Carrots produced in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, a city of East China’s Fujian province recently won recognition as a national geographical indication product by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, according to local officials.

Geographical indication-identified products are generally traditional products produced by rural or indigenous communities that have gained a reputation on the local, national or even international market due to their specific unique qualities.

As the province’s largest carrot planting center, Jinjiang has a total of 310 specialized carrot growers, cultivating an area of more than 4,000 hectares and an annual output of 360,000 metric tons.

A view of a carrot cultivation area in Jinjiang, Quanzhou. [Photo/people.com.cn]

The growers are mainly distributed in the towns of Dongshi, Jinjing, Yinglin, Shenhu, Longhu, Anhai, Yonghe and Neikeng.

Jinjiang carrots have good quality and strong industrial technology support, with a complete industry supply chain.

Local officials said the honor is expected to promote the product’s reputation nationwide and bring more wealth to local growers.

Farmers harvest carrots in Jinjiang, Quanzhou. [Photo/people.com.cn]

In recent years, Quanzhou has accelerated the development of its agricultural brand. It has actively diversified into high-quality products with wide brand influence and special qualities that can potentially qualify to be rated as national geographical indication products.

As of now, Quanzhou has had 19 national geographical indication products, such as the Quanzhou Longan, Anxi Tieguanyin, Dehua Pear, Jinjiang Nori Seaweed and Penghua Navel Orange, ranking it first in the province in the numbers.