Yongping Walnuts

Yongping Walnuts

　　Yongping boasts vast mountainous terrain and a uniquely favorable natural environment and climate for walnut cultivation. All 73 of its village committees (communities) have walnut trees, with 56 villages particularly suitable for planting Qing walnuts. The walnuts produced in Yongping are known for their large size, thin shells, white kernels, fragrant taste, high oil yield, and rich nutrition. They are a traditional delicacy ideal for gifting to family and friends or for home consumption. Additionally, they can be used medicinally, offering benefits such as nourishing yin, moistening lungs, and relieving coughs and phlegm. Walnut trees are not only ideal for embellishing farmland and greening the environment but also serve as high-quality second-tier furniture timber—durable, lightweight, with beautiful grain and resilient texture.

After 1998, with the further implementation of the Party’s economic policies in rural areas, walnut production in Yongping saw rapid development. By the end of the “Ninth Five-Year Plan” period, the county’s Qing walnut cultivation had expanded to 200,000 mu. During the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” period, the Yongping County Party Committee and government identified Qing walnuts as the county’s most competitive and advantageous agricultural product. They strengthened leadership, formulated measures, unified planning, and optimized layout, planting Qing walnuts extensively across suitable areas at elevations between 1,600 and 2,400 meters.

By December 2008, Yongping County’s walnut planting area had reached 918,000 mu, ranking first in Dali Prefecture and second in Yunnan Province. Production hit over 10,000 metric tons, with output value exceeding 400 million yuan. The county was successively designated by the National Forestry Administration as Yunnan’s sole “National Walnut Forestry Standardization Demonstration Zone” from 2007 to 2009, and recognized by the China High-Quality Fruit Base and Fruit Industry Advanced Model Evaluation Organizing Committee as a “Key County for China’s High-Quality Walnut Bases.” In 2008, County Party Secretary Cheng Yongbiao was awarded the “China Fruit Industry Development Contribution Award.”