Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon

Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon

Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon is a geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon is a specialty of Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County in Haidong, Qinghai Province. Longzhi Township in Minhe County is known as the "Hometown of Watermelons," and among its villages, Lijia Village is most famous for its open-air dry-sand watermelons. The watermelons produced here are known for their high sugar content, bright red flesh, crisp and sandy texture, delicious taste, and cooling properties—making them highly popular in the market. Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon is a nationally protected geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Longzhi Township in Minhe County is known as the "Hometown of Watermelons," and among its villages, Lijia Village is most famous for its open-air dry-sand watermelons. Lijia Village has a history of watermelon cultivation spanning several hundred years, and its produce is known for its high sugar content, bright red flesh, crisp and sandy texture, delicious taste, and cooling properties—making it very popular in the market. In recent years, with financial support and technical guidance from the Minhe County “Vegetable Basket” Project Office, the village has adjusted its industrial structure to develop its distinctive agriculture—dry-sand watermelons—according to local conditions. This has expanded the watermelon planting area from the original 300 mu to the current 2,000 mu, with per-mu yields exceeding 5,000 jin, and peak yields reaching up to 10,000 jin per mu.

　　The Minhe County Dry-Sand Watermelon Standardization Demonstration Zone project is part of the seventh batch of national-level standardization demonstration zone projects approved by the National Standardization Management Committee. Currently, the county’s standardized dry-sand watermelon demonstration zone covers an area of more than 5,000 mu, with an average yield of 2,500 kilograms per mu. It has benefited 200 science and technology demonstration households and trained 400 standardized production technicians. Over three years, the total cumulative yield reached 6.993 million tons, generating an annual total output value of 33.35 million yuan, contributing to increased agricultural efficiency and farmer income.

　　In 2013, the "Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon," applied for by the Minhe Hui and Tu Autonomous County “Vegetable Basket” Project Office, passed the review of the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and expert evaluation, and was officially registered and protected as a national geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Geographic Scope

　　Minhe County is located in the easternmost part of Qinghai Province, under the jurisdiction of the Haidong Administrative Office. Its eastern and southern borders adjoin Gansu Province. To the northeast, it faces Yongdeng County of Gansu Province and Honggu District of Lanzhou City across the Datong River, and it borders Yongjing County of Gansu Province to the east. To the south, it faces Jishishan of Gansu Province across the Yellow River, while to the west, northwest, and north, it neighbors Xunhua, Hualong, and Ledu counties within the province. The geographic protection area for Minhe Dry-Sand Watermelon covers the entire territory of Minhe County. Major production regions span 10 townships across the county (Chuan Kou, Song Shu, He Tao Zhuang, Long Zhi, Guan Ting, Zhong Chuan, Ma Chang Yuan, Zong Bao, Ba Zhou, Gan Gou), geographically situated between 102°26′–103°04′ east longitude and 35°45′–36°26′ north latitude. The region spans 32 kilometers from east to west and 69 kilometers from north to south, with an average elevation of 2,100–2,500 meters, and covers a total area of 1,890.82 square kilometers.