rapeseed flowers in Zhaosu

Rapeseed flowers in Zhaosu

Rapeseed flowers in Zhaosu are a geographical indication agricultural product.

　　Zhaosu was once the territory of the ancient Wusun Kingdom. Since the second year of the Shenjue era of the Western Han Dynasty (60 BC), it has been under the administration of the Western Regions Protectorate established by the Han Dynasty in the Western Regions. For over two thousand years, it has remained a strategic frontier region in northwestern China, serving as a crossroads of Eastern and Western economies and cultures, a vital leg of the northern Silk Road, and the most internationally influential hub of commerce in ancient Western Regions. The Zhaosu Basin is surrounded by mountains, sits at a high altitude, enjoys abundant precipitation, and features a cool and moist climate. With an average annual sunshine duration of 2,699 hours, its unique light and heat resources are highly conducive to the growth of cool-loving crops such as rapeseed. It is one of the few regions in China capable of cultivating all three major types of rapeseed—mustard-type, leaf mustard-type, and cabbage-type. As the largest spring rapeseed-producing area in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Zhaosu routinely plants 800,000 to 900,000 mu of rapeseed, accounting for over 50% of the autonomous region’s total rapeseed cultivation area, and is hailed as the “Home of Rapeseed in China.” Around the end of June each year, boundless fields of golden rapeseed flowers sweep across the vast Zhaosu grasslands like enormous golden tapestries, complementing the nearby Tianshan Mountains in a breathtaking western spectacle. Every July, during the rapeseed blooming season, the Zhaosu Plateau becomes a scene of endless beauty. It is the season of rapeseed flowers, and also the best time to visit Zhaosu. People from all over come for various reasons to witness and enjoy the “rapeseed blossoms stretching from the roadside to the mountains, and from the mountains to the horizon.” Due to its climatic conditions, Zhaosu had been cultivating rapeseed since before the founding of the People's Republic of China, and its cultivation was further expanded after 1949. Since the late 1990s, Zhaosu County has vigorously developed its characteristic agriculture, continued to expand rapeseed planting, and introduced and promoted cabbage-type rapeseed varieties to replace leaf mustard-type ones, thereby increasing the economic efficiency of rapeseed farming. In 2004, the China Specialties Hometown Organizing Committee awarded Zhaosu County the title of “Home of Rapeseed in China.” The production of rapeseed in Zhaosu has undergone three major leaps: the first occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when production shifted from mustard-type to leaf mustard-type rapeseed, promoting reform in farming systems and ending the historical pattern of summer plowing and fall idleness; the second took place between 1999 and 2001, when production transitioned from leaf mustard-type to cabbage-type rapeseed, significantly increasing yield and quality; the third began in 2002 and continues today, shifting from conventional to hybrid varieties. Hybrid cabbage-type rapeseed has seen yield and benefits multiply compared to leaf mustard-type, and rapeseed planting area has surpassed that of wheat, making rapeseed the leading crop in Zhaosu County.

　　Region: Xinjiang

　　Applicant: Zhaosu County Agricultural Technology Extension Station

　　Year of designation: 2013

　　Geographical scope

　　Zhaosu County is under the jurisdiction of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It is located at the western end of the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, in the southwestern part of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, within the mountain basin upstream of the Tekes River in the Ili Valley. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, the Tekes River runs east-west, forming a terrain of three mountains enclosing one basin. It borders Tekes County to the east, the Republic of Kazakhstan to the west, Baicheng County and Wensu County across a mountain range to the south, and Qapqal County to the north. The geographical indication protection area for Zhaosu rapeseed encompasses nine townships and one town—Zhaosu Town, Hongnaihai Township, Akdala Township, Wuzunbulake Township, Saerkubu Township, Kaxiagar Township, Kalasu Township, Chahanwusu Mongolian Ethnic Township, Xiate Kirgiz Ethnic Township, and Husongtuhaxun Mongolian Ethnic Township—as well as Zhaosu Stud Farm and Zhaosu Horse Farm, totaling 73 villages. The geographical coordinates are between 82°35′ and 82°50′ east longitude and 43°14′ and 43°38′ north latitude, with an elevation ranging from 1,300 to 6,995 meters. The protected area covers 20,000 hectares, with an annual total output of up to 60,000 metric tons.

　　Product quality characteristics

　　(1) External sensory characteristics: Rapeseed produced in Zhaosu is dark brown in color, relatively large and spherical in shape, with a smooth seed coat. The thousand-seed weight is 4–5g, and it possesses the inherent aroma of rapeseed. (2) Internal quality indicators: The average oil content of Zhaosu rapeseed is 41.5%–45.5%, protein content is 19.5–22.5 (g/100g), linoleic acid 16.5%–19.0%, eicosadienoic acid 0.04%–0.09%, docosanoic acid 0.15%–0.31%, hexadecenoic acid 0.1%–0.25%, heptadecanoic acid 0.15%–0.41%, heptadecene 0.05%–1.2%, oleic acid 59%–65%, tetradecanoic acid 0.02%–0.07%, palmitic acid 2.5%–4.5%, stearic acid 1.2%–2.2%, eicosanoic acid 0.35%–0.64%, erucic acid content <0.01%, linolenic acid 0.001%–0.012%, pinolenic acid 0.001%–0.012%, docosadienoic acid 0.001%–0.011%, tetracosanoic acid 0.001%–0.014%, tetracosenoic acid 0.001%–0.012%, saturated fatty acids 4.9%–6.1%. (3) Safety requirements: The production process of Zhaosu rapeseed strictly complies with the GB/T11762-2006 "National Standard for Rapeseed."