Badong Konjac

Badong Konjac

　　Badong Konjac is a specialty of Badong County in Enshi Prefecture, Hubei Province. The soil and climate in Badong are particularly suitable for growing konjac, yielding high-quality, large-sized produce.

　　Konjac belongs to the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, and family Araceae. It can be processed into refined powder, noodles, cakes, canned goods, and other flavorful food products, making it highly favored by gourmets both at home and abroad. It also offers various health benefits such as reducing swelling and dispersing bruises, detoxifying and relieving pain, preventing and fighting cancer, lowering cholesterol, managing hypertension, cleansing the intestines, and aiding digestion. It has shown positive therapeutic effects on gallstones, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, constipation, and hemorrhoids. Konjac also contains a substance called “glucomannan,” which helps control body weight, and long-term consumption can contribute to weight loss and fitness. Konjac is not only an ideal food but also an important industrial raw material, widely used in industries such as petroleum exploration, chemical engineering, and dyeing.

　　Badong is both a key immigrant county in the Three Gorges Reservoir area and falls within the scope of China’s Western Development initiative. To make full use of its advantageous resources, develop distinctive industries, and accelerate the pace of poverty alleviation and prosperity for farmers in the mountainous regions of western Hubei, the Hubei Provincial People’s Government issued the “Decision on Vigorously Promoting the Industrialization of Konjac in Our Province” and formulated the “Hubei Province Konjac Sector Economic Development Plan.” Enshi Prefecture was designated as the core production area for konjac in the province, and Badong County plays a significant role in both the provincial and prefectural konjac industrialization efforts and the sector economic development plan.

　　In recent years, following the models of “one specialty per county” and “one product/industry per village,” Badong County has guided farmers in developing the konjac industry. It has also introduced two preliminary processing plants for konjac, enabling villagers to sell their produce locally. Currently, the konjac planting area covers 63,000 mu, with an annual output of over 220,000 tons, mainly distributed across townships such as Qingtaiping, Jingguoping, and Yesanguan. The county has primarily promoted superior konjac rhizome breeding techniques, and in 2005, Badong County was recognized nationally as a major konjac-producing county.