Shaanxi Luochuan Apple

Luochuan, Shaanxi Province, is known as the “Hometown of Apples”. The apples produced here are famous for their excellent color, aroma and taste. It has excellent quality, beautiful fruit shape, uniform size, clean fruit surface, bright color, crisp and dense flesh, high sugar content (2% to 3% higher than other local apples), sweet and delicious, moderate hardness, and storage resistance (in soil It can be stored in cave dwellings until April to May of the following year) and ranks first among similar apples in the country. It is famous all over the world and is well-known at home and abroad. The county is listed as one of the important production bases for apple export in the country, with annual sales of hundreds of millions of kilograms.

Distribution

Luochuan apples are the best in the world. Luochuan apples are concentrated in the Weibei Loess Plateau, with Luochuan as the center in the cities of Yan'an, Tongchuan, Weinan and Xianyang. The orchards are distributed for thousands of miles.

Variety

There are as many as 47 excellent apple varieties in Luochuan, among which Hongxing, Hongmarshal, Hongguan, Red Fuji, Guoguang, Qinguan and Huangmarshal are the best. In previous apple competitions organized by the province and the country, the quality of Luochuan apples ranks among the best. In 1974, at the National Apple Variety Identification Conference, its total score was higher than that of American snake fruit and it became famous at home and abroad. In 1978, at the Shaanxi Provincial Standard Appraisal and New Variety Appraisal Conference, Luochuan Red Star and Red Crown ranked first and second in total scores, and all evaluation indicators reached high quality. In 1985, Luochuan Marshal and Guoguang Apple were rated as provincial high-quality agricultural products. In 1991, it won the Silver Award at the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" Spark Expo of the State Science and Technology Commission. In 1994, at China's first Yangling Agricultural Products Expo, three varieties including Luochuan Red Fuji won the Houji Golden Statue Award. In October 1995, at the Second China Agricultural Products Expo, Luochuan Apple won 13 gold, 7 silver and 1 bronze awards, which shocked the world at home and abroad. Due to its high quality, Luochuan apples have long been famous and are sold well in 24 provinces and cities across the country and exported to Thailand, Singapore and other countries, as well as Hong Kong and Macao. Market competitiveness is strong. It has become one of the leading products of Shaanxi's foreign trade.

Nutritional value

As a famous specialty of Shaanxi, Luochuan apples are rich in nutrients and of high value. It contains about 85% moisture, 16.2% sugar, 0.38% to 0.63% malic acid, and also contains various vitamins and minerals. These are indispensable nutrients for the human body. In addition to being eaten raw, it can also be cooked, pickled, dried, baked, and processed into canned fruits, preserves, jams, fruit cakes, preserved fruits, juices, fruit wines, fruit vinegars and other excellent products for people to enjoy.

Apple is used as a medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that it has a neutral nature and a sweet taste. It has the functions of nourishing blood and replenishing qi, quenching thirst, promoting body fluids, appetizing and strengthening the spleen. It can be used for indigestion, poor appetite, stomach fullness and gas. For those with blocked blood, eat it raw or take it with squeezed juice, which can help digestion and smoothen the flow of energy and increase appetite. Modern medical research has found that apples can prevent cholesterol from rising, reduce blood sugar levels, and treat high blood pressure and diabetes. It can also reduce chronic poisoning caused by environmental pollution. Modern medical research also shows that apples have antidiarrheal and laxative effects. When treating simple mild diarrhea, just eating apples without medication is also effective. Because the organic acids contained in apples can stimulate the intestines, and the fiber can promote intestinal peristalsis, they can clear the stool and treat constipation. It also has the functions of nourishing the brain and replenishing sleep. It is also rich in vitamin C1, which has a positive inhibitory effect on cancer. Apple also has the functions of recovering from fatigue and maintaining skin fitness. Therefore, apples have always been praised as "friends of health care" at all times and at home and abroad.

Climate conditions

Why can the quality of Luochuan apples win the first place in the country? Apples like an environment with a cool and dry climate, deep soil, good drainage, sufficient sunshine, and a large temperature difference between day and night. The suitable conditions for growth are average annual temperature between 7 and 15°C, more than 1,100 hours of sunshine from April to September during the growth period, annual precipitation of 500 to 800 mm, and an altitude of about 1,000 meters.

Climate and regional advantages

Shaanxi Luochuan belongs to the gully and hilly area of ??the Weibei Loess Plateau, with a warm temperate semi-humid continental monsoon climate, with an average annual temperature of 9.2°C and an average annual sunshine of 2552 hours. , the total radiation amount reaches 123.6 kcal/cm2, with 1373 hours of sunshine from April to September, the average annual precipitation is 622 mm, and the altitude is about 1100 meters, with strong ultraviolet light. From June to September, the long coloring period, the sunshine rate Reaching 56%, it is a high-value sunshine area, which is conducive to the accumulation and operation of photosynthetic substances in apples, and has advantages for apple cultivation. Luochuan has a frost-free period of 180 days, with less severe cold in winter and no extreme heat in summer. The average temperature over the years is 16.3°C from April to October and 20.9°C from June to August. The maximum temperature difference between day and night during the entire growth period is 12.6℃ and the minimum temperature is 9.5℃.

The effective growth period from April to October has an average temperature of 10.7°C, which is conducive to apple cultivation and sugar accumulation. During the apple growth period from April to September, approximately 540 mm of rainfall is needed. The precipitation in Luochuan from April to September is 507.1 mm. The disadvantage is that precipitation is unevenly distributed throughout the year, mostly concentrated in July, August, and September. However, due to the good water storage capacity of loess, uneven precipitation can be adjusted and used through soil storage to form advantageous water supply conditions for apple cultivation. Luochuan belongs to the Loess Plateau with a deep soil layer. The loess layer is 80 to 220 meters thick. It has a medium soil texture, strong permeability, coordinated supply and demand of water and fertilizer, and contains about 1% organic matter. The soil is neutral to alkaline, making it an excellent soil for apple cultivation. Therefore, as early as the 1960s, scientists confirmed that the Weibei gully and hilly area was the geographical and climate resource zone for apples in Shaanxi. In the 1980s, in the national apple climate zoning, Luochuan was listed as my country's famous Loess Plateau high-quality and high-yield area. It is one of the few apple eugenic climate areas in my country and an ideal area for the development of high-quality apples in my country; there is sufficient sunshine and strong ultraviolet rays. , the temperature difference between day and night is large, the air humidity is low, and there are few pests and diseases. Therefore, the fruits are brightly colored, high in sugar content, rich in fragrance, high in quality, resistant to storage and transportation, and have special commodity value and economic value. This is an important reason for the high quality and high yield of Luochuan apples.

Cultivation scope

Luochuan apples have an area of ??508,000 acres since 1947, accounting for 71% of the total cultivated land area. By the end of 2003, the total apple output reached 300,000 tons. The total income is 430 million yuan, and the per capita fruit income of farmers is 1,800 yuan. It is planned that by 2005, the per capita apple area of ??the agricultural population will be 3.1 acres, the annual output will reach 450,000 tons, the apple industry income will be 700 million yuan, and the per capita apple income will be 3,000 yuan, accounting for 80% of farmers' income.

At present, more than 3,000 fruit storage warehouses of various types have been built, with a storage capacity of 130,000 tons, including 1 air-conditioned warehouse, 120 cold storages, and a reserve of 60,000 tons; 280 fruit warehouses and 2,342 earth warehouses. Block, with reserves of more than 70,000 tons. There are 2 juice production plants with a fresh fruit processing and conversion capacity of 150,000 tons; 4 fruit bag production plants with an annual output of 500 million pieces; and 7 fruit net production plants with an annual output of 500 million pieces. There are more than 320 enterprises and large households engaged in apple distribution, with more than 2,000 intermediary brokers. They have established more than 50 direct sales points in major and medium-sized cities across the country, and have established trade windows at 8 surrounding ports. In recent years, National Highway 210 Luochuan The section has spontaneously formed more than 300 sales corridors focusing on fresh fruit wholesale and retail. Nearly a thousand merchants gather in Luochuan during the sales season, and more than 200 freight vehicles are operating Luochuan apples. Apple's packaging, materials, freight, labor, information center and other market and service facilities are sound, and the soft sales environment is relaxed and orderly.

There have been Dr. Forstall (USA), Vice Chairman of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Miya Sugai, a Japanese arborist Fuji cultivation expert, Yasuhiro Nagai, a Fuji dwarf cultivation expert, Toshio Nomura, etc., from Italy, the Netherlands, France, Experts from Germany and other countries came to Luochuan for inspection. 46 experts including Xue Shizhao, Wang Jingyan and Zhang Guiyan from the National Fruit Research Institute came to inspect and teach technology. In 2002, our county was officially listed as a pollution-free apple production demonstration county by the Ministry of Science and Technology. A 100,000-acre production base jointly designated by Northwest A&F University and our county is under construction. In 2003, it was identified as a demonstration county for the advantageous agricultural products (apple) industry by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Development History

Luochuan County is located in the south of Yan'an City, in the ravine area of ??the Weibei Loess Plateau. It is an agricultural county with apple as its leading industry. The county has a total area of ??1,804 square kilometers, a total of 64 kilometers of cultivated land, and jurisdiction over 7 towns, 9 townships, 1 sub-district office, and 371 administrative villages. The total population is 204,000, including 161,000 agricultural population. Luochuan is uniquely endowed with natural resources to develop the apple industry and is universally recognized as the best eugenic area for apples. It has been successively identified as a demonstration county for the industrialization construction of national superior agricultural products (apples), a demonstration county for standardized production of high-quality pollution-free apples, a demonstration county for food safety (apples) and the only "one county, one industry" demonstration county in Shaanxi Province. Luochuan apples have become the exclusive apples for the Great Hall of the People, Gouyutai State Guesthouse, Chinese Women's Volleyball Team and the Olympic Games. In October 2010, Luochuan County's "Luochuan Apple" geographical certification trademark was recognized as a well-known trademark in China by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China, and was approved by the People's Republic of China and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce on October 8. Announced on the website of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. "Luochuan Apple" was selected into the top 100 regional public brands of agricultural products in China with a brand evaluation value of 2.523 billion yuan