STORY: Prunes hit the market in China's Kashgar, benefiting local farmers
SHOOTING TIME: Aug. 9, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 18, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:36
LOCATION: KASHGAR, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST: 
1. various of the prune orchards 
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Uyghur): MOLAIJI YUSUPU, Farmer from Ayakelangan Village
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): KURBAN REYIM, Director of the Village Committee of Ayakelangan Village
4. various of the prune orchards

STORYLINE: 

Recently, prunes in Jiashi County, Kashgar Prefecture, China's Xinjiang, have ripened. 

SOUNDBITE 1 (Uyghur): MOLAIJI YUSUPU, Farmer from Ayakelangan Village
"I started planting prunes in 2014, and by 2018, they began to bear fruit. Last year, I cultivated 23 mu (1.53 hectares) of prunes and earned 650,000 yuan (90,815 U.S. dollars). This year, I expanded the planting area to 45 mu, so the income is expected to be even more substantial."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): KURBAN REYIM, Director of the Village Committee of Ayakelangan Village
"Ayakelangan Village in Yingmaili Town has 520 households and a population of 2,200. The village collectively cultivates 6,100 mu of prunes, with 3,000 mu currently bearing fruit. The income from prune cultivation averages 18,000 yuan per person."

Currently, Jiashi County has established a cold-chain storage system with a total capacity of over 150,000 tonnes. Freshly picked prunes can soon be shipped to cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, and Changsha.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kashgar, China.
(XHTV)