Kaiyang honored as China's top 10 selenium industry area

Tourists pick selenium-rich tea in a tea garden in Kaiyang county, Guiyang city. [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]

Kaiyang county in Guiyang, the capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou province, was recently nominated as one of the top 10 areas for the selenium industry by the National Innovation Alliance for Functional Agriculture Science and Technology.

Areas also awarded with this honor included Ankang, Baixiang, Enshi, Fumian, Gaocheng, Guigang, Jiangjin, Shitai, Weichang, Xixiangtang and Yichun.

Kaiyang county is known as "the hometown of selenium-rich agricultural products in the country". More than 99.91 percent of the soil in the county is rich in selenium, which has been described as a rare "ecological landscape with rich selenium".

Tea is widely planted in Kaiyang county due to its selenium-rich soil. [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]

In recent years, Kaiyang has attached great importance to the development of its selenium-related industries.

Statistics from the county shows that the total output value of the selenium-enriched industry was 6.1 billion yuan ($915.23 million) in 2019.

The industry's output value is expected to reach 8 billion yuan this year, an increase of 31 percent.

The soil in the county is rich in selenium, helping it gain the honor of "the hometown of selenium-rich agricultural products in the country". [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]