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Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community. GIAHS Proposal for the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Initiative

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)

Year of publication 2013

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 90 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Chinese Torreya (Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii) is a quality grafting plant resulting, over time, from careful artificial selection. Its main properties and economic values are different from other types of Torreya grandis and it can be used for nuts, medicine, logs, oil, ornaments, and environmental protection purposes. The Kuaiji mountain is the origin place of Chinese Torreya with the most well preserved ancient Torreya community, and more than 80% Chinese Torreya production is from this area . The Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community has over 2000 years of history. This Kuaijishan ancient community developed the application of grafting techniques in ancient China, which makes it a rare "living fossil" of ancient grafting and artificial selection techniques. The age of the oldest existing Chinese Torreya tree, already tested by experiments, is 1431 years, which might be the oldest living artificial grafted specimen in China. In addition, the Kuaijishan Ancient Chinese Torreya Community is a harmonious system that was created by the people of Shaoxing a long time ago that prevents soil erosion while providing diverse ‘high value’ economic products from the trees.

Language English

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