In 2026, Guangdong lychees are experiencing an economic off-year. The overall flowering rate in producing areas is less than 10%, and most orchards are facing reduced yields or even complete crop failure. Market purchase prices have surged from last year's 6 yuan per kg to over 60 yuan per kg. However, no matter how good the price may be, without any fruit at all, the value is zero.

So, where does the lychee's downturn come from? The decline in lychee production in 2026 is not a coincidental phenomenon.

In the first half of 2024, Guangdong experienced prolonged rainy weather during the lychee flowering season. The heavy rainfall directly washed away the flower buds, resulting in an almost total failure of that year's lychee harvest.

In 2025, the low-temperature conditions brought on by the late spring cold snap perfectly matched the needs of flower bud differentiation for lychees, ushering in a "super-abundant harvest year." However, the exceptionally high fruit yield depleted the trees' nutrient reserves, and coupled with an oversupply that led to sluggish sales, the situation became awkward: "harvesting costs exceeded selling prices." As a result, most fruit farmers experienced abundant yields but failed to increase their income, leaving them feeling increasingly discouraged: "If harvesting already results in losses, why bother fertilizing at all?"

But no one could have anticipated that in 2026, multiple adverse factors would converge: a warm winter disrupted the low-temperature vernalization process, a prolonged spring drought inhibited flower bud development, and, compounded by severe nutrient deficiencies in the trees, resulting in a dramatic plunge in fruit-setting rates. Consequently, lychee prices soared, yet the vast majority of orchards had no fruit to sell at all.

Just as the entire industry is mired in the predicament of reduced production, Chen Zheng, one distributor of Yonfer in Nianshan Town, Huidong County, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, has seen his over 600 lychee trees steadily yield more than 15,000 kgs of high-quality fruit, with an estimated income of around 900,000 yuan. What's his secret? It lies in the fact that while others are cutting back on investment, he's choosing to nurture his trees instead.

Chen Zheng (Left) and Yonfer's agronomist

As early as the summer of 2025, Yonfer Agricultural Services team predicted the industry trends for 2026: The key to breaking through in the economic off-year lies not in later-stage remedies, but in nurturing the trees from the very beginning, and introduced to Chen Zheng the "Yangfeng Dou + Bai Bei Bang" shoot-promoting and tree-strengthening fertilizer solution. Having cultivated lychee trees for 16 years, he has a deep understanding of fruit tree growth patterns and shares the team's philosophy perfectly.

In August 2025, after pruning the lychee trees, he applied 1.5 kgs of "Yangfeng Dou" combined with 1 kg of "Bai Bei Bang" 18-9-18 to each tree. This approach quickly repaired the tree damage caused by heavy fruiting in the previous year, enabling the overburdened fruit trees to gradually regain their vigor.

A sufficient reserve of early-stage nutrients laid the foundation for subsequent flower induction. In December 2025, Chen Zheng's lychee trees successfully overcame the challenge of difficult flower induction during warm winters by employing his self-developed flower-induction technology and supplementing it with nutrient-rich complementary fertilizers.

In March 2026, his orchard boasted lush, well-developed flower clusters and uniformly abundant blooms, creating a striking contrast with the sparsely flowered orchards in the surrounding area.

Stabilizing flower retention is just the first step. The "Dragon Boat Festival Rain" from Qingming to Dragon Boat Festival in Lingnan region represents another significant hurdle for lychee fruit set and enlargement. To address the challenges throughout the entire cycle, from fruit setting and enlargement to color change, Chen Zheng switched to one of Yonfer's fertilizer "Yangfeng Zhizun", produced by the AZF process, combining both rapid and sustained release of nutrients, ensuring a continuous supply of essential elements to the trees even during rainy weather. As a result, it effectively reduces fruit drop and cracking.

 Chen Zheng's orchard

At harvest time, his lychees reached the standard premium grade size of 3.1 to 3.3 centimeters in diameter, with bright, vibrant skin and virtually no signs of black spot disease. They boast high sweetness and superior quality. The entire orchard consistently yields over 15,000 kg of fruit.

On June 10, Yonfer held a demonstration event at Chen Zheng's orchard. More than 50 large-scale lychee growers braved the rain to attend. "While other orchards have almost completely lost their harvest, his trees are laden with ripe fruit!" Growers at the scene exclaimed as they held up bunches of fruit, immediately asking about his secret. They explicitly stated that they will choose Yonfer's solution next year.

 The demonstration event

Chen Zheng's story is just a microcosm of Yonfer's efforts to help farmers increase their yields and incomes—and it also exemplifies a testament to the role of Yonfer's high-quality fertilizers in helping and benefiting farmers.