By outdoor-nature-child.com In Shanxi’s Jixian County, the harvest season for the Red Fuji apple is in full swing, with over 300,000 acres of apples ripening and farmers taking advantage of the good weather to gather their fruit. On October 23, a service team from the State Grid Jixian Power Supply Company, known as the Taihang Dawn Communist Party Service Team, stepped into the apple orchards to lend a hand. They worked overtime assisting farmers with harvesting, transporting, and storing apples to minimize the negative impacts of cold and frost, ensuring a bountiful yield for the local farmers.
Jixian County is renowned as the “Hometown of Chinese Apples,” with the apple industry playing a significant role in the local economy. In 2010, “Jixian Apples” were registered for geographical indication protection by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, solidifying their status as a high-quality variety both domestically and internationally. According to relevant organizations, the regional public brand value of Jixian apples exceeds 3 billion yuan.
From last year to this year, the apple industry is entering a phase of modernization. Local authorities have established 2,410 acres of efficient demonstration apple orchards, adopting a high-density, dwarf planting model. These orchards are equipped with drip irrigation and micro-spraying systems, as well as integrated water and fertilizer facilities. Additionally, non-toxic pest control lights and modern agricultural machinery have made farming easier and more efficient for growers.
Yang Chaohui, President of the Jixian Apple Industry Development Association, shared insights about the new cultivation methods. “In traditional apple farming, it takes seven years for trees to bear fruit. With the dwarf planting model, trees start producing fruit in the second year, achieving full yield by the third year,” he explained.
He further expressed gratitude for the strong support from the power department during the establishment of the orchards, stating, “Whatever land we assemble, electricity follows. Especially during planting, we needed irrigation, and the power department promptly provided electricity, ensuring the effective cultivation of our high-density orchards.”
The construction of dwarf high-density apple demonstration orchards serves as a driving force for the high-quality development of Jixian’s apple industry. Due to the underdeveloped root systems of dwarf apple trees and their high planting density, water usage is significant. With most areas in Jixian being mountainous and lacking existing irrigation facilities, new water storage reservoirs or wells are essential. This has created an urgent need for additional transformer installations to meet the electrical demands.
In April of this year, the Jixian Power Supply Company proactively reached out to 16 dwarf planting orchards in the county to address their irrigation power needs. They tailored electricity plans for the orchards, enabling five of them to connect to nearby transformer stations while others required new stations to be built. Currently, there is a total investment of 3.256 million yuan for power infrastructure improvements involving 10 villages and 11 plots of land. This project includes the construction of 5.635 kilometers of 10 kV lines, 0.955 kilometers of 0.4 kV lines, 13 sets of three-phase isolation switches, 11 new transformers with a total capacity of 1,200 kVA, and the installation of 73 poles and 10 towers, facilitating a remarkable transformation of Jixian’s apple industry.
During the apple sales season, cold storage is crucial for preserving quality. The service team actively visits various fruit companies to ensure safe electricity use. They focus on checking power lines and distribution equipment for potential hazards, safeguarding businesses during the storage period.
As industries develop, they also seek assistance from the “electric butler.” Shanxi Jimai Fresh Biotechnology Co., a pioneer enterprise in Jixian’s modern agricultural industry demonstration zone, has a total investment of 312 million yuan and features four 200-cubic-meter freeze-drying food production lines, a double-channel digital sorting machine for apples, and a 5,000-square-meter cold storage facility. After receiving the company’s application for electricity installation in March, the Jixian Power Supply Company assigned a dedicated customer manager who quickly surveyed the site and proposed solutions for power access, aligning with the client’s construction schedule.
Yang Feng, Director of the Marketing Department, noted, “We planned in advance considering the characteristics of the enterprise, investing 1.2 million yuan to construct 5.6 kilometers of new and upgraded lines, shortening the construction period by three months compared to the original plan, achieving our goal of making ‘electricity wait for the project.’”
In recent years, the Jixian Power Supply Company has invested over 7.03 million yuan in supporting the electric grid for the entire apple industry chain, including seedling growth, cultivation, storage, and processing, providing robust electrical support for the thriving agricultural sector in Jixian.