Yangshu Trees in Siyang

Yangshu Trees in Siyang

The Siyang Yangshu Tree is a geographical indication certification trademark.

　　　　In the 1970s and 1980s, Siyang provided over 100 million high-quality poplar seedlings to 28 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions across China. Since the 10th Five-Year Plan period, Siyang has been committed to building a “Green Siyang, Ecological Homeland,” launching annual “Poplar Industry Years” that have continuously expanded the scale of the poplar industry. Currently, the county has over 600,000 hectares of contiguous forests, an annual poplar growth volume of 1 million cubic meters, 50 million trees planted around homes and fields, a standing timber volume of 6 million cubic meters, and a total of 120 million preserved poplar trees. All 1.06 million hectares of arable land have achieved farmland forest networking. There are 720 production and processing enterprises using poplar as raw material, with the county’s wood processing capacity exceeding 1.5 million cubic meters, including 300,000 cubic meters of deep-processing capacity, generating an annual processing output value of over 6 billion yuan. This has also given rise to 13 new well-known brands such as Fenglin, Dongsheng, Dehua Rabbit Baby, and Duolishijia. Over 30 types of eco-friendly products—such as plywood, engineered wood, furniture, and flooring—are exported to more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, and Spain, earning over 50 million US dollars in foreign exchange annually. A modern industrial structure has been formed, integrating superior variety breeding and propagation, large-scale intensive afforestation, deep wood processing and export trade, and profit reinvestment for forestry expansion and reproduction, achieving a positive interaction between regional development and ecological construction.

　　Italian poplars, commonly referred to as "Yi Yang" in China, are famously cultivated in Siyang County, Jiangsu Province, located on the northern shore of Hongze Lake—the renowned “Hometown of Chinese Italian Poplars.” Among all regions in China cultivating Italian poplars, Siyang has the most developed industry, earliest introduction of the species, and highest coverage rate, with the county’s poplar coverage now reaching 42%, the highest in the nation.

　　　　Siyang County in Jiangsu Province lies on the Huabei Plain. The county covers a total area of 1,832 square kilometers, including 1,258 square kilometers of land and 574 square kilometers of water area. It comprises 25 towns and farms, with a total population of 1.18 million, including 1.02 million agricultural residents. The area enjoys convenient land and water transportation, with the Xinchang Railway and Provincial Highway 305 passing through, and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Liutang River, and Huai-Shu River running across it. Siyang was the first county in China to introduce and cultivate Italian poplars and is widely known for having China’s one-of-a-kind Poplar Museum and for hosting China’s unique Poplar Festival. It has been awarded the sole national title of “Hometown of Chinese Italian Poplars” by the Chinese Society of Forestry.

　　　　Currently, Siyang has developed an ecological forestry framework structured around water conservancy and roads as the backbone, rivers and lakes as well as wastelands as bases, contiguous forests and shelterbelts as the main components, supplemented by farmland forest networking and tree planting around homes and fields. Its ecological benefits are significant. The former phenomena of “sand filling the sky after three rainless days” and “white landscapes in winter and spring, flying sand and dust when the wind rises, sowing a bowl of seeds in spring and harvesting half a bowl in autumn” have disappeared, replaced by lush greenery and abundant grain. Soil erosion issues in over 20 medium and small rivers across the county have been fundamentally resolved, water quality has significantly improved, and the diversity of wildlife has noticeably increased. The populations of birds and animals such as herons and hares have more than tripled compared to 1985. With the eradication of flying sand, vast areas of wasteland and barren beaches have been developed and utilized. Currently, nearly 160,000 hectares of farmland and 37 kilometers of the old Yellow River channel along the Xuda Hong and abandoned Yellow River areas have been reclaimed. Additionally, ditches and river channels no longer become silted up, nor do they require annual dredging, saving approximately 200,000 labor days and nearly 10 million yuan in funds each year. The construction of shelterbelts and farmland forest networks has also improved the microclimate of farmlands, greatly weakening the impact of dry, hot winds on winter wheat. According to incomplete statistics, over the past three years alone, the county has seen cumulative increases in winter wheat production of 232,500 tons, beans of 25,500 tons, cotton of 12,000 tons, and rapeseed of 34,500 tons.

　　Yangshu Trees in Siyang

　　Siyang County Timber Industry Chamber of Commerce

　　12379665

　　Trees, etc.