2nd Navel Orange Picking Festival kicks off in Yanmenxi Village

On December 2, the second Navel Orange Picking Festival was held in Yanmenxi Village, Pushi Town, Luxi County, Xiangxi Prefecture, and over 30 units, enterprise representatives, and local villagers from Hunan attended the festival and tasted navel oranges.

At Huayuanping Cultural Square in Yanmenxi Village, villagers celebrated the joy of harvest with singing and dancing. Guests tasted the sweet and refreshing navel oranges while enjoying the wonderful performances. During the on-site ordering activity for navel oranges, many merchants placed orders and the villagers were delighted and encouraged.

“The navel orange is a good gift for family and friends in winter, with rich orange flavor, and sweet taste,” said a merchant.

In the picking garden, the navel oranges hung on trees covering the mountains. Everyone enjoyed picking navel oranges and experienced the joy of harvest.

“Luxi County is the hometown of ponkan oranges in China, with a long history of cultivation. Children can experience the profound historical culture and abundant products of Luxi by picking navel oranges in the garden,” said Mr. Yang, who came with his son. “Rural revitalization depends on industrial revitalization. Thanks to the technical support of Hunan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the continuous assistance of the resident working team, the navel orange in the village has achieved a simultaneous improvement in output and quality. This year, the navel orange also has a bumper harvest, with an output of 400,000 kilograms and an output value of nearly 3 million yuan,” said Tang Haili, Party secretary of the village.

Since 2015, Yanmenxi Village has made efforts to strengthen the industrial foundation and scientifically planned the industrial development layout. It has established the Yunong Fruit and Vegetable Planting Professional Farmer’s Cooperative of Luxi County, built a 500-mu (about 33.33 hectares) navel orange demonstration base, and registered the navel orange brand of “Puyun Gaoshan”, in a bid to promote the integrated development of the navel orange industry of over 1,500 mu (100 hectares) in the village. Yanmenxi Village is committed to improving the quality, taste, and brand of navel oranges. The navel orange industry in the village has become a leading industry to promote the modernization of the agricultural industry in Luxi County and help rural revitalization. Due to a great reputation of the brand, navel oranges are in short supply. In 2022, the village collective economic income from navel oranges alone increased by nearly 700,000 yuan.

During the festival, over 40,000 kilograms of navel oranges were ordered on site, with a total order amount of 380,500 yuan.