Farmers in Southwest China province reap juicy gains from vegetable

Exports of organic vegetables have become an economic driver in Yunnan province, providing more opportunities for local vegetable retailers.

Yunnan Mr. Yunling Agricultural Development Co Ltd has been exporting vegetable products to markets including Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Singapore. With the demand rising in recent years, the company aims to develop itself into a top brand of high-end organic food.

The company provides vegetables for supermarket chains nationwide, such as Sam's Club, Freshippo, Vanguard and Yonghui Superstores. Last year, its products covered 77 cities, 12 more than the number of the previous year, it said.

The volume of vegetables exported from Yunnan accounted for more than 10 percent of the nation's total last year, and both the exporting value and volume of Yunnan ranked top in Southwest China, according to the provincial department of agriculture and rural affairs.

After years of development, vegetable planting in Yunnan has gradually transformed from a scale-oriented sector to a quality-oriented one. The sector helped Yunnan attain a credential of health, green and ecological vegetables, the department said.

With a subtropical climate and abundant sunshine, Yunnan can provide various high-quality vegetable products throughout the year.

Vegetables from the province are exported to global markets in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and Oceania.

Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia stood as the top three countries that saw the highest import volume of vegetables from Yunnan last year, according to Kunming Customs.

In 2023, exporting volume of fresh vegetables and other derivative products, such as dried and canned vegetables, from Yunnan reached 1.04 million metric tons, growing 10.6 percent year-on-year. Export value came in at 4.94 billion yuan ($704 million), accounting for 29.3 percent of the province's total agricultural product exports, Kunming Customs said.

Last year, vegetable planting area in the province reached 1.35 million hectares, up 1.8 percent year-on-year, with an output of 29.6 million tons, up 3.6 percent year-on-year. Output value of the entire industry chain came in at 221.65 billion yuan, growing 11.8 percent over the previous year, the agriculture department said.

In addition, 70 percent of vegetable products from the province have been sold to over 150 large and medium-sized cities nationwide, and over 40 markets worldwide.

By the end of last year, Yunnan had 924 companies involved in vegetable businesses, and more than 6,700 cold storage warehouses had been built. Supported by the local pre-cooling and refrigeration services, product circulation losses have been reduced, significantly improving efficiency, the local agricultural department said.

Tonghai Wanhe Import and Export Co Ltd, a Yuxi, Yunnan-based vegetable processor involved in foreign trade, has been in the sector for more than a decade.

"Our vegetables are mainly exported to Thailand and Malaysia, with daily shipments through cold chain transportation via land, rail and sea. Now, with the launch of the China-Laos Railway, more businesspersons have engaged in the foreign trade of vegetables," said Zhang Xuxu, president of the company.

The vegetable industry now stands as a pillar sector in Tonghai county, and local vegetable farmers are well aware of what products are in high demand in foreign markets. For instance, Thai consumers prefer imported cabbage with green leaves.

"The packaging requirement is also different. For example, Thailand calls for fresh packaging bags while Malaysia urges cardboard boxes. As long as we tell farmers what products the foreign markets need, they will select the products based on the requirements of those countries and package them for us," Zhang said.