Leafy greens

Author: Hou Xilin et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Vegetables are an indispensable part of people's daily diet. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards and the growing awareness of health, there is a strong demand for "hazard-free vegetables," "green vegetables," and "organic vegetables." This has significantly boosted the rapid development of China's vegetable industry. In 2002, the national vegetable sown area reached 1970 million hectares, with a total output of 603.31 million tons, an average annual per capita consumption of 480 kilograms, which is more than three times the world average. The total output value of vegetables ranked second in agriculture, after grains, and the annual export earnings reached 2.63 billion US dollars, making it a pillar industry for farmers' wealth accumulation, agricultural income growth, and agricultural product export. The fundamental way forward for the future development of vegetable production lies in developing export-oriented vegetables and participating in international competition. Therefore, vegetable production must diversify varieties, improve quality, emphasize safety and hygiene standards, and develop vegetable storage, processing, packaging, and transportation. Leading with enterprises, high-quality vegetable production should be promoted to meet the needs of both foreign trade exports and domestic market competition. This "Series" is easy to understand and highly practical, serving as a training textbook for rural technical personnel, a valuable teaching reference book, and a production practice guide for grassroots vegetable technology extension personnel and vegetable farmers.