Yanggu of Shandong: A “Pepper” Symphony for Rural Revitalization

YANGGU, China, Feb. 7, 2024 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–



Grown on thousands of acres of fertile land in Gaomiaowang Town, Yanggu’s peppers are celebrated for their thin skin, thick flesh, high capsaicin content, and rich nutritional value. Renowned as the “No. 1 Pepper in Jiangbei,” Yanggu’s peppers are captivating taste buds across the region.

Yanggu Xianyun Pepper Special Cooperative was founded in January 2009 in Gaomiaowang Town. Over the past decade, the cooperative has undergone standardized development, earning accolades such as a national demonstration cooperative and a testing and demonstration base for the National Vegetable Quality Standard Center. Additionally, it has been recognized as a special base for “Good Products in Shandong – Renowned Products of Rural Areas,” further solidifying its role in promoting Yanggu’s distinctive agricultural heritage.

“In 2011, we sent Yanggu pod pepper to the Vegetable Research Institute of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences for pungency degree testing, where it reached 86,792SHU, earning it the title of ‘No. 1 Pepper in Jiangbei’,” Fang Xianyun, the founder and chairman of Yanggu Xianyun Pepper Cooperative, introduced. SHU is an internationally accepted measuring unit of pungency degree. Following further enhancements in 2014, the pepper’s pungency soared to 120,000 SHU.

To standardize pod pepper cultivation, in 2014, the cooperative began focusing on the research and development of high-quality, high-yield cultivation techniques. They successfully pioneered a new method called “mechanized direct sowing of pepper in wheat fields.” After three consecutive years of experimental trials, they achieved impressive yields: 500 kg of wheat and 425 kg of dried pepper per mu, with each mu yielding profits exceeding 10,000 yuan..

“This approach has accomplished the objectives of reducing pesticide and high yields. It not only guarantees food security but also boosts farmers’ income, marking a pioneering milestone in Shandong’s full-process mechanized cultivation of peppers alongside wheat,” proudly declared Fang Xianyun.

In November 2020, Fang Xianyun and others formulated the “Standardized Production Technology Specifications of Yanggu Pod Pepper,” breaking the absence of standards in Yanggu County’s pepper cultivation. In 2022, Shandong’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs endorsed the technology as a provincial model, with the “Gaomiaowang pod pepper cultivation system” becoming a part of Shandong’s agricultural cultural heritage.

Source: Information Office of People’s Government of Yanggu County