From a bird's view, anti-hail nets can be seen across layered terraced orchards along the hills. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In Jingning county, Gansu province, apple blossoms are coming into bloom across the terraced hills of Shuangxian town, where rows of silver-white anti-hail net frames line the slopes.

Built on galvanized steel ridge-frame structures and fitted with high-density polyethylene mesh, the nets are designed to block hailstones larger than 4 millimeters to mitigate the impact of frequent hailstorms.

Shuangxian is a production base for Jingning apples, a national geographical indication product, with about 3,200 hectares of orchards. The industry generated around 250 million yuan ($35 million) in 2025, providing livelihood for 3,410 households.

Workers collaborate to install metal frames for anti-hail nets in the orchard. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

As the farming season gathers pace, the township is accelerating the installation of anti-hail nets.

"In the past, hail damage often resulted in poor fruit quality and heavy losses," said Fu Dandan, a farmer who manages about 10 mu of orchards. "During the rainy season, we used to worry every day about hail ruining a year's work."

This year, the town government secured funding and introduced supportive policies to invest 1.2 million yuan to build anti-hail nets across a 200-mu contiguous orchard in Youjia village, marking a shift from weather-dependent farming to technology-based risk management.

From a bird's view, anti-hail nets can be seen across layered terraced orchards along the hills. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

More than 1,000 mu of orchards have been equipped with anti-hail nets free of charge in recent years, local officials said.

"Future upgrades will include solar-powered insecticidal lamps and color traps, as well as digital orchard management to improve standardization and precision," said Wu Zhongxing, deputy head of Shuangjian township. "These measures will lay a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the Jingning apple industry."

Anti-hail nets and solar-powered insecticidal lamps safeguard orchard production. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]