Xiangcheng Blueberries

Xiangcheng Blueberries

　　Xiangcheng blueberries are a specialty of Xiangcheng County in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. While the best places in the world for blueberry production are in North America, Xiangcheng County’s climate, altitude, water quality, and air humidity are very similar to those in North America, making blueberry cultivation highly promising here. Transplanting these finely fleshed, nutrient-rich blueberries from North America to Xiangcheng County in Garzê Prefecture has long been the hope of the local people.

　　In 2007, after careful research and evaluation, and with the scientific support of Southwest University, our county began trial cultivation of blueberries by leveraging our climatic and land resource advantages. That year, the province’s first blueberry planting base was established, and Sichuan Kanglan Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. was introduced and set up. Seven high-quality blueberry varieties were introduced, along with 20,000 seedlings, and 70 acres of seedling cultivation were carried out. After a year of growth, the 70-acre blueberry plantation thrived, with some plants even flowering and bearing fruit, marking a major success in the trial cultivation. Southwest University subsequently delivered another 250,000 blueberry seedlings cultivated by them to our county, which were planted in the greenhouse of the cultivation center. A blueberry tissue culture lab was also built in Xiangcheng, establishing local seedling cultivation capacity and laying the foundation for expanding the blueberry industry.

　　Blueberries are a fruit with very high nutritional value. Their flesh is rich in essential nutrients such as vitamins, proteins, and minerals. Among them, the uniquely precious anthocyanin pigments found in blueberries are present in much higher proportions than in other fruits. Additionally, blueberries are abundant in proteins, dietary fiber, fats, vitamins, and other nutrients, all of which exceed the levels found in other fruits. Blueberries also contain abundant trace mineral elements such as calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, and the ratios of these minerals are significantly higher than in other fruits. Therefore, blueberries are a highly nutritious fruit.