China News Service, Haikou, September 13 (Reporter Huang Yi) The price of fresh coconuts on Hainan Island has repeatedly hit record highs. The current retail price of coconuts on the Haikou market has doubled from last year.

　　Hainan Island is called "Coconut Island". The coconut planting area is about 500,000 mu, accounting for more than 90% of the country's coconut output.

For a long time, Hainan's coconut production can only meet the fresh food consumption on and off the island.

The coconuts needed for deep processing industries such as coconut drinks are imported from Southeast Asian countries.

　　"Last year, the retail price of coconuts was about 6 or 7 yuan (RMB, the same below), but now it is as high as 15 yuan per piece." Mr. Wang, a small coconut shop owner in Haikou, said, "Coconuts are going crazy!" A reporter from China News Agency visited Haikou. Many places have found that because the price is too high, many small shops that used to sell coconuts no longer stock.

Citizen Ms. Huang complained in the circle of friends: "Buying a coconut to sip near home has become a luxury."

A woman roughed up fresh coconuts.

Photo by Luo Yunfei

　　According to the reporter's understanding, it takes about three to four links from picking by farmers and growers to first-level wholesale, second-level wholesale and retail, and each link has a price increase.

　　In the famous coconut forest in the eastern suburbs of Wenchang, Hainan, Zheng Gang, a coconut purchaser, told reporters that in the past years, Wenchang could pick coconuts all year round, but there was almost no fruit to pick from this year to August. If you want to buy large quantities, you can only wait for November Wenchang. A new round of coconuts from major producing areas such as, Qionghai are on the market.

　　Why does Hainan's fresh coconut "worth" double?

Li Rufa, director of the Forestry Reform and Development Division of the Hainan Forestry Bureau, said that the continuous low temperature and cold wave at the beginning of this year was the main reason that the coconut output was lower than in previous years.

In addition, with the strong recovery of Hainan's tourism industry, the demand for coconuts as a specialty tourism consumer product has increased sharply. Coupled with the popularity of coconut beverages in China this year, the imbalance between supply and demand has been exacerbated and the price of coconuts has skyrocketed.

　　According to Li Rufa, Hainan's coconut production growth was weak due to limited planting land, single varieties, and insufficient supply of seedlings.

In recent years, Hainan is striving to increase the self-sufficiency rate of coconuts by promoting coconut seedlings, creating high-yield and high-efficiency planting bases, and expanding the coconut cultural tourism industry.

　　In addition, the reporter learned from several local coconut processing companies in Hainan that due to the intensification of the new wave of new crown pneumonia in Southeast Asia, the price of imported coconuts has continued to rise since the beginning of this year, and there is currently no trend of decline.

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