ZHENGZHOU, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-six farmer households in northwest China were recently compensated for losses due to a drop in apple prices, in an "insurance plus futures" hedging project.

China, the world largest apple grower and consumer, launched the world's first apple futures contracts on Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange in Henan Province in December 2017, to help growers hedge against risks amid price fluctuations.

According to the exchange, the compensation was made Thursday in an "insurance plus futures" hedging project jointly initiated by a futures company and an insurance company that offers price protection for 100,000 kg of apples.

As the market price has been lower than the target price, 26 households of impoverished apple growers in Shaanxi Province received a total of 94,000 yuan (14,870 U.S. dollars) in compensation.

China's apple output has been increasing over the past decade. It had 2 million hectares of apple trees with an output of 43.88 million tonnes in 2016, accounting for 57 percent of global supply.

Apple growing is key to China's poverty alleviation campaign, as many of China's impoverished areas rely on apples as a major income source.

China has been stressing the role that financial services play in the real economy, and issued futures contracts for commodities including white sugar, soybean meal and cotton yarn.