Chongzhou Dark Plum

Chongzhou Dark Plum

　　Chongzhou Dark Plum, also known as Huaiyuan Dark Plum, is one of Chongzhou’s standout agricultural products. With an annual cultivation area of 10,000 mu, normal years yield about 2,000 jin per mu. The malic acid in the plums can soften blood vessels, delay arteriosclerosis, and has anti-aging effects.

　　Introduction: Chongzhou Dark Plum is one of Sichuan’s distinctive local specialties. The dark plums produced in the Huaiyuan area of Chongzhou are exported to places like Japan. Also known as sour plum, yellow plum, honey plum, or dried branch plum, it is the nearly ripe fruit of the Prunus mume tree (a deciduous rosaceous plant), processed by smoke-curing. If green plums are soaked in saltwater and alternately sun-dried and soaked overnight for 10 days until a white frost forms, they are called white frost plums. These have similar efficacy and the same contraindications as dark plums.

　　Planting Base: Chongzhou Municipality has introduced the South Korean Sūmùk Enterprise Group, which, in cooperation with Chongyang Winery and Datian Agricultural Company, has invested in building a thousand-mu planting base for Sūmùk green plum wine raw materials on Huaguoshan Mountain in Gongyi Township. The three enterprises will leverage the existing over 200 mu of dark plum plantings on Huaguoshan Mountain in Gongyi Township to: First, have the Sūmùk Enterprise Group provide planting technology, funding, and handle overseas sales of Sūmùk green plum wine, while Chongyang Winery and Datian Agricultural Company manage the planting, maintenance, variety improvement, and production of Sūmùk green plum wine for mainland sales, thereby expanding the raw material planting base and strengthening the Sūmùk green plum wine industry; Second, implement a "company + farmer" planting model, where the company signs agreements with farmers who are responsible for planting and maintaining the dark plums, while the company provides technical guidance and variety improvement. The plan is to expand the dark plum planting area to over 1,000 mu within 1–2 years; Third, implement an "order-based" protected-price purchase system, where the company undertakes to purchase all order-contracted dark plums at a protected price of 1.2 yuan per kilogram.