August is normally the beginning of the sales season for cucumber seed in northern China in a year. Compared with the previous years, farmers showed more enthusiasm in cucumber seedpurchasing this year, which can be reflected in the increased sales volume of cucumber seeds. Sales of cucumber seed in major cucumber growing regions such as Shandong, Hebei and Shanxi went on smoothly, with the seeds being sold out in a short time in many regions.
The good sales of cucumber seed is mainly a result of the rising prices of cucumber harvested in August. Continuous price increases for cucumber has been commonly found this year in regions like Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, etc. Some vegetable vendors in Zhangjiakou and Chengde of Hebei revealed that the purchasing price of cucumber had been rising since mid August this year, and it was as high as USD0.52/kg (RMB3.20/kg) as of late August. The purchasing price of cucumber in the surrounding areas of Beijing even rose to USD0.64/kg (RMB4.00/kg) in late August.
Tomato has always been the dominating vegetable grown in summer in the northern part of China, for it is easy to take care of and is less vulnerable to diseases. By contrast, cucumber planting only occupies a small proportion and the related acreage even saw a somewhat decrease in previous years. As a result, there was a tight supply of cucumber in the summer market, which directly pushed up the selling price. However, the purchasing price of tomato saw a continuous drop in some northern regions after August and the vegetable market in Northeast China was overstocked with tomatoes. Thus many vegetable growers intended to plant cucumber rather than tomato in the next planting season.
It was the abnormal hot and dry weather occurring since this August in which area that brought vain growth and high incidence of pests and diseases to cucumber and affected itsyield. However, growers' enthusiasm for cucumber planting was not greatly affected since cucumber planting was barely constrained by the short-lived abnormal weather.
Overall, Jinyou series bred by Tianjin Kernel Cucumber Research Institute (Tianjin Kernel) and varieties bred by Tianjin Derit Seeds Company Ltd. (Tianjin Derit) such as Bomei series, have occupied a large part in China's cucumber seedmarket, mainly due to their outstanding traits like high yield and good commodity, plus the moderate prices. The varieties bred by the two companies have been widely recognized by domestic cucumber growers. In addition, Jinpei varieties bred by Beijing Zhongyanhuinong Seed Co., Ltd. (Zhongyanhuinong) have also been gradually recognized by domestic farmers, thanks to its years’ efforts to improve its R&D capability and promote its products.
In northern China, provinces such as Liaoning, Shandong, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Gansu, etc., are the major cucumber growing regions. Cucumber with dense thorns is the major type planted, rather than stingless cucumber or fruit cucumbers introduced from abroad. Greenhouse planting of cucumber in northern China is more popular, whose ratio to open-field cucumber planting is estimated to be 3:2 by acreage.
In northern China, there are usually four cropping of cucumber in a year, including: overwintering greenhouse planting between September and October; early spring greenhouse planting around December; small arch shed planting after March; open-field planting in summer. The selling of cucumber seeds usually starts one month before cucumber planting and the second half of a year is usually a major sales season for cucumber seed.
Table of contents of Seed China News 1310:
Beidahuang Kenfeng constructing corn seed processing plant in Xinjiang
Hefei Fengle suffers heavy losses in first three quarters of 2013
Rising cucumber prices boost seed sales in northern China
Brief overview of Hunan's rice seed market
Potato prices overall run high in 2013
China's soybean planting still not optimistic
Denghai618 to underpin Shandong Denghai's further growth
Daiweisen tomato: seed sales in Shandong rise sharply
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