Due to the opening of the Hanzhong citrus orchard in October, the cities estimated citrus output this year could reach 35 million tons or more. This is an increase of 3.6% compared with last year. On 2 November, Hanzhong's accumulated citrus sales amounted to 100,000 tons, accounting for 28.6% of the predicted output. Main sales areas are: Gansu, Xinjiang, Jilin, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Hebei. Also exports are gradually conducted to Russia, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.
Citrus fruits from the Hanzhong orchard have a price of 1.8 Yuan per kilo. While prices of other fruits are in decline this year, citrus prices are slightly higher compared with last year. This is due to good production and marketing.
For the last few years, Hanzhong prefecture took the quality of fruit as a starting point for the implementation of the superior citrus project and to actively promote the standardization of pollution-free fruit production technologies. Furthermore, the city has increased its investments in orchard pest control and fertilizer management.
In addition, the abundant rainfall in May and June this year is causing the citrus fruit frequency to be high. The amount of fruit per tree is increased, the fruit size is uniform. About 70% of the outcome is small fruit (5 - 7 cm).
There is a substantial difference between day and night temperatures since September, this is good for the accumulation of fruit sugar. The sugar content is high and the fruit texture is good. The product is inline with market demand for consumption.
There are 40 citrus sorting lines in Hanzhong; the daily processing ability amounts to more than 4000 tons. In the city there are already eleven companies with direct citrus export capabilities. The amount of citrus export will grow substantially.
