Lychee output to plummet in Guangzhou

Due to prolonged rains in Guangdong province, the output of lychee from Zengcheng, a county-level city in Guangzhou, is expected to drop by 40 percent this year.

Yao Wenhao, deputy director of Zengcheng agricultural bureau, confirmed the steep drop in lychee production, adding that just 7,900 tons will be produced because of persistent heavy rains over the last two months.

Zengcheng is a major production base of the subtropical fruit. Its lychee plantations take up 11,470 hectares of land.

Yao said a seed tree that produces a prized variety of lychee and bore fruit that sold for more than 550,000 yuan ($89,600) in an auction, has only yielded about 100 lychees this year.

Local authorities recently held a three-day lychee carnival that ended on Monday. More than 100 fruit producers from Thailand also attended the event to showcase their tropical and subtropical fruits.