GUIYANG, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Guizhou Province has vigorously promoted the development of dendrobium industry in recent years.
Dendrobium is a perennial herbaceous plant and one of the most valuable Chinese herbal medicines in China.
Thanks to its superior natural ecological environment, Guizhou has seen a dendrobium planting area of 159,500 mu (15 mu equal one hectare) as of the end of May, ranking first in the country.
Data shows that as of the end of May, the output of dendrobium in Guizhou amounted to 8,097.73 tons, with an output value of 2.161 billion yuan (about 305 million U.S. dollars).
According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Guizhou, there are 85 dendrobium production enterprises (specialized cooperatives) in Guizhou, including 9 provincial leading enterprises.
In addition, Guizhou is also promoting the protection of dendrobium germplasm resources, accelerating construction of seedling breeding bases, and carrying out work such as the construction of dendrobium gene pool, effective ingredient testing, dual-use medicine and food testing.
Data shows that since the beginning of the year, Guizhou has sold 875.49 tons of fresh dendrobium products in an amount of 150 million yuan, and 32.18 tons of dried dendrobium products worth 148 million yuan. (Contributed by Wang Lei, edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)