Cubanelle peppers spice up Xingshan's economy
2023-08-07 18:08:00
By Yan Wanqin, Yichang International Communication Studio
It's peak season for picking green cubanelle peppers in Xingshan County, Yichang City.
It's peak season for picking green cubanelle peppers in Xingshan County, Yichang City.
Photo by Zhao Jie.
Around 2 pm, villager Wei Kaizhu is loading boxes of freshly picked peppers onto a truck in Zhenzi Town, Xingshan County. The truck will be driven more than 1,000 kilometers, and by noon the following day residents of Yangzhou City will be able to get their hands on these peppers.
Wei returned to his hometown in 2016 to plant peppers and is now one of the largest growers in town. He currently farms 101 mu (6.7 hectares) of cubanelle green peppers.
Peppers are generally ready for harvesting from July to September in Zhenzi Town, usually across five or six batches. Yearly income for the farmers is largely dependent on the harvest over these two months.
Photo by Zhao Jie.
Zhenzi Town sits at an average altitude of 1,300 meters, an average annual temperature of 10.4 degrees Celsius, and an average summer temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. These conditions make it suitable for growing alpine vegetables.
"In the late 1990s, the local government began to develop alpine vegetables. More than a dozen varieties of vegetables have been introduced, including cabbage, broccoli, celery, radish, and snow peas. Eventually, people chose to focus on growing peppers," said Gan Liangxu, director of the Zhenzi Town Agricultural Technology Service Center.
He added that the town consists of 38,000 mu of arable land, and the vegetable planting area is over 20,000 mu, of which the peppers account for 95 percent.
Photo by Zhao Jie.
The green cubanelle pepper is the most famous vegetable from Zhenzi Town. The big swings in daytime and nighttime temperatures along with the deep soil with organic matter make the peppers grown here thin-skinned with excellent flavor, according to Gan.
Due to their high quality, Zhenzi peppers are sold across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Hefei and other provinces. Anhui province is now one of the pepper’s biggest markets, with another being Jiangsu province.
"I sold 140,000 boxes of peppers in these two places last year," said Zhang Chaoyin, a leader of a professional vegetable cooperative in Xingshan County.
In addition, local people have adopted a unique planting method - growing peppers alongside corn.
Due to their high quality, Zhenzi peppers are sold across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Hefei and other provinces. Anhui province is now one of the pepper’s biggest markets, with another being Jiangsu province.
"I sold 140,000 boxes of peppers in these two places last year," said Zhang Chaoyin, a leader of a professional vegetable cooperative in Xingshan County.
In addition, local people have adopted a unique planting method - growing peppers alongside corn.
Photo by Zhao Jie.
"Corn can provide shade for peppers, which reduces sunburn," Gan said. The income from the corn offsets the cost of planting the peppers, killing two birds with one stone, he added.
Last year, the sales revenue of peppers in Zhenzi Town reached 160 million yuan (US$22.2 million), and the average income per mu exceeded 8,000 yuan.
Last year, the sales revenue of peppers in Zhenzi Town reached 160 million yuan (US$22.2 million), and the average income per mu exceeded 8,000 yuan.
Now, the local government has begun exploring new areas. On July 28 this year, the first pickle processing plant in Xingshan County was put into operation in Zhenzi Town. The main purpose is to develop the vegetable deep processing industry, increasing value and extending the industrial chain.
Wan Longyun, Qiao changjiao contributed to this report.
Wan Longyun, Qiao changjiao contributed to this report.
