Miyi Bitter Melon

Miyi Bitter Melon

Miyi Bitter Melon is a geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Miyi Bitter Melon is a specialty of Miyi County, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province. It is known for its crisp and refreshing texture, quick sweet aftertaste after bitterness, and high vitamin C content. Miyi Bitter Melon is a nationally protected geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Miyi Bitter Melon is one of the main vegetable varieties in Miyi County and has been planted for nearly 70 years in areas below 1,500 meters above sea level in the Anning River Valley within the county. The "Miyi County Annals" (Agriculture Volume) records: “From the establishment of Miyi County to 1959, there were 14 categories and 105 varieties of vegetables planted, mainly including... bitter melon... among others.” Due to the local high temperatures, eating cold mixed bitter melon dishes and drinking bitter melon tea in the summer have become local habits, maintained to this day. Miyi Bitter Melon has also become an essential dish in local family meals and banquets: stir-fried bitter melon with eggs, stir-fried bitter melon with meat, bitter melon soup, and bitter melon cups, among others. Miyi Bitter Melon can be planted all year round, ensuring year-round supply, with the peak sales season being February and March every early spring, effectively supplementing the off-season of bitter melon production in other parts of the country. Miyi County is a uniquely distinctive inland mountainous agricultural county in China, blessed with exceptional natural ecological conditions—abundant sunlight, ample rainfall, warm winters, and cool summers—making it a natural greenhouse and one of the rare low-latitude, high-altitude tropical crop zones in the nation. Since 1984, when Miyi County was designated as a pilot county for three-dimensional agriculture in the province, the county’s vegetable industry has seen substantial development. After over 20 years of in-depth agricultural resource development and major adjustments to the agricultural industrial structure, an early spring vegetable industry pattern focused on solanaceous and cucurbit crops has emerged. In 1993, it was listed as a “South-to-North Vegetable Allocation Base County,” in 2003 it was awarded the title of “Pollution-Free Vegetable Production Base County,” and in 2009, Miyi County was successively listed by the provincial government and the Department of Agriculture as an “Sichuan Province Advantageous and Characteristic High-Efficiency Agricultural Vegetable Base County.” In 2010, it became one of the first “Sichuan Province Modern Agricultural Industry (Vegetable) Base Strong Counties” and one of the first provincial-level new rural construction demonstration areas (with vegetables as the leading industry). In 2012, Miyi County was included in the national key vegetable planning counties. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to backward production methods and low management standards, the cultivation area of Miyi Bitter Melon once shrank, with the varieties mainly consisting of local traditional ones. Since the mid-1980s, through the development of three-dimensional agriculture, early spring vegetables represented by Miyi Bitter Melon entered a period of rapid development, and the bitter melon industry expanded significantly. In 2007, Miyi Bitter Melon won the “Best-Selling Product Award in the Specialty Agriculture Exhibition of the 8th Western China International Fair.” The production method of Miyi Bitter Melon is unique, adopting a “bitter melon–rice–bitter melon” planting model that reflects the economic value of ecological cycles. Through long-term cultivation and selection, Miyi has developed its locally promoted new bitter melon variety—the Miyi Large White Bitter Melon—which features an appearance of “long fruit, white color, thick flesh, and prominent bumps,” along with a crisp and refreshing taste and a quick sweet aftertaste after bitterness. In recent years, the Miyi County Party Committee and County Government have focused on bitter melon as a leading agricultural industry, carefully formulating medium- and long-term industrial development plans. In 2010, over 6,000 acres of bitter melon cultivation households in the county achieved a yield value of more than 30,000 yuan per acre, with over 1,400 large-scale growers earning more than 50,000 yuan from bitter melon, effectively helping farmers in the Anning River Valley and surrounding regions achieve prosperity. It is projected that by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the cultivation area of Miyi Bitter Melon will reach 30,000 acres, with the output value surpassing 1 billion yuan. Miyi Bitter Melon will become one of the pillar industries for developing local specialty agriculture and promoting farmers' income growth.

　　Miyi County boasts exceptionally favorable natural ecological conditions—with abundant sunlight, ample rainfall, warm winters, and cool summers—making it a natural “great greenhouse” and one of the rare low-latitude, high-altitude tropical crop zones in the country. The vegetables produced here are characterized by “early market availability, high per-unit yield, superior quality, and good economic returns.”

　　Miyi Bitter Melon is highly favored by consumers for its crisp and refreshing texture, quick sweet aftertaste after bitterness, and high vitamin C content. In 2012, the county’s bitter melon cultivation area reached 15,000 acres, with an average yield value exceeding 30,000 yuan per acre, making it a major vegetable product contributing to local farmers’ income growth.

　　In 2013, the Miyi County Bureau of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry's Economic Crops Station applied for “Miyi Bitter Melon” to be reviewed by the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and assessed by expert panels, resulting in its implementation under the National Geographical Indication Agricultural Product Registration and Protection program.

　　Geographical Scope

　　The protected geographical indication area for Miyi Bitter Melon includes seven townships (towns): Panlian Town, Binggu Town, Salian Town, Yakou Town, Baima Town, Wanqiu Township, and Caochang Township, encompassing 30 administrative villages. The geographical coordinates are: 101°49’–102°11’ east longitude and 26°57’–27°08’ north latitude. Miyi County is located in the northeast of Panzhihua City, at the heart of the southwest resource “Golden Triangle,” bordering Yanbian County to the south, facing Yan Yuan County to the west, connecting to Huili County to the east, and adjacent to Dechang County to the north. The protected area spans 10,661.96 hectares, with an annual production of 120,000 tons.