Sustainable Large-Scale Green Production and Value Promotion of Quinoa in Qinghai - TCP/CPR/3803

Abstract

Quinoa is a crop with high nutritional value, and the demand for quinoa products in the domestic and international market has been in constant growth in recent years. The Qaidam Basin (including Dulan County, Ulan County, Delingha City and Golmud City), located in Haixi Tibetan and Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, has unique natural, climatic and ecological characteristics that make it one of the best quinoa planting areas in China. Quinoa produced in the Qaidam Basin has advantages in yield and quality compared to that produced in other regions in the country; the quality meets or exceeds international standards, with products that are favoured by consumers at home and abroad. Introduced to Qinghai in 2012, quinoa underwent two years of planting trials from 2012 to 2013 and three years of large-scale cultivation from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, the planted area of quinoa in the Qaidam Basin reached 30 000 mu, with an average yield of from 230 to 300 kg/mu and an output value of from CNY 3 000/mu to CNY 3 500/mu, three times that of crops such as wheat and rapeseed. The Qinghai Implementation Plan of Agricultural Modernization (2016-2020) was proposed to develop the quinoa industry, which has great potential for farmers in the deeply impoverished areas of Qinghai