Kaiyang loquat cultural tourism festival kicks off

Kaiyang selenium-enriched loquats are now entering the ripe season. [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]

The Kaiyang Se-enriched Loquat Cultural Tourism Festival officially opened in Miaozhai village, Nanjiang township of Kaiyang County, on May 26.

Tourists from all over the place came to experience the pleasure of picking and tasting the delicious and selenium-enriched loquat.

For over 20 years, Kaiyang county has been developing the loquat industry with over 83,000 mu of planting area, yielding over 30,000 metric tons annually. It makes Kaiyang the most extensive loquat production base in Guizhou province.

In 2022, the total output value of the loquat industry in Kaiyang reached 360 million yuan.

Kaiyang has unique geographic advantages in planting loquat trees.

A farmer picks ripe selenium-enriched loquats in a field. [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]

The soil found in Kaiyang has a remarkable abundance of selenium, boasting a content range of 0.4 to 3 milligrams per kilogram. This concentration is twice the national average, making it a particularly noteworthy and coveted source of selenium in China. It is noteworthy to mention that this region is the sole provider of such high selenium content in Guizhou province.

Kaiyang is known as the "hometown of China's selenium-enriched agricultural products" and "China's Selenium Capital." Recently, the region has developed a brand cluster of selenium-enriched products, with the regional public brand "Impression of Se-enriched Place" pioneering the way.

Kaiyang is known as the "hometown of China's selenium-enriched agricultural products." 

Kaiyang has built six ecological selenium-enriched demonstration bases, 69 provincial standardized non-polluting agricultural product production bases, and 21 selenium-enriched distinct industrial demonstration areas.

Picked selenium-enriched loquats are for sale at a road booth in Kaiyang. [Photo/kaiyang.gov.cn]