China Agri news #6, 2021

Gansu's fertile terraces supply vegetables to China

Lanzhou in Gansu province has a good climate and natural conditions to grow vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, bamboo shoots and celery. The three main vegetables of Lanzhou are Chinese cabbage, lotus vegetables and cauliflower. Yuzhong county, in Lanzhou, sells annually about 60,000 metric tons of highland vegetables to the Bay Area. It aims to export more healthy and fresh highland vegetables to Belt and Road Initiative countries and regions.

Now, Yuzhong serves as a demonstration zone for the planting of pollution-free vegetables. Last year, Yuzhong planted 22,311 hectares of highland vegetables. Output reached 690,000 tons with a turnover of 1.74 billion yuan (ca 225 million Euro), according to the local government.

Currently, Yuzhong has nearly 90 cold store warehouses that can store some 180,000 tons of vegetables at a time. Of which, 90 percent will be sold to Guangdong province, Fujian province, Zhejiang province and Shanghai, and another 10 percent of the vegetables will be transported to Hong Kong and Taiwan along with Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The rapid development of vegetable planting has also driven growth of related sectors such as packaging, transportation and catering services and helped these sectors achieve an added output value of more than 2.2 billion yuan annually (ca 290 million Euro), according to the local government. Source: China Daily

The draft amendment to the Seed Law approved

Liu Zhenwei, Deputy chairman of the Agriculture and Rural Committee of the National People’s Congress, stated that this amendment aims to expand the scope of protection of intellectual property rights of new plant varieties, extend the protection links, improve the level of protection, and increase the protection of the seed law and ultimately, use the system to stimulate original innovation vitality in agriculture industry. Source: Farmers’ Daily 

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs secure a bumper autumn harvest

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stressed targeted disaster prevention and mitigation measures in different areas to secure a bumper autumn harvest on Aug 17. According to the ministry, the agricultural situation is generally stable, with a bumper harvest of summer grains, which increased by 2.1% this year.

In about 50 days, the large-scale harvest of autumn grains will start. The government is taking measures to secure the production and supply of agricultural products. This includes the  adjustment and transportation of agricultural materials such as pesticides, veterinary drugs, and feeds..

China meteorological authorities forecasts more frequent extreme weather conditions in August and September, with more regional rainstorms, floods and droughts, which could affect the autumn harvest. Source: MARA & Farmers’ Daily 

Fishing ban in the South China Sea ended

The 3,5 months of summer fishing ban in the South China Sea ended on August 16. Fishing vessels in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other places have started fishing again. The summer fishing moratorium is currently one of the most important fish conservation systems in China. Source: MARA