Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan

Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan

　　The Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan

　　The Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan is a high-tech, improved variety developed through sexual hybridization using the local variety Eel Bitter Melon as the male parent and Carp Wife Bitter Melon as the female parent from Lanshan County. It has undergone eight consecutive years of directional selective breeding from the hybrid offspring. This superior variety has been promoted for over 20 years. Currently, it is sold well in all provinces and municipalities across China except Taiwan, including remote regions such as Tibet, Xinjiang, and Heilongjiang (where it is grown in greenhouses), covering areas both inside and outside the Great Wall, and reaching across the vast land of China.

　　The “Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan” is currently known as the “King of Bitter Melons” in China, boasting the longest fruit, the whitest appearance, the highest yield, and the best quality. On average, each melon weighs 1.5 kilograms, with the largest reaching up to 4 kilograms. The yield per mu (about 0.067 hectares) averages 20–25 kilograms of bitter melon seeds, which sell for over 400 yuan per kilogram, generating an income of more than 4,000 yuan per mu, making it highly economically rewarding. In 2002, the planting area of the “Big White Bitter Melon of Lanshan” in Lanshan County reached 2,600 mu, mainly distributed in towns such as Zongshi, Maojun, and Huoshi, with 1,200 mu under contract production. Among these, Maojun Town has a cultivated area of 1,043.5 mu, with 450 mu dedicated to bitter melon cultivation. By collaborating with the county’s Vegetable Office, Vegetable Research Institute, and other institutions, the town adopted a company + farmer management model, achieving full contract production. In 2001 alone, the breeding of bitter melon improved seeds added 1.8 million yuan to the town’s agricultural output value.