Lianan Seedless Lemons

Lianan Seedless Lemons

Lianan Seedless Lemons are a protected geographical indication product.

　　Recently, reporters learned from the Quality and Technical Supervision Department of the Liannan Yao Autonomous County that “Lianan Seedless Lemons” have recently passed the expert review for national geographical indication product protection. Following last year’s recognition of “Lianan Yao Mountain Tea Oil” as a nationally protected geographical indication product, this marks another such honor for the county.

　　 Lianan has long had a scattered tradition of growing lemons. To develop the lemon industry, since 2003, the local government of Lianan has introduced new lemon varieties from elsewhere, and through grafting, cultivated the Lianan Seedless Lemon — known for its strong aroma, seedlessness, and high acidity. Trial planting demonstrated the success of both the cultivation and supporting techniques for Lianan Seedless Lemons in the county. In recent years, the planted area of Lianan Seedless Lemons has expanded by over 1,000 mu annually. By the end of 2007, it had reached more than 6,500 mu, accounting for 68% of the county’s total fruit-growing area and over 80% of the province’s lemon planting area. Lianan has become a well-known lemon-growing base.

　　 Lemons have become another key agricultural pillar industry in Lianan. The Lianan Seedless Lemon is famed for its high acidity, rich aroma, and seedlessness. After successfully obtaining national geographical indication product protection in 2008, the lemon industry saw rapid development. In that year, the planted area of Lianan Seedless Lemons exceeded 6,500 mu, representing over 80% of the province's total lemon-growing area. Currently, the number of lemon growers in Lianan has grown to more than 1,300 households, including two specialized lemon farms, and a lemon professional cooperative has been established. High-grade Lianan Seedless Lemon fresh fruits are mainly sold to Beijing, Shanghai, and other parts of the country, as well as exported to Hong Kong, with demand outpacing supply. Through active application for geographical indication status and promotion of standardized production management, the quality and yield of Lianan Seedless Lemons have significantly improved. The Zhai’gang Lemon Farm in Lianan was the first to receive green food certification. The visibility of Lianan Seedless Lemons has greatly increased, attracting many enterprises to produce and process a range of lemon-based products. Within less than a year of receiving geographical indication protection, five enterprises in Lianan began producing and processing lemon products such as lemon preserves, lemon tea, and lemon wine, and more are preparing to join the Lianan Seedless Lemon industry. In 2007, the output of Lianan Seedless Lemons reached 16,500 tons (output sharply declined in 2008 due to freezing disasters), with a total output value of over 40 million yuan. It is estimated that this year the output will reach 20,000 tons, with an output value approaching 80 million yuan — an increase of nearly 40 million yuan. The per capita annual income in the planting areas has reached 6,000 yuan, up by 2,000 yuan.

　　The successful applications for Lianan Yao Mountain Tea Oil and Lianan Seedless Lemons have generated significant economic benefits and positive social impact. Although the Liannan government had previously engaged in outbound investment attraction efforts, the results were not remarkable — it was difficult to attract, retain, or develop businesses. The shift from actively soliciting foreign investors to having enterprises come to Lianan on their own to set up factories has made the government clearly see the role and benefits of applying for geographical indication status. This has led to a change in investment attraction strategies, focusing on leveraging local resources, developing distinctive industries, increasing tax revenue, and benefiting farmers. The Liannan government is prioritizing support for the two geographical indication products — Lianan Yao Mountain Tea Oil and Lianan Seedless Lemons — to extend the industrial chain and gradually form series production lines, such as tea oil → tea seed cleaning products → beauty and health products → feed crude protein, and lemon → lemon beverages → lemon cosmetics → lemon preserves. This creates a favorable situation where one distinctive product enriches a region, and one brand boosts the entire county.

　　The geographical indication product protection scope of Lianan Seedless Lemons is based on the area proposed in the document “Letter Regarding the Request to Define the Production Area Scope of Lianan Seedless Lemons” (Nan Fu Han [2007] No. 16) issued by the People’s Government of Liannan Yao Autonomous County, Guangdong Province, covering the entire current administrative region of Liannan Yao Autonomous County, Guangdong Province.