Nandan county in Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, recently trained more than 100 kiwi fruit farmer households from 11 villages and towns, making it the largest kiwi fruit cultivating county in the region.

The training session was organized by a local poverty alleviation group, the fruit cultivation and agricultural departments, aiming to teach farmers practical farming techniques to help them become better-off.

In recent years, the kiwi fruit industry has been regarded as a key industry for poverty alleviation in Nandan. At present, its cultivated area has reached 12,000 mu ($1,848 hectares), the largest in Guangxi. The government work report plans for the county to plant a further 1,500 mu of China's national fruit this year.

Due to the characteristics of kiwi such as a short bearing period, high output, good returns and large number of consumers, much social capital has been invested in the industry. Last year, businessman Liu Xingqi invested 10 million yuan ($1.54 million) to build a 500 mu kiwi fruit base in Lazhe village; businessman Mo Genyuan invested five million yuan for a 360 mu base in Zheyuan village and Guangxi Modern Garden Company invested one million yuan for a 100 mu base in Baping village. These new bases boast large scale output, high standards and modern technology, improving efficiencies in the industry.

Nandan also introduced refrigeration units to prolong the storage period. The county now has three kiwi fruit cold storage fresh-keeping storehouses, able to store 200 tons of fruit at any one time. Another storehouse with a capacity of 300 tons is currently under construction.

Edited by Owen Fishwick