Shuangpai Ginkgo

Shuangpai Ginkgo

　　Shuangpai Ginkgo is a specialty of Shuangpai County in Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. Ginkgo, also known as white fruit or gongsun tree, has over two thousand ancient trees aged over a hundred years in Shuangpai County, yielding approximately twenty tons of white fruit annually. It is on track to become a hometown of ginkgo.

　　Ginkgo, also known as white fruit or gongsun tree, has over two thousand ancient trees aged over a hundred years in Shuangpai County, yielding approximately twenty tons of white fruit annually. The largest ancient ginkgo tree is located in Luojiachong Group, Dazhujian Village, Hejiadong Township, with a circumference of 6.8 meters, a height of 36 meters, and an annual yield of about 200 kilograms of ginkgo. Since 1990, Shuangpai has begun artificially cultivating and grafting ginkgo trees. In 1998, it was listed as a comprehensive mountain development project, with 200 hectares planted annually, and now a preserved area of 667 hectares. The 40 hectares of grafted ginkgo cultivated in the Yonghong Work Area of the State-owned Wuxingling Forest Farm began bearing fruit five years after planting, with yields increasing year by year. The county forestry science institute has successively introduced high-quality ginkgo varieties such as Haiyanghuang, Qixingguo, Dafoshou, Dongtinghuang, Huakoudabai, and Tengjiulang, establishing a superior variety scion nursery, laying the foundation for the premiumization of Shuangpai ginkgo. Within five to ten years, the annual yield of ginkgo could reach several hundred tons, positioning it as a potential hometown of ginkgo.

　　The ginkgo produced in Shuangpai County is favored by consumers as a green food due to the ginkgo trees’ resistance to pests and diseases, resulting in minimal pesticide use, along with their unique nutritional value and health benefits.