Off-season dragon fruit planting bring wealth to villagers in S China's Hainan (3)

Aerial photo shows a dragon fruit planting base lit up by additional lighting equipment at night in Meixi village, Yazhou district, Sanya city, south China's Hainan province. (People's Daily Online/Niu Liangyu)

The cultivation of off-season dragon fruits in Meixi village, Yazhou district, Sanya city, south China's Hainan province has not only expanded the collective economy of the village but has also boosted villagers’ incomes.

The off-season production of dragon fruits grown on a planting base of 120 mu (8 hectares) of land in the village has been made possible through the use of artificial lighting. The additional lighting equipment installed at the base is able to light up the night sky during the off-season growing period for the fruit. At present, the dragon fruit growing in the base is expected to ripen in about five days, with an estimated yield of 300 kilograms per mu.

“These dragon fruits are cultivated with off-season production technology, and their prices are usually higher than that of seasonal ones,” said a manager at the planting base, adding that off-season dragon fruits also taste sweeter.

The base has provided plentiful job opportunities for local villagers, enabling them to work near their homes. It has hired 11 regular workers and often recruits many temporary workers during the harvest season. One villager working at the base as a regular worker said that he can earn a monthly income of about 4,000 yuan (about $625.6).

The village started to plant off-season dragon fruits at the base in 2019 and has now achieved an annual yield of about 4,000 kilograms of fruit per mu.