Dingcheng Pearls

Dingcheng Pearls

　　Dingcheng Pearls

　　The pearl farming industry in Dingcheng has developed from scratch to a considerable scale, attaining extraordinary achievements. China makes up half of the world's pearl farming area and output, while Dingcheng contributes a quarter of the nation's and an eighth of the world's total. Since the 1990s, Dingcheng District has stepped up its efforts in adjusting the agricultural industrial structure, adhering to science and technology as the guiding principle and efficiency as the goal, vigorously developing special farming practices. The district’s artificial

　　pearl breeding has also entered a fast track, with continuous advancements in technology, expansion of farming areas, increases in output, and improvements in quality. By the end of October 2004, the district’s pearl farming water surface had reached 89,000 mu, with 90 million pearl mussels suspended for cultivation. The annual pearl production capacity exceeded 100,000 kilograms, generating an output value of over 250 million yuan.

　　In 1993, the Shiyimeitang Town Fish Farm began pearl farming in the 1,800-mu Shagou Lake, which also spurred the development of pearl farming in surrounding villages. Over the years, along with the progress of the farmland-to-lake restoration project, the district’s pearl farming water area expanded from 2,300 mu to 52,000 mu by 2002 (with the pearl-cultivating area reaching over 80,000 mu in 2003), and annual pearl output increased from 1.8 tons to 250 tons. The output value rose from 1.78 million yuan to 150 million yuan. The number of large-scale pearl farmers with more than 100 mu of farming area grew from 93 in 1997 to 214 in 2002, among which 102 households achieved an annual output value of over 1 million yuan.

　　Since 1993, pearl farming in Dingcheng District has not only made significant strides in scale but has also seen major innovations in technology. In the early 1990s, the district adopted an ecological farming model by combining pearl farming with an appropriately proportioned mix of fish species, achieving the optimal pearl-fish farming ratio. Initially, small and densely planted grafts were used, but now the practice favors large and sparsely planted grafts, with the optimal density for pearl farming having been identified. Over the years, through research by industry associations and aquaculture technicians, innovations have been made in techniques such as spat breeding, juvenile mussel rearing, mantle tissue grafting, pearl mussel suspension cultivation, and disease prevention. As a result, the high-quality pearl yield rate across the district has significantly improved. The annual pearl yield per mussel has risen from the original 3–5 grams to 7–8 grams, reaching around 15 grams after two years and over 20 grams after three years. The proportion of high-grade pearls has increased from the original 1–2% to over 5%.