每到甘蔗成熟季，雷州半岛的热风里，总是飘着一股清甜的蔗香。作为全国重要的糖料生产基地，湛江甘蔗规模化制糖产业已有百年历史。
When the cane is ripe, the hot wind on the Leizhou Peninsula carries a clean sweetness. Zhanjiang has milled sugar at scale for a hundred years, and it is one of the country’s important sugar bases.
从早年连片本土老品种蔗林，到如今全程机械化作业的现代种植产业园，这株清代便扎根雷州半岛的甜秆，汲取数百年阳光雨露，酝酿出属于湛江独有的甜蜜底色。2025年，湛江糖蔗种植面积达到157.9万亩，年产量946万吨，糖蔗产量占广东全省六成以上，成为名副其实的广东「糖罐子」。
The cane has been in this peninsula since the Qing. The fields have gone from old local varieties to parks that plant by machine. In 2025 the sugar-cane area was 1.579 million mu and output 9.46 million tonnes, more than 60 percent of Guangdong. That is the sense of the local name: the province’s sugar jar.
蔗田间种下百年传承A hundred years, planted between the rows
湛江甘蔗的种植基因，早已镌刻在雷州半岛的红土脉络之中。作为国内适宜甘蔗种植的热带区域之一，充足光热、疏松透气的火山红壤，造就本地甘蔗汁多渣脆的特质，糖分表现优于国内多数产区。早在清代，徐闻、遂溪农户便开畦种蔗，采用传统土法熬制红糖，蔗糖依托海上商路销往国内多地，并出口南洋。
The planting is written into the red earth. Light, heat, and a loose volcanic soil make a juicy cane with a brittle fibre, and a sugar level above most Chinese regions. As early as the Qing, households in Xuwen and Suixi opened rows and boiled brown sugar in the old way. It moved by sea to other parts of China and out to Southeast Asia.
上世纪中后期，湛江甘蔗产业迈入规模化发展阶段，一批老牌糖厂陆续建成投产，生产的白砂糖曾供应华南地区大部分市场，「湛江糖甜」的口碑走进千家万户。在老一辈湛江人的记忆中，秋冬蔗田甜香弥漫；儿时放学，在田埂掰一段甘蔗啃食，清甜汁水满口，是独属于热带乡土的童年滋味。
From the middle of the last century the industry scaled up. Old mills came on line, and their white sugar supplied much of south China. For an older generation the fields smelled sweet in autumn and winter. A stick of cane on the way home from school was the taste of growing up here.
过去蔗农种蔗，最大难题在于砍蔗用工量大、人工成本高。如今北斗智能农机开进连片蔗田，深松、开沟、种植全流程作业误差控制在3厘米以内。以往十余人耗时一周才能完成的千亩蔗地播种工作，现在一台农机数日即可完工。目前，湛江甘蔗耕种收综合机械化率超76%。
Cutting used to take the most labour. Beidou-guided machines now loosen, furrow, and plant with an error inside 3 centimetres. Work that once took more than ten people a week on a thousand mu can be done by one machine in a few days. Mechanisation across ploughing, planting, and harvest is above 76 percent.
品种培优是产业提质增效的核心关键。遂溪等甘蔗主产区持续迭代升级，大力推广粤糖94-128、粤糖06-233等抗风、高糖、高产的优质新品种。适配雷州半岛台风多发的气候特点，新品种抗倒伏、抗逆性更强，稳产能力突出，持续优化甘蔗蔗糖分。
Varieties are the other lever. Suixi and the other main counties have pushed Yuetang 94-128 and Yuetang 06-233, bred for wind, sugar, and yield. On a peninsula that takes typhoons, they lodge less and hold a crop more steadily.
在标准化种植之外，当地农户创新探索「甜蜜增收模式」，做起了蔗田复合种养加法。通过蔗行间套种花生、毛豆，蔗田边角闲置区域散养走地鸡鸭，实现一亩土地多重产出，让蔗田附加值持续攀升，农户亩均综合收入提升近三成。
Beside the standard planting, households add peanut and edamame between the rows, and chickens and ducks on the corners. One mu gives more than cane. Combined income per mu is up by nearly 30 percent.
一根甜秆的后半段What happens after the stalk is cut
如果说甘蔗种植是湛江甜蜜产业的基底，百年熬糖技艺叠加持续迭代的深加工技术，则为甘蔗产业注入全新动能。湛江不少传承百年的老糖坊，保留连环锅古法熬糖工艺，慢火熬制的老红糖完整留存甘蔗养分与天然蔗香，一杯红糖姜茶，是当地居民秋冬经典暖食。
Planting is the base. A hundred years of boiling, plus newer processing, is the next force. Old workshops still use a line of pots and a slow fire. The brown sugar keeps the cane’s own smell. Brown-sugar ginger tea is the local warm drink of autumn and winter.
依托深厚的产业底蕴，湛江古法红糖逐步走出乡土、打响品牌，依托「湛品」区域公共品牌赋能，培育出冬源、绿丰等本土特色红糖品牌，凭借零添加、原生态的品质优势收获广泛好评。优质精品红糖市场售价较普通红糖高出2至3倍。
That old sugar has also taken a brand. Under the Zhanpin name, local marks such as Dongyuan and Lüfeng sell a brown sugar with nothing added. The better grades fetch two to three times the ordinary price.
现代科技赋能产业新生，湛江依托金岭糖业等本土糖业龙头企业，持续完善绿色循环全产业链体系，打破传统制糖产业单一生产模式，真正实现一根甘蔗「吃干榨尽、零废利用」，推动区域糖业朝着绿色化、标准化、规模化方向升级。创新采用「榨季产糖+非榨季加工」双生产模式，打通种植、精深加工、仓储流通、品牌销售全链条。
Mills such as Jinling are building a cycle that uses the whole stalk. The old single season of sugar is paired with processing outside the crush, so planting, finer processing, storage, and branded sales sit on one chain.
依托本土优质甘蔗原料与特色斑兰香料资源，湛江持续丰富甜蜜产业产品矩阵，陆续推出斑兰风味蔗香软糖、多款古法手工红糖甜品、冷榨纯蔗汁饮品等创新农创产品，让传统蔗糖突破单一调味属性，变身年轻化、本土化特色文旅伴手礼。
Local cane and pandan now also make soft sweets, handmade brown-sugar desserts, and cold-pressed juice. Sugar is no longer only a seasoning. It is something a visitor can take away.
从数百年前田埂零星种植，到如今集种植、加工、文旅于一体的多元甜蜜产业，这根生长于红土之上的甘蔗，承载着湛江代代延续的乡土风味，也是湛江热带特色产业赋能乡村振兴的鲜活实践。
From scattered rows on a field edge to planting, processing, and visits on one industry, the cane carries a local taste from one generation to the next. It is also a working case of a tropical specialism used to support the countryside.
9月22日至24日，第一届湛江热带农产品促消费活动将在湛江奥林匹克体育中心盛大启幕，湛江蔗香，邀您共赴甜蜜之约。
From 22 to 24 September the fair was to open at the Olympic Sports Centre. The cane’s smell was the invitation.