Dendrocalamus latiflorus

Dendrocalamus latiflorus

　　At the end of April 2003, after an investigation, Dehong Prefecture submitted three agricultural standardization demonstration zones—Ruili Dendrocalamus latiflorus, Longchuan Dendrocalamus latiflorus, and Lianghe Fresh Lotus—for national listing. In early November, the state designated Ruili Dendrocalamus latiflorus as a Class I National Agricultural Standardization Demonstration Zone, and Longchuan Dendrocalamus latiflorus and Lianghe Fresh Lotus as Class II National Agricultural Standardization Demonstration Zones.

Longchuan County has currently planted 2,100 hectares of Dendrocalamus latiflorus. The favorable conditions for developing the Dendrocalamus latiflorus industry in Longchuan County have been analyzed. A development strategy for the Dendrocalamus latiflorus industry has been proposed, striving to implement the "4511 Green Economy Project" to achieve leapfrog development of the Dendrocalamus latiflorus industry.

Longchuan County in Dehong Prefecture has vigorously developed Dendrocalamus latiflorus as part of its returning farmland to forest initiative, not only becoming the province’s largest industrial base but also achieving increased income and effectively consolidating the results of returning farmland to forest.

Dendrocalamus latiflorus is an excellent economic bamboo species suitable for both shoots and timber, with high economic value and development potential. Farmers in Longchuan County who have returned farmland are very fond of planting this crop. Longchuan County has explored a locally suitable bamboo cultivation technique model that includes winter forest clearing, rainy season seedling planting, standardized pit planting, intercropping and tending management, weeding, soil loosening, and fertilization. This model has been widely promoted and applied with significant results, laying the foundation for industrial development and farmers’ income growth.

Over the seven years since the implementation of the returning farmland to forest project, Longchuan has completed afforestation tasks on 131,000 mu of returned farmland, including 64,000 mu dedicated to Dendrocalamus latiflorus, driving the development of a 107,000-mu Dendrocalamus latiflorus base, making it the largest Dendrocalamus latiflorus-growing county in Yunnan Province. The Dendrocalamus latiflorus industry has become a key sector connecting industry and agriculture, impacting thousands of households, second only to the sugar industry. In 2006, the county’s Dendrocalamus latiflorus output value was 7.515 million yuan; in 2007, it reached 9.93 million yuan; in 2008, it produced 3,157 tons of bamboo shoots, 368.1 tons of dried shoots, 70,000 bamboo poles, 50 tons of bamboo leaves, with an output value of 10.021 million yuan.