Nanjiang Green Prickly Ash

Nanjiang Green Prickly Ash

　　Nan-Prickly Ash is a traditional specialty of Nanjiang County in Bazhong City, mostly cultivated in the high-altitude mountainous areas within the county. It is grown in a pollution-free environment, with large, plump grains and high oil content. The refined prickly ash oil is highly favored by consumers. Located on the northeastern edge of Sichuan Province, Nanjiang enjoys excellent ecological conditions, with mountainous terrain covering the entire region. The county has a forest coverage rate of 65.6% and a greening rate of 98.5%, and is hailed as "an important biodiversity gene bank in the northern mountainous edge of the Sichuan Basin." The area features a northern subtropical monsoon climate, with distinct seasons, mild weather, and favorable light and heat conditions. The vast mountainous terrain is highly suitable for the development of the prickly ash industry. Nanjiang has been a long-standing producer of prickly ash, which has been used by local people for generations as a food seasoning, boasting a long cultivation history. Since the implementation of the Sloping Land Conversion Program in 1999, traditional forestry industries such as Nan-Prickly Ash have seen rapid and effective development, yielding remarkable economic, ecological, and social benefits. To fully leverage this traditional advantage, in the early 2000s, the Nanjiang County Forestry Bureau established multiple prickly ash planting service stations dedicated to providing technical services such as cultivation and pest control. As a result, the scale of the county’s prickly ash industry has continued to expand. In recent years, the Nanjiang County Party Committee and government have focused on increasing farmers’ income and targeted poverty alleviation. With forestry supply-side structural reform as the main thread and improving the quality and efficiency of the county’s prickly ash industry as the core, efforts have been made to build bases, develop processing, create brands, expand markets, and strengthen support—all aimed at advancing the standardized, intensive, branded, and intelligent development of the prickly ash industry. The Prickly Ash Industry Office was established to break away from the “household-based operation” model, focusing on “supporting large growers, establishing associations, and guiding smallholders.” The “company + research + association + specialized cooperatives + grower households” operational model has been actively promoted, and a prickly ash association has been formed to serve the industry. This has continuously improved the production and management standards of Nan-Prickly Ash. Currently, the suitable growing areas at altitudes of 1,000 to 1,300 meters across the county have achieved near-full coverage of Nan-Prickly Ash. The industry has expanded from scattered planting in the early 1980s to large-scale demonstration zones spanning hundreds of thousands of mu, generating a comprehensive output value exceeding 100 million yuan. It has become one of the key pillar industries for increasing farmers' income and alleviating fiscal challenges in the county.