The Soursop of Weizhou

The Soursop of Weizhou

　　Soursop, also known as breadfruit or jackfruit, is an evergreen tree of the Moraceae family. It is a unique aggregate fruit formed by the fusion of many female flower ovaries growing on the floral axis, taking on an irregular oval shape. Its skin is covered with soft thorns, and the fruit is enormous—each typically weighing up to 5 kilograms.

　　 Soursop is a subtropical fruit and one of the specialities of Weizhou Island. Major varieties include dry-bagged soursop, semi-dry soursop, and wet-bagged (also known as oily) soursop. Weizhou soursop is renowned for its fragrant, sweet, and crisp tender flesh, especially the dry-bagged variety, which is particularly favored. The soursop has been cultivated on the island for nearly a century, but in the past, only a small amount was planted, mainly in a few villages in the central and western parts of the island. A soursop tree generally takes 4 to 5 years to bear fruit, and the yield increases year by year. A single tree can produce anywhere from a dozen or twenty fruits (about 100 kilograms), to thirty to fifty or even over a hundred (more than 200 kilograms). When autumn arrives each year, the fruits ripen and emit their fragrance, ready for harvest.

　　 Visitors to the island can enjoy the beautiful scenery of vast soursop and banana plantations in every village and household courtyard, and taste the fragrant, sweet, and tender soursop and bananas, indulging their taste buds. Taking a beautiful photo of a soursop tree and tasting the soursop is one of the popular activities for visitors.

　　As the fame of the Weizhou Island National Geopark continues to rise, tourists from both home and abroad flock to the island for sightseeing. In recent years, the Weizhou Town Party Committee and government have tailored strategies to the local conditions, actively guiding farmers to develop tourism agriculture and courtyard economy, and vigorously promoting the cultivation of premium crops such as soursop. Planting soursop not only adds scenic beauty to the ecological environment of Weizhou Island, enhancing the charm of the rural landscape, but also increases farmers' economic income. Currently, soursop has become one of the main cash crops grown by farmers on the island. Nowadays, visitors can enjoy the beautiful scenery of vast soursop and banana plantations in every village and household courtyard, and taste the fragrant, sweet, and tender soursop and bananas, indulging their taste buds. Taking a beautiful photo of a soursop tree and tasting the soursop is one of the popular activities for visitors. In the yard of a villager named Uncle Su in Shiluo Village, there is a soursop tree that bore over 100 fruits this year, attracting a continuous stream of visitors coming for sightseeing and photos.

　　According to statistics, among the island’s more than 3,000 farming households, each grows at least three to five soursop trees, and some as many as ten, eight, or even twenty to thirty. There are a total of over 10,000 soursop trees on the island (including nearly 100 century-old trees), covering a total area of 600 acres. This year is another bumper harvest year, with an estimated total output of over 1,000 tons. It is now the golden autumn season, and soursop is being harvested and brought to market in succession. The selling price is 2 yuan per kilogram, with an expected total sales revenue of over 1 million yuan. Each farming household in the town can increase their income by over 200 yuan. Nowadays, more than 5 tons of soursop are sold daily to other regions and purchased by visitors to the island.