Shentangbao Township Apples

Shentangbao Township Apples

　　"Round and rosy cheeks, crisp and sweet when you take a bite." This nursery rhyme describes the Fuji apples of Shentangbao Township in Fanshi County. In recent years, Shentangbao Township has focused on developing the Fuji apple industry as its signature “one township, one industry” initiative in mountainous rural areas, improving both the quality and scale of production. These large, sweet red apples have become a vehicle for local prosperity. To date, the township has developed six specialized fruit-growing villages (with a focus on Fuji apples), involving 850 specialized households, covering an apple orchard area of over 3,500 mu, with an annual output value of 23.7 million yuan. The Shentangbao Fuji Apple Base has become a high-quality fruit development base for Fanshi County and even Xinzhou City. Shentangbao Township will continue to improve varieties and develop premium products, further establishing the high-quality Fuji apple industry as a distinctive and wealth-generating sector integrating picking, sightseeing, and processing. Shentangbao Township is located deep in the mountains along the southeastern border of Fanshi County, bordering Lingqiu County to the north and Fuping County in Hebei Province to the south. National Highway 108 and the Shenfu Road run east-west through the area, making it a key transportation route into Shanxi from Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei. The region features overlapping mountains and crisscrossing valleys, with the Qingyang River and Dasha River flowing west to east into Fuping County in Hebei. The valley elevation within the jurisdiction is 690 meters, with an average annual temperature of around 6.8°C, a frost-free period of approximately 165 days, annual rainfall of 450 mm, and soil primarily composed of biologically weathered sandy loam—rich in moisture and fertile. This superior natural environment makes Shentangbao Township the most suitable and largest area in the county for cultivating both fresh and dried fruit trees.

　　As early as the 1990s, Shentangbao Township began planting the first generation of Fuji apple trees. At that time, administrative promotion played a relatively prominent role. The township government distributed saplings to residents and required every village and household to plant apple trees on all irrigated farmland. Under pressure from the local authorities, residents planted the trees as instructed, but within half a year, most secretly uprooted the saplings and planted crops instead. Only a very few villages, such as Yangshuwan Village, retained their orchards. After several years of hard work, Yangshuwan Village succeeded in apple cultivation, and the income of its residents increased significantly. The power of leading by example was clear—residents realized that planting apple trees could lead to prosperity. Starting in 1992, villagers across the township began planting apple trees on a larger scale voluntarily. From then on, the area covered by apple trees in Shentangbao Township gradually expanded, and by the beginning of this century, the construction of the Fuji apple base had taken shape.

　　After the new township Party committee and government leadership took office, they placed even greater emphasis on expanding the apple-growing industry, a wealth-generating sector. To address the degeneration of Fuji apple varieties, the township introduced improved strains, ensuring the apples maintained high quality and excellent taste. The township raised 2 million yuan to renovate a 2.2-kilometer road and irrigation system in the new rural park area. The local government mobilized residents of Qingyangkou Village to build a 200-mu dry and fresh fruit planting park on a stony wasteland, planting 7,200 Fuji apple trees, 2,100 cherry trees, and 1,300 chestnut trees, achieving a survival rate of over 95%. The park has begun to take shape and is expected to enter its peak fruit-bearing period in 6–8 years, with an estimated output value of nearly 10 million yuan and a per capita income increase of 18,000 yuan. In 2014, the total area of Fuji apple trees in the township reached 3,500 mu, raising per capita income by 450 yuan.

　　Significantly expanding the area under apple cultivation brought urgent challenges in orchard management, irrigation, and fruit sales. The Shentangbao Township Party committee and government adopted various approaches such as “going out and bringing in,” encouraging fruit farmers to learn from others’ experiences and inviting experts for guidance and training. At the same time, substantial progress was made in infrastructure development, including large-scale water conservancy projects, the promotion of pollution-free management techniques, and bagging technology. As a result, the commercialization rate of Fuji apples improved significantly. Now, the second-generation high-quality Fuji apple trees in the township have entered a virtuous cycle of organic production and industrialized management.

　　To provide comprehensive services for apple production, including pre-production, mid-production, and post-harvest stages, villages such as Yangshuwan, Cigouying, Shentangbao, Zhongyantai, and Hongya established specialized fruit cooperatives, with 100% of their members being farmers. The cooperatives established charters and independent financial accounting systems, with boards of directors and supervisory committees. They implemented unified management, packaging, marketing, and market connections across the township. County and township agricultural technology departments provided guidance on production techniques, planning and design, technical training, variety improvement, and grafting, as well as assisting farmers in procuring high-quality, fruit-tree-specific fertilizers and various micronutrients. Over 120 technical experts were trained. The cooperatives focused on technical guidance, professional training, trials and demonstrations of new varieties and technologies, and their promotion. They also developed fruit-growing zones—mainly apple orchards, along with pear, walnut, apricot, and other dried and fresh fruit plantations—covering a total area of over 5,000 mu, including 3,500 mu of apple orchards.