In the planting of the most Laiyang pear in the town of Zhaowangzhuang Lu'ergang village, he pointed to a five gnarled branches of the old pear tree, said: "This is the oldest preserved so far! 'Pear Tree King', the age of the tree has been more than 400 years, and every year it is still full of fruit."
Shui Mu Tou village 38-year-old farmer Wei Jianqiang, explained to the reporter Laiyang pear area of the reasons for the sharp decline: "Laiyang pear, although famous, but the appearance of rough, intolerant of storage and transportation. Under the tree, at room temperature can be stored for up to 7 days or so. Therefore, some years ago, the market price of Laiyang pear fell year after year, to 1996, only two cents per kilogram RMB. Many local farmers see Laiyang pear is not profitable, they began to have introduced Fengshui pear, golden pear and other Japanese and Korean varieties, grafted on the parent of Laiyang pear." His original 70 acres of Laiyang pear, 3 years ago, all transformed into Fengshui pear. The price is higher than the Laiyang pear several times or even dozens of times, but because of the good appearance, good taste, storage, in foreign markets is very hot.
When the Laiyang pear area is shrinking, facing the danger of disappearing, Laiyang city government officials are determined to protect this unique variety of China. Mayor Yu Songbai told reporters, "But instead of administrative intervention, we guided companies to save the Laiyang pear by developing its medicinal functions." According to the "Compendium of Materia Medica", Laiyang pear has the effect of "moistening the lungs, relieving coughs, resolving phlegm and regulating qi".
Laiyang City Tianfu Group has become the protection of Laiyang pear "merit". Jiang Zhide, general manager, said: "In 1999, we bought equipment, began to produce Laiyang pear juice. That year, the price of pears per kilogram rose by 40 cents RMB compared with the previous year. Now, the annual processing capacity of Tianfu Group has reached 100,000 tons, and the price of pears is more than two yuan per kilogram. Because the enterprise guarantees the farmers to plant the pear income, the remaining 1000 hectares of Laiyang pear has been preserved. Moreover, the planting area will be expanded in the future, because Laiyang pear juice belongs to the green health drink, which is very popular with consumers."