Hongmei Apricots Take Root in Shaanxi Village, Paving Way for Rural Revitalization

Spring breeze breathes life into the hills and valleys of Dengjiagelao Village, Lijia Ta Town in Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province, where rows of newly planted Hongmei apricot saplings stretch across the landscape, their tender shoots adding a touch of vitality to the village while nurturing local villagers’ hopes for higher incomes.

Nestled in the hilly and gully region of the Loess Plateau, Dengjiagelao Village once relied heavily on traditional coarse grain cultivation, suffering from a single industrial structure and low economic benefits. A common sight in the village was villagers struggling to earn a decent living from farming, leading many to migrate to cities and leave their homes vacant.

In 2026, the new village leadership team aligned itself with Qingjian County’s development strategy of “building the county through ecology, enriching it through industry, and invigorating it through culture and education”. Leveraging the village’s natural endowments of high altitude, abundant sunlight and large temperature differences between day and night, and following Lijia Ta Town’s “one village, one garden, one industry” layout, the team designated Hongmei apricot cultivation as the leading industry for rural prosperity, striving to carve out a distinctive development path.

Industrial development in the village is guided by Party building. Taking the lead, the village Party branch coordinated with its supporting unit, CCCC Xizhu Co., Ltd., to raise over 10,000 yuan. The branch sent personnel to Suide to cooperate with high-quality seedling suppliers, selecting 4,000 robust and high-survival-rate Hongmei apricot saplings, which were distributed free of charge to 63 permanent households in the village—an average of 50 saplings per household. Covering a planting area of 200 mu, the initiative has not only revitalized idle land and courtyard spaces but also sown “seedlings of prosperity” for the villagers.

To ensure full industrial coverage, the village work team and the “two committees” (village Party branch and village committee) focused on assisting households without labor force, planting saplings and watering them door to door. Drawing on agricultural science and technology guidance experience, they taught villagers planting, management and pest control techniques hand in hand, urging them to strengthen daily management to maximize the survival rate of the saplings.

“I am grateful to the village work team and the ‘two committees’ for giving us such good apricot saplings and teaching us how to plant and manage them carefully,” said Bai Wu, a villager, holding a sapling with a bright smile. He pledged to take good care of every sapling, develop the fruit planting industry wholeheartedly, and achieve prosperity through hard work with his own hands.

Liu Tao, Secretary of the village Party branch, stated that the assistance has not only filled the gap in the village’s characteristic fruit industry but also widened the channels for increasing income. The village plans to secure more supporting funds in 2027 to plant another 4,000 Hongmei apricot saplings, expanding the total planting area to 500 mu. It is estimated that the apricots will enter the peak production period in 2029, bringing an annual increase of 20,000 yuan per household. In the future, the village will further extend the industrial chain to enhance industrial benefits.

Dong Shimin, the first secretary of the village work team, noted that the next step will be to simultaneously strengthen the Chinese medicinal materials industry, improve the industrial chain and enhance the value chain. He emphasized that both the Hongmei apricot and Chinese medicinal materials industries will become the “solid support” for rural revitalization, leading villagers to steadily move towards common prosperity and making the “golden fruits” of Hongmei apricots sweeten the lives of farmers and spread their fragrance far and wide.

China Daily reports that industrial development is the fundamental solution to rural revitalization, and developing characteristic industries based on local conditions is an important path to enrich farmers and revitalize villages. The practice of Dengjiagelao Village echoes the guidelines outlined in the Rural Revitalization Plan (2024-2027), which emphasizes developing rural industries with unique local features to boost farmers’ income.