Vegetable, fruit, seed sectors thrive in Yuanmou, SW China's Yunnan

Photo shows fruits produced in Yuanmou county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yuanmou County Committee)

Right after the Spring Festival, Huang Lin, a farmer from Yuanmou county in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, eagerly got to work in his fields. Just a few days earlier, Huang harvested his purple cabbage, and thanks to a sales contract with a vegetable procurement company, he made over 70,000 yuan (about $9,672).

Photo shows tomatoes produced in Yuanmou county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yuanmou County Committee)

Yuanmou enjoys a frost-free climate year-round, with an average temperature of 21 degrees Celsius, allowing for fresh fruits and vegetables throughout all seasons. It is a key hub for supplying vegetables to the north and is renowned as the "hometown of early winter vegetables." Yuanmou is also home to the largest vegetable wholesale market in southwest China.

Photo shows sugar apples produced in Yuanmou county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yuanmou County Committee)

Over 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables thrive here. Every year, around 1.2 million tonnes of green organic fruits and vegetables from Yuanmou are sold to over 200 cities across China and exported to more than 20 countries and regions. During the peak winter-spring season, the Yuanmou market handles up to 5,000 tonnes of vegetables daily, with 3.5 tonnes shipped every minute.

Yuanmou is also known for being a breeding base. Yuanmou's climate is ideal for breeding and producing seeds for cereal crops, cruciferous vegetables, and more.

Photo shows tomato seedlings at a greenhouse in Yuanmou county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yuanmou County Committee)

Every year in late autumn, agricultural researchers from across the country flock to Yuanmou, bringing seeds for grains, vegetables, fruits, and oilseeds to carry out breeding work.

In early February, wheat crops sown last autumn in Nanfan village, Yuanmou, began to be harvested. Zhong Jiakai, Party chief of Nanfan village and director of the Yuanmou Nanfan Seed Breeding Association, worked tirelessly from morning to night—selecting seeds in the experimental fields in the morning and sorting and threshing them in the afternoon.

"For wheat, for example, breeding in Yuanmou enables us to achieve two planting and harvest seasons per year, cutting the breeding cycle by more than half. Plus, the variety of crops here creates more opportunities for hybridization," Zhong said, highlighting the region's unique advantages for breeding.

Photo shows seeds used for research purposes in 2024 in Yuanmou county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yuanmou County Committee)

In 2004, Zhong founded the Yuanmou Nanfan Seed Breeding Association, leading farmers in producing seeds for grains, vegetables, and flowers. Today, the association works with 98 institutions nationwide, and has completed over 5,600 breeding projects.

According to statistics, every year, 8.25 million mu (550,000 hectares) of wheat and 40 million mu of vegetables in China are grown from seeds developed in Yuanmou. In 2024, the seed breeding area in Yuanmou reached 41,700 mu, with seed production exceeding 4.05 million kilograms.