Lychee industry drives Baiqiao village's economy

Baiqiao village in Genzi town, Gaozhou, a county-level city under Maoming's administration, has been strengthening its lychee industry to drive economic development.

Covering an area of 5.2 square kilometers, Baiqiao village is located in southwest Guangdong province, where lychees are mostly found in China.

Lychee trees like high temperature and humidity. Baiqiao village is located in the golden zone of lychee planting, with a history of more than 2,000 years. At present, the village's lychee planting area spans 6,800 mu (453 hectares), accounting for more than 87 percent of the village's cultivated land area.

Almost every family in Baiqiao village grows lychees, produces dried fruits, and makes honey. In 2022, the per capita net income of the village reached 51,000 yuan ($7,420).

In 2012, He Dawei, a villager in Baiqiao village, and his wife Luo Zhixia founded Gaozhou Fengsheng Food, as well as established the Baiqiao longan and lychee professional cooperative. At present, the company has developed the fifth generation of a machine for peeling lychees and obtained an invention patent certificate for it. Compared with traditional manual methods, its efficiency is 10 times higher.

Led by the Baiqiao longan and lychee professional cooperative, a growing number of villagers are using e-commerce to sell lychee.

Gaozhou has 129 agricultural products processing enterprises above designated size, with an annual processing of 780,000 metric tons of agricultural products. The brand value of Gaozhou lychee reached 12.22 billion yuan.

Lychee trees in Baiqiao village. [Photo/WeChat account: maofabu]