At the very moment, citrus sales were at peak season. The reporter learned from the City Citrus and Tea Office that the opening was pretty good since the citrus selling work was launched. Up to October 7th, the accumulated sales volume of citruses have reached 439,000 tons in Yichang, accounting for 12.4 percent of estimated total production of 3.5438 million tons. Now the sale of Yi才hang precociously sweet oranges was ended and the oranges were sold well.

The reporters understood that, because of continued drought, the citrus is small but the proportion of fruit size is large this year. But many enterprises, including Yang Hong, Xing Xiang and Ju Yuan based on the global, initiatively explored emerging export markets, developed different marketing strategies according to the different market demand, improved the sale price, which have driven the sales for oranges vigorously. It was introduced by Zhang Yanghong, the president of the Yang Hong Fruit Industry that citrus mainly sells to Singapore, Russia and Canada at present. The most sale amount of citrus would be loaded in 12 refrigerated trucks each day, with 28 tons of citrus each car, the total amount reaching more than 330 tons and the sale price was 4.4 to 5.2 yuan per kilogram now. “This year the purchasing prices of the citrus in Yang Hong Fruit Industry were over 2.2 yuan per kilogram, the majority prices of which were 2.2 to 2.6 yuan per kilogram, the highest price even realizing 2.8 yuan per kilogram.” Zhang Yanghong said that the industry opened the door to purchase all the citrus growing in Yiling district, regardless of the size, which means that as long as the sellers can guarantee their citrus growing in Yiling district by the identity card of Yiling district and the industry would purchase the all oranges.

Besides, Zhijinag Ju Yuan Citrus Cooperative, by actively exploring the international market has exported 26 refrigerators to the Russian market with the sale price of RMB 4.8 to 6.0 yuan per kilogram at present. Xing xiang Citrus Cooperative Associations in Yiling district, as the working hard day and night of its 4 waxing processing enterprises, has exported Yichang oranges called as Yi Ling Hong to many countries, including Myanmar, Russia, Kazakhstan, Singapore, with the total volume reached 5066 tons in the price of 7.6 to 8.0 yuan per kilogram, earning US $ 3.83 million.

The municipal Citrus and Tea Office suggested that taking advantage of the brilliantly oversea and domestic market at present, all districts should encourage and promote the waxing plants and the sale of large households to vigorously explore the potential market and improve the selling price. Meanwhile, we should strengthen the publicity and promotion of citrus, actively guide the consumption, proactively exploit the second and third tier cities’ market, expanding the sales volume.

According to reports, with a cultivated area of 2.0329 million mu of citrus in Yichang this year, the yield is expected to reach 3.5438 million tons, which all hit a new high again. Compared with its 3.007million tons of the annual report in 2015, the output has increased 17.85%. However, from the aspect of output of the main cultivars in Yichang，there are 2.3936 million tons of Wenzhou Tangerines, accounting for 67.5% of the total output of oranges, which has become the absolutely dominated varieties of citrus-planting in Yichang. In addition, yields of oranges in Yichang are 5728 thousand tons, accounting for 16.1%; pokan and others are 5281 thousand tons and 493 thousand tons, accounting for 15% and 1.4% respectively.（Journalist Li Pengfei, Correspondent Wen Zhonghua）