[Explanation] Macadamia nuts, also known as macadamia nuts, are native to Australia.
Lincang, Yunnan Province, is located in the southwestern border of China. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the territory, with abundant sunshine and distinct dry and wet seasons. It is one of the most suitable regions for growing macadamia nuts in the world.
In 1991, Lincang City began to introduce macadamia nuts for trial planting. After more than 30 years of hard work, it is now the largest macadamia planting base in the world.
[Concurrent] Xiao Lihua, a villager in Nongba Village, Gengma Town, Gengma County, Lincang City
Every household in our village grows nuts, and the average farmer has eight or nine acres. We have planted nuts on the mountainside here.
Then there is a cooperative. There are four or five large growers. They have a little more planting area, 40 to 50 mu, and there are also 40 to 50 mu, 60 to 70 mu.
[Explanation] Nongba Village belongs to Gengma Town, Gengma Dai and Wa Autonomous County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province.
Since 2002, Gengma County, in accordance with the development idea of "industrialization of ecological construction, ecologicalization of industrial development", has launched a unified policy of providing macadamia seedlings for the whole county by the forestry department.
Thanks to the government's support, Xiao Lihua's macadamia plantation area in his village has exceeded 2,000 mu, and the villagers have benefited significantly.
[Concurrent] Xiao Lihua, a villager in Nongba Village, Gengma Town, Gengma County, Lincang City
Our seedlings and technologies are supported by the government.
At present, it has been planted for eight or nine years.
Our nuts have basically reached the peak yield period, and we can harvest a little more than 1 ton per mu, and then its production value is about 13,400.
Usually we can also use our nut base to engage in under-forest planting and breeding to increase the income of our farmers.
[Explanation] Up to now, the macadamia planting area in Lincang has reached 2.6277 million mu, more than half of the world's macadamia planting area, and it has become the core production area of macadamia in the world.
The distinct industrial advantages have attracted many nut processing enterprises to settle in, but how to open up the market has become an urgent problem to be solved.
By cooperating with retail platforms, the solution to this problem has been accelerated.
Intensive processing of nuts at the place of production has increased the added value of the product, extended the industrial chain, and assured sales. Domestically produced nuts have directly driven local employment and increased farmers' income.
[Concurrent] Gu Chaowei, director of Gengma Yilan Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
Gengma County, Lincang City has a large area of nuts.
Before us, there was no complete nut processing production line locally.
We also saw this opportunity and came to the local area to invest and build a factory in 2019, and put it into production in 2020.
The products are mainly sold to Kunming, Chengdu, Hunan, Xinjiang and other places, and online sales channels have also been opened on major e-commerce platforms. Consumers across the country can easily purchase high-quality nuts from Lincang, Yunnan.
This year, there is plenty of rain and a bumper crop of nuts. So far, we have processed nearly 3,000 tons of macadamia nuts (macadamia nuts), achieving an output value of more than 40 million yuan and driving more than 60 local jobs.
[Explanation] Among the employees who Gu Chaowei said is driving employment is Geng Ma's "post-95" youth Zhang Qiang. After graduating from Yunnan Pu'er University majoring in food quality and safety in 2020, he returned to this company in his hometown to work in quality inspection. The development of the nut industry is the main motivation that attracted him to return to his hometown.
[Concurrent] Zhang Qiang, quality inspector of Gengma Yilan Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
My family also planted more than 50 acres of nuts, but my parents didn't know much about nut planting, so the yield and quality couldn't keep up.
So the reason I came back home was to improve the yield and quality of this nut, and to use the major I had learned.
At the same time, I also want to share this kind of nut planting technology with our villagers, so as to improve our nut planting technology and drive the development of our nut industry.
[Explanation] At present, it is the peak season for Zhengzheng nut sales. Through community e-commerce, domestic nuts are selling well all over the country.
This year, 2,500 tons of domestic macadamia nuts have been sold across the country through retail platforms, driving direct economic benefits of about 40 million yuan, directly or indirectly driving more than 8,000 local farmers to increase their income.
The industry has grown and grown, farmers have increased their income and become rich, and young people who have returned to their hometowns have bright eyes.
The little macadamia nuts that came across the ocean have now become a real "sweet pastry".
Reported by Yuan Hongkai, Qiu Bing and Li Zhentao in Lincang, Yunnan
Responsible editor: [Luo Pan]