "1" big data for agricultural products, formed "2" teams of sales area purchasers and cultivation of production area brokers, expanded the "2" large markets of sales and production areas, planned "2" activities of purchasers entering production areas and agricultural products entering large markets, and achieved "1" sub goals such as brand building, sales improvement, market guidance, variety improvement, and farmer wealth. Until today, the construction of the lychee market system has achieved remarkable results.
In order to help farmers achieve high yield and increase income, Guangdong held a promotion meeting for litchi marketing in early June, proposing to continue to play a good "12221" combination, guide litchi production and marketing with big data, integrate rural e-commerce resources with "Internet plus", continue to explore major domestic consumer markets such as Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Sichuan and Chongqing, and strive to expand international trade channels for litchi, "call the world to eat Guangdong litchi". At the same time, it is required that all regions make efforts to improve the lychee industry chain, promote variety optimization, ensure the quality of lychee during its listing period, strive to extend the industry chain, develop "lychee+" tourism, and expand channels for farmers to increase their income. "We are confident that by striving to create a market with stable prices, we can promote the healthy development of the lychee industry, achieve high yields and harvests for lychee farmers, and enable consumers to achieve 'lychee freedom'," said Lu Daming.
