Nanyang, Henan: Reliable Power Supply Safeguards a Bountiful Harvest of the “Sweet” Industry

Ripples dance across the Danjiang Reservoir as rows of aprium trees in the thousand-mu orchard of Zhongziping Village droop under the weight of ripe fruit. “The temperature control system in the cold storage warehouse runs 24 hours a day, and the sorting line operates smoothly—stable power supply is the backbone of our ‘sweet industry’,” said orchard owner Chen Fenghua, beaming with joy as he looked at the freshly harvested Fengtang plums. Recently, employees of State Grid Nanyang Power Supply Company have been shuttling between orchards and cold storage facilities, reinforcing the power network that safeguards the region’s “green wealth.”

As the core water source area for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project’s central route, Nanyang’s Xichuan County has in recent years focused on developing ecological fruit farming, striving to establish a national-level demonstration county for green orchard development. Taking advantage of its unique soil and water resources near the Danjiang Reservoir, Zhongziping Village has established a thousand-mu demonstration orchard cultivating varieties such as aprium, Black President, Black Amber, and Fengtang plum. The result is an ecological industrial chain of “flower viewing in spring, fruit tasting in summer, and river tourism in autumn,” which draws a steady stream of visitors from Shaanxi and Hubei provinces. “In the past, we depended on the weather. Now with sufficient electricity, the drip irrigation system waters precisely, the cold storage extends freshness, and the fruit sells at a premium price,” said an employee of the Laocheng Power Supply Station while adjusting an infrared thermometer. He added that the team regularly conducts “health checks” on orchard irrigation equipment and cold storage wiring, replacing aging cables and testing leakage protection devices to strengthen the electrical safety net for the fruit industry.

This summer’s drought accelerated the ripening of apriums, prompting the power company to launch a “localized + specialized” service mechanism. They established a grid-based network with designated personnel, responsibilities, and service points. At the agricultural product sorting and trading center in Zhongziping Village, automated processing lines wash, grade, and package the fruits in rapid succession. “Five mu of orchard brought is over 60,000 yuan in net income, and the purchase price is higher than last year!” Chen Fenghua calculated his earnings, attributing the boost in efficiency to modern sorting equipment powered by a reliable electric supply. At the site of a distribution network upgrade, workers were installing new transformers and optimizing line layouts to ensure uninterrupted power during peak irrigation periods. Data shows that in recent years, State Grid Nanyang Power Supply Company has continuously advanced distribution network upgrades, providing stable electricity for drip irrigation systems, cold-chain logistics, and deep-processing workshops in fruit production bases.

After the rise of rural e-commerce, the demand for electricity in warehousing, preservation, and cold-chain logistics has grown more refined. Looking ahead, State Grid Nanyang Power Supply Company plans to roll out “one-stop” power services tailored to enterprises across the fruit industry chain. From transformer capacity expansion to line inspections, customized solutions will be offered to ensure that the power business environment grows in step with the orchard economy. Today, the aprium trees along the banks of the Danjiang Reservoir serve not only as an ecological shield for the water source, but also have become a “money tree” for local villagers under the empowered by electricity—drawing a vibrant picture of rural revitalization where ecological conservation and industrial development go hand in hand. (By Quan Shuai, Zhang Wei)