In mid-September, the hillsides of Chengbei Natural Village in Xinze Village Committee, Hedian Town, shed their summer greenery as the local late-maturing Red Globe grapes entered the peak harvest season.
In the vineyard belonging to villager Yang Runquan, more than a dozen hired workers were busy picking, sorting, and packing. Bunches of round, purple-red grapes were manually screened to remove damaged and cracked berries, then graded into premium, first-class, and general categories based on cluster appearance, berry size, and sugar content before being packed and loaded onto trucks for markets in various regions.
Mr. Liu, a buyer from Binchuan Jiasheng Company, has been purchasing grapes here for five consecutive years. "The grapes here come to market about a month later than those in Binchuan, and the quality is quite good. Our company mainly does export business, and we come here every year to buy because the grapes are very popular in the market," he said.
Yang Runquan has been growing late-maturing Red Globe grapes for eighteen years, with a planting area of 15 mu. Since the grapes hit the market in early August, her family has completed three rounds of sales, and the total net profit is expected to reach around 200,000 yuan after all are sold. Yang Runquan said: "The purchase price for the last batch was over six yuan per kilogram, and this batch is 5.6 yuan per kilogram. This year the grape clusters are well-formed, with large bunches weighing about seven jin and most clusters around five jin, with a yield of about 3 tons per mu."
Chengbei Natural Village enjoys abundant sunshine and large temperature differences between day and night, making it highly suitable for growing late-maturing Red Globe grapes. Also known as Red Globe or late red grapes, this variety has a growth period of over 160 days and a long hanging time on the vine, allowing sufficient sugar accumulation. The flesh is firm and crisp, resistant to storage and transportation, and by missing the peak season for early grapes, it achieves off-season sales.
To maintain fruit quality, Yang Runquan adheres to standardized field management, focusing on water and fertilizer control and pest and disease prevention, while continuously updating planting techniques to ensure full berries, even coloring, intact bloom, and meeting sugar content standards, thereby securing stable returns.