Guanyang Ramie

Guanyang Ramie

　　Ramie, commonly known as green hemp, has a long history of cultivation. According to the old *Guanyang County Annals*, ramie was already planted in the area 1,750 years ago. Around the year 1800, green-white ramie was introduced from Lingui County, and within twenty years, this variety became the predominant type of ramie grown in the county. Later, black-root ramie was introduced from Pingle and gradually replaced the green-white ramie variety. During the Republican era, ramie was widely cultivated, reaching 2,710 mu (approximately 180 hectares) and yielding 96,500 kilograms in total in 1949. In the early years after liberation, cultivation increased, with the area expanding to 5,966 mu and production totaling 164,300 kilograms in 1957. After the 1960s, the area under ramie cultivation declined as more land was used for growing grain crops. However, it gradually recovered in the 1980s. Due to rising prices, the cultivation area reached 12,317 mu in 1987, with a total yield of 888,400 kilograms — the highest since liberation. Later, as prices fell, the area dropped to just 2,355 mu in 1990, producing 174,200 kilograms.

　　The ramie grown in the county features high fiber fineness. In 1986, testing by Zhuzhou Silk and Ramie Mill in Hunan showed that the fiber fineness of black-root ramie exceeded 2,200 counts, making it consistently popular in the market. After liberation, in 1953, the foreign trade department exported 108,300 kilograms of ramie.

　　In 1960, exports reached 751,500 kilograms. From 1952 to 1990, the county’s supply and marketing cooperatives purchased a total of 4.8241 million kilograms of ramie, averaging 123,700 kilograms per year, with a peak purchase of 768,400 kilograms in 1987 — the highest in the county’s history.