Blueberries

Blueberries

　　Dandong Specialty: Blueberries

　　　“Blueberries, as an emerging small berry industry with great potential, are expected to become a pillar of our city’s agriculture. Dandong blueberries can also fully establish themselves as a major production area for blueberries in China.” The Dandong Blueberry Association, established on May 19, has set the future of the blueberry industry as a unique calling card for the city.

　　　　Superior Natural Conditions

　　　　Blueberries are highly nutritious and offer significant health benefits. In recent years, they have become increasingly popular in the domestic market, with the current national blueberry cultivation area covering around 30,000 acres. Dandong enjoys mild summers without extreme heat and cold winters without severe chills. Of the city’s 3.12 million acres of arable land, 2.25 million acres consist of slightly acidic brown soil, including 850,000 acres of acidic soil (pH value<5.0），同时拥有丰富的草炭土资源，土壤比较肥沃，自然生态条件适合于蓝莓的生长发育。

　　　　Mature Technology Leading Nationally

　　　　Since 1998, Dandong has been introducing blueberry varieties. Over the years, the blueberry industry has developed to cover nearly 10,000 acres of planted area, claiming one-third of the market share. The region is gradually forming a comprehensive and systematic technical system in areas such as planting techniques, variety selection, storage, and processing. In addition to fresh fruit, related processing enterprises have developed over ten types of blueberry products, including blueberry wine, canned goods, juice, jam, dried blueberries, and frozen blueberries. This has positioned Dandong’s blueberry industry at the forefront nationally.

　　　　Good Wine Needs Shouting Too

　　　　However, as the scale of cultivation continues to expand, existing blueberry orchards will gradually enter their fruit-bearing period, leading to growing supply-demand imbalances. Coupled with the rapid development of the blueberry industry in places like Shandong and Heilongjiang, these factors pose challenges to Dandong’s current leading position. To maintain the momentum of Dandong’s blueberry industry, protect the interests of growers and processors, elevate the Dandong blueberry brand, and under the guidance and support of municipal departments such as the Science and Technology Bureau and Agriculture Commission, forward-thinking figures in Dandong’s blueberry industry spent over two years preparing before finally establishing this alliance to jointly venture into the market. In addition, following the establishment of the association, members will benefit from greater advantages through mutual cooperation, including technical guidance and services for blueberry cultivation, introduction of new technologies and varieties, technical training and demonstration, technical exchanges, external technical and economic collaboration, procurement and supply of blueberry production materials, product sales, and market development.