Goji berry industry in China's Tsaidam Basin likely to warm up

XINING,China,Sept. 5,2019 -- Recently,the second Qaidam Se-enriched and Organic goji Forum was grandly opened in Delingha,Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,Qinghai Province,China.

The goji berry (known as Chinese wolfberry) industry in the Tsaidam Basin in northwest China's Qinghai Province is expected to warm up with the rebounding prices,predicted insiders at a recently-held summit on organic selenium-enriched goji berries.

As China's second largest planting base of goji berries as well as the world's highest-altitude continuous planting area of goji berries,the Tsaidam Basin,most of which is located in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai,boasts sufficient sun light,large temperature difference between day and night and selenium-rich soil ideal for growing quality goji berries.

According to the annual report of the Xinhua-Tsaidam goji berry price index,the increasing prices before 2015 resulted in the rapid increase of goji berry output in the Tsaidam Basin,which led to the oversupply of goji berries and the gradually falling prices.

According to Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture Government of Qinghai Province,in response to the changes,the local government has introduced a raft of favorable policies,launched the Xinhua-Tsaidam goji berry price index jointly with China Economic Information Service (CEIS) of Xinhua News Agency,and set up related demonstration bases and zones regarding exports,brand building and quality safety of goji berries,etc.

After 3 to 5 years of self-adjustment,the price of goji berries in the basin started to rise in 2019 and may embrace a better prospect in this year's harvest season.

Data showed that the planting area of goji berries in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is close to 500,000 mu (about 33,333.33 hectares) so far,with the total yield of dried fruit exceeding 80,000 metric tons (tonnes) and the output value expected to reach 2.416 billion yuan,growing by 55 times,171 times and 73 times respectively as compared with 2008.