Visiting Sanya Durian Base: One durian connects an industrial chain

China News Service, Sanya, November 6th. Title: Visiting Sanya Durian Base: One durian connects an industrial chain

China News Service reporter Zhang Qianyi

In November, at the Youqi Toucan Durian Base No. 1 in Sanya Yucai Ecological Zone, hundreds of durian trees were neatly arranged and lush; workers shuttled among the trees to fertilize and weed, turning weeds into green manure on the spot.

Raise slowly, wait for a tree to "ripen"

At present, the durian base in Yucai Ecological Zone, Sanya City is the largest large-scale and modern durian planting base in China, with a durian planting area of 12,000 acres. The village collective participates in industrial development by investing in land.

The base mainly grows golden pillow durians, as well as Musang King, Black Thorn and other varieties. The fruit trees are 6 years old. It is not the fruit-producing period right now, and management and care require more patience: controlling the yield, thinning the fruit and cultivating the tree, tying a rope to the fruit when it is close to maturity, and waiting for it to fall off naturally.

"Durians need to be grown slowly, and quality cannot be rushed," Zhang Xilai, deputy general manager of Hainan Hongxiang Agricultural Group Youqi Investment Co., Ltd., told a reporter from China News Service.

This "slowness" hides the difference between domestic durians and imported durians. Due to storage and transportation considerations, durians from Southeast Asia often detach from the branches when they are six to seven years old and are slowly ripened during transportation. Sanya durians insist on hanging fruits on the branches until they are nine years old, allowing the starch to be fully converted into sugar, and they will naturally fall off after "ripening on the tree".

The fruit that waits like this has golden flesh, white inner shell, non-stick shell and non-stick core, a sugar content of over 34 degrees, and a rich aroma that is "like ice cream melting in the mouth." It can go from branch to table in the fastest 24 hours. Each durian has its own QR code, and the origin, variety, and picking time can be traced throughout the entire process.

"We feed the durian trees 'seafood'." Zhang Xilai said that the base has its own microbial organic fertilizer factory, which combines fish protein, soy protein and biological bacteria to customize a "nutritional meal" for the durian. "There is only one goal, which is to let the fruit stay on the tree and mature naturally."

The confidence in quality allows domestic durians to avoid low-price competition and anchor the high-end market. The sales territory has expanded from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to Heilongjiang, Xinjiang and other places.

Extend the chain to make durian a "sweet business card"

Behind “slowness” is the support of technology and industrial chain. Hainan Sanya Youqi Durian Science and Technology Institute was established in 2025. Zhang Fusuo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, serves as the chief scientist. Young teachers and students moved the laboratory into the orchard to tackle problems such as fertilization management and unstable quality.

At the same time, the base has built an intelligent management system to realize intelligent management and control of fertilization, watering, and pest control; a high-spray artificial rain system adjusts local temperature and humidity to form a microclimate suitable for durian growth. Through soil improvement, precise drip irrigation and digital management, the survival rate of durian seedlings has jumped from less than 30% to 98%.

A durian is connecting a longer industrial chain. In the Sanya Yucai Modern Agricultural Industrial Park, a durian processing plant covering an area of ​​63 acres has been put into operation; China's first intelligent durian AI detection and sorting line accurately grades based on the number of rooms and maturity, with a sorting accuracy of about 94% and an efficiency increase of 10 times. Durian candy, freeze-dried, snow-skin mooncakes, durian wine and other derivative products have been launched one after another, and "Durian Refreshing and Refreshing" has become a hot product at the food festival.

In view of the five-year fruit-bearing window period of durian, the base promotes intercropping models such as "durian + golden pineapple and pineapple" and "durian + fig".

"The durians haven't matured yet, so interplanting crops have yielded profits first." Zhang Xilai said frankly that pineapples are harvested twice in three years and figs are repaid in half a year. One land can earn two dollars.

The integration of agriculture and tourism also allows "small fruits" to become "big IP". Relying on the "Toucan Durian Base", the research base and the durian international exchange center under construction, Sanya has launched products such as orchard picking, fruit tree adoption, and themed B&Bs, and has received a total of more than 200,000 tourists. “Go to Sanya and eat food cooked on the trees” is becoming a regional public brand.

On the tasting table at the base, the "tree-ripened" durians kept fresh in the cold chain are still fragrant. "The fruit pulp is delicate and the aroma is rich, completely exceeding expectations." Zhao Jingnan, executive director of Thailand's "New Central Plains News" who came to visit, said that she was deeply impressed by the local method of planting durian, betel nut and other crops together. "It not only makes full use of land resources, but also reflects the innovative idea of ​​improving the comprehensive benefits of land according to local conditions."

Sanya is now promoting the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries with "planting foundation, processing value-added, and agricultural tourism empowerment" to make "Sanya durian" the "sweet business card" of Hainan's tropical fruits.