In August 2018, in the orchard of Tianba Village in Lincang, the fruit of the macadamia nuts hang in a bunch of shoots, and in a few days until the White Dew Festival in September, these fruits will be fully ripe. Buyers have been waiting for Macadamia nuts many days, known as the Queen of Nuts.

Macadamia nuts becoming “Money Tree”

This is the 12th year of the first macadamia tree planted in Tianba Village. Macadamia nuts have flowered and fruited after early cultivation. Few years later, the macadamia tree in Tianba Village will enter fruit-abundance period that last for 70 years.

Among the villagers who planted, Wang Xining, a large planter, became an example of the villagers to follow: In 2016, Wang Xining had an income of 280,000 Yuan from macadamia planting . In 2017, Wang Xining‘s income reached 1.16 million Yuan. The land can grow millions of dollars in annual income that people couldn’t imagine in past.

Obstacle on promoting, The village secretary takes the lead to demonstrate

The road to poverty alleviation in Tianba Village was not going smoothly. In 2006, YunAoDa Group, a leading enterprise of Macadamia nuts, hoped to contract Tianba Village to grow Macadamia nuts in order to further develop the Macadamia nut industry and expand the planting area in Yunnan. The villagers who make a living from sugarcane were discouraged by this unknown thing-- Compared with the annual ripening of sugar cane, although the yield of macadamia nut is much higher than the income of 1250 Yuan per mu of sugarcane, the macadamia tree will not bloom until 3-4 years, and it will enter the fruit-abundance period after 8-10 years. What they concerned were possibility of no blooming and bearing fruits, planting and maintenance skills, market price and buyers’ issues. Although the YunAoDa Group has repeatedly promised to provide quality seedlings, mature technology, and take responsibility for acquisitions,  it still couldn’t dispel the concerns of the villagers.

（Promise for providing quality seedlings did not dispel concerns of villagers）

At that time, Wang Xining, a former village party secretary, knew that the income of sugarcane could not lead the villagers who earned a few hundred Yuan per capita to alleviate poverty. After in-depth review, Wang Xining decided to take the lead in planting macadamia nuts. He and YunAoDa's employees walked to the villagers' house and persuaded them to plant nuts and give them seedlings. However, villagers were interested in immediate interests instead of a long term consideration.

（Orchard of macadamia nut）

With the initial success of Wang Xining's orchard and YunAoDa experimental field, macadamia nuts were gradually accepted by the villagers. Total 37,800 mu of land in Tianba Village was planted with macadamia nuts, and 541 villagers also received income from the planting of macadamia nuts. From A few hundred dollars to 10,000 Yuan a year, every family had a better life. These are just a microcosm of the macadamia nut industry. The largest area of macadamia nuts was planted in Yunnan. In 2017, the output value of macadamia nuts is 600 million, and the per capita income increased to 2,300 Yuan.

Yunnan macadamia industry is gradually moving towards the center of the world

In Yunnan, besides Lincang, many areas benefited from macadamia nuts, such as Dehong, Pu'er, Banna, Baoshan, Honghe More than 300,000 households in the province were driven to develop macadamia nuts. Planting enterprises and growerrs have twisted into a rope. Enterprises help growers to alleviate poverty and promote the development of the entire macadamia nut industry in Yunnan.

According to Xie Hui, deputy director of the Forestry Department of Yunnan Province, by the end of 2017, the planting area of macadamia in Yunnan Province has reached 2.62 million mu, accounting for 56% of the global macadamia planting area. Xie Hui said that by 2020, the planting area of macadamia nuts in Yunnan Province will reach 4 million mu. The fruiting rate will increase from the current 12% to 30%. The area of fruit will increase from 320,000 mu to more than 1 million mu with the output of macadamia nuts increasing from the current nearly 20,000 tons to 200,000 tons. The comprehensive output value will exceed 10 billion Yuan.

At the same time, the development of the macadamia nut industry in Yunnan has gradually attracted the attention of the peers in the world. From October 17 to October 20 this year, the 8th International Macadamia symposium will be held in Lincang. Yunnan macadamia nut has played a important role in the international macadamia nut industry. Macadamia nut is expected for a bright future.