Shangnan Walnuts

Shangnan Walnuts

　　Shangnan walnuts are a specialty of Shangnan County in Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province. These walnuts are large in size, have thin shells, and offer a unique flavor. They also boast consistently high yields year after year. Shangnan walnut kernels are not only rich in nutrients, but they also help prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, treat gallstones, resist aging, and enhance brain function and intelligence.

　　In recent years, Shangnan County has made the walnut industry a key focus for increasing farmers' incomes. The county has focused on critical production aspects such as breeding and promoting superior varieties, establishing standardized orchards, and implementing scientific management, all to accelerate large-scale and industrialized development. The local government has introduced multiple supportive policies, prioritizing funding projects for growers—especially large-scale producers—providing them free of charge with robust, locally adaptable high-quality seedlings such as Liaohé No. 1 and Xianglín. It has also vigorously promoted advanced techniques like root soaking with rooting powder during planting and training young walnut trees to produce fruit in three dimensions. In towns such as Jinsixia, Qingyouhe, and Qingshan, 44 high-yield orchards of improved walnut varieties have been developed, covering a total of 130,000 mu, along with 65,000 mu of grafted improved stands replacing wild seedlings. For established walnut orchards, pruning, whitewashing, and other scientific management practices are applied, and pests such as the walnut husk fly are controlled in a timely manner. Additionally, five specialized cooperatives have been established, enrolling 2,852 members. Relying on walnut bases, 1,360 specialized large-scale growers and science demonstration households have been cultivated—including 32 with plots over 50 mu, 16 with 100 mu, 4 with 500 mu, and 1 with 1,000 mu. The county has also trained over 50 brokers in major walnut-producing towns such as Shipingping and Qingyouhe. These brokers have built controlled-atmosphere storage facilities to collect, process, package, and sell walnuts. The county’s key processing enterprise, Chaoyang Industry and Trade Company, purchases high-quality walnut kernels after harvest and processes them into the premium "Jinsiyuan" brand walnut oil, thereby completing the industrial chain and boosting the industrialization of the walnut sector.

　　Currently, Shangnan County has 218,000 mu of walnut plantations, with 100,000 mu bearing fruit, yielding 3.2 million kilograms and generating an output value of over 60 million yuan. Walnut growers earn an average income of 1,200 yuan per person and over 5,000 yuan per household.