China: Yunnan blueberry season begins

"In recent years, blueberry consumption in China has risen significantly and led to the rapid development of the domestic blueberry planting industry. At this moment, there are a lot of blueberry cultivation areas. Qingdao and Dalian have the biggest berries, but the blueberry from Yunnan is the best in terms of taste. It is sweeter and smells better than any other blueberry, mostly because of the unique plateau climate and good environment." said Mr. You Zong from Guangdong Yogo Agriculture Investment Company.

"The pattern of blueberry planting in Yunnan is divided into two types: one is for greenhouse cultivation and the other for open-air cultivation. Every year, an open-air cultivation season starts in mid-March and continues until mid-June. 20%-30% of the total output of early-maturing blueberries are sold on the local market of Yunnan, and 70%-80% goes to the other cities of China. At this stage, our Yunnan blueberries are mainly sold to Shanghai Huizhan, Beijing Xinfadi, Zhengzhou Wanbang, Guangzhou Jiangnan markets, and to the biggest fruit chain stores such as Pagoda and others."

"Last year, the Yunnan region experienced continuous cold weather. The open-air blueberries have been attacked by frost, which led to a decrease in the total output of the early-maturing blueberries. It is estimated that the output of early-maturing blueberries in Yunnan this year will be about 1600 tons, and the output of late-maturing blueberries will be about 2000-2200 tons. The decline in the early-maturing blueberries output shouldn't affect the sales, because its prices this year is higher than they were last year."

"Over the years, the blueberry growers in Yunnan have been disorganized and there were no standards for blueberry production. It used to take a lot of energy and time for the buyers to find what they needed. We established the Yunnan Blueberry Industry Alliance, which aims to unite the growers and adopt the standards of blueberry planting, sorting and sales."

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E-mail: yogo@yogofruit.com.cn