Agricultural center saving vegetables from extinction
Print Edition
JIADING Agricultural Technology Center has collected 26 kinds of local vegetables that are in danger of disappearing.
They include the luohan cai, a local wild vegetable used to make dumplings or pickles; the panxiang cowpea, which looks like a mosquito coil; the niutabian green soy bean, which is flat in shape with a tender taste; huangdu, a small green vegetable; Jiading white garlic, which is usually salted or soaked in vinegar; zhuxue flat bean and the mituo mustard leaf.
Among the above vegetables, luohan cai is considered as a treasure of Jiading. It used to be a Nanxiang specialty as famous as the town’s Xiaolong dumplings about 50 years ago.
It could be easily found in the fields of Malu area and was popular among local residents. However, with urbanization and mass utilization of chemical pesticides, it is facing extinction.
Vegetable revival
In 2003, a center employee collected some luohan cai from an elderly local resident, from which the center has cultivated a new variety suitable for mass production.
In recent years, some local vegetables disappeared for various reasons, and local agricultural authorities are paying more attention to protecting these rare varieties.
Chen Jue, vice director of the center, said most of these vegetables have a good taste but low yields, which means the local farmers usually don’t like to plant a lot. “They would be extinct gradually if we don’t take action,” Chen said.
Chen Deming, director of the Shanghai Agricultural Commission’s vegetable office, said the rare vegetables protection project was aiming to preserve the varieties rather than put them into mass production. Despite that, some of these vegetables are still expected to appear on citizens’ dinner tables next year, he added.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
