The 2023 China Vegetable Industry Conference opened in Hunan's Hanshou County on November 8. The conference was themed "Science and Technology Empowers Quality Improvement".

Ten new applicable sci-tech achievements in vegetable planting and a China vegetable industrial map were released at the conference. Nearly 200 quality and new varieties of field vegetable planting as well as 70 sets in 13 varieties of vegetable machines were presented.

Sixteen projects were contracted between Hanshou County and the clients from home and abroad, with a total contract value of more than 1.8 billion CNY.

As an important annual event of the vegetable industry, the conference has become a brand and a benchmark for the exchanges in China's vegetable industry. China had topped the world in vegetable planting area and output for consecutive years. In 2022, the vegetable planting area hit 337 million mu (nearly 22.5 million hectares), and the vegetable output reached about 800 million tons. The output value of vegetable industry amounted to about 2.6 trillion CNY, accounting for about 20% of the total of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery sectors. Vegetable industry has become a pillar for the farmers in the main producing areas to increase their income and become rich. The import and export value of vegetables has ranked first in the world for 11 consecutive years, with a trade surplus of 16.62 billion USD last year.

Hanshou County is a key county for national vegetable production, an assured vegetable production base of Hunan Province, and has been included in the "vegetable basket" project for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It has 450,000 mu (30,000 ha.) of vegetable planting area, producing an annual output of 1.8 million tons and a comprehensive output value of 6 billion CNY. Hanshou's Jade Arm Lotus Roots, pumpkins, chili peppers, and cabbages are widely famed. These products are popular in 27 provinces and municipalities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong; and, exported to more than 10 countries and regions including the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Singapore. The annual export volume amounted to 45,000 tons.

This conference focused on seed and seedling, mechanization, protected-field vegetable cultivation, and other topics. More than 40 experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from the vegetable industry chain had in-depth discussions on the hotspot and challenges of the vegetable industry development.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn