Chestnut cultivation in China has a long history. As early as 6,000 years ago, working people in China had collected, eaten and stored wild chestnuts. However, when did you start planting chestnuts? According to ancient written records, during the Spring and Autumn Period about two thousand years ago, our ancestors had widely planted chestnut trees. As written in the Book of Songs: "There are chestnuts" and "hazelnut chestnuts on the tree", Zhou Li Tianguan said: "In fact, jujube chestnuts are for feeding", and Lv Chunqiu also said: "Those with beautiful fruits are oranges in Jiangpu and chestnuts in Jishan" and so on. All these accounts show that chestnut trees were planted in the ancient Yellow River valley and the vast areas of North China Plain, and chestnut fruits became an important food in people's daily life. In the Qin and Han dynasties, chestnut trees were planted more vigorously. Historical records (the first century A.D.) recorded that "Yan Qin planted a thousand chestnuts" and "one person planted a thousand chestnuts". By comparing Qianshuli with Qianhuhou, the big landlord at that time, we can see its scale. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, chestnut production gradually developed to intensive production, which was manifested in the establishment of many large official chestnut gardens in Shaanxi and Hebei. On the other hand, big landlords and temple owners all over the north are also actively establishing chestnut gardens. For example, the famous Qingshou Temple in Nankou, Beijing, "has a chestnut garden with a scale of more than a thousand hectares", which was a huge chestnut garden in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Its large area and numerous chestnut trees are also rare in the history of fruit tree development in China.
However, before liberation, Chinese chestnut production was madly destroyed by reactionaries and imperialists, and suffered heavy losses, especially in North China, the main chestnut producing area. After liberation, under the care of the party and the government, many commodity production bases of chestnut were established in various places with chestnut as the main tree species, which promoted the rapid development of chestnut production. For example, Guangde County, the key production area of Anhui chestnut production, has 25,000 mu of chestnut orchards, twice as much as before liberation. Especially after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, various rural economic policies have been implemented, the responsibility system for chestnut tree management has been implemented, and the methods of fixed production to trees and guaranteed production to people have been adopted. The enthusiasm of fruit farmers has doubled, making the national chestnut production momentum good. For example, in Qianxi County, Hebei Province, the hometown of chestnut in JD.COM, the output of 1982 reached140,000 Jin, which was 50% higher than that of 198 1. Chestnut produced here not only ranks first in the country, but also enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad for its high sugar content and delicious color. The number of chestnuts exported each year accounts for about a quarter of the country's total exports.
At present, chestnut production in China is widely distributed. It starts from Qian Shan, Liaoning Province in the north, passes through the northern and western parts of Hebei Province in the south, including the Yellow River basin and the Yangtze River basin, and reaches Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, "Two Lakes" and "Guangdong and Guangxi" in the south, as well as Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and regions. Among them, the provinces in North China are the most cultivated, especially Zunhua and Qian 'an in Hebei, Linyi, Tai 'an and Juxian in Shandong, Huairou, Changping and Fangshan in Beijing, which are rich in yield and excellent in quality.
Chestnut production in China not only has a long history and is widely distributed, but also ranks first in the world in varieties. Chestnut is an important dried fruit in the world. The current annual output is 500,000-600,000 tons. The main producers are Italy, Japan, Turkey, France, Portugal, Spain, Greece, the Soviet Union and Bolivia. Among them, China has the largest output and the best quality. No country in the world has rich and colorful chestnut varieties with good quality like China. Li Mao, Castanea henryi and Castanea mollissima originated in China, among which Castanea mollissima has the widest distribution and the greatest economic value, and is recognized as the best chestnut variety in the world. Among them, famous at home and abroad are: ① Li Ming. Produced in the northern and western mountainous areas of Hebei Province, it has huge nuts, bright skin, tender meat and sweet taste, and is the best-selling product in the market. ② Big oil chestnut. Produced in Tancheng, Shandong Province, with purple-brown skin and yellowish kernel, the fruit is large and beautiful, sweet in taste and good in quality, suitable for planting at the seaside. 3 bright and concise. Produced in Chang 'an County, Shaanxi Province, it is precocious, with good quality, large grain size and high and stable yield. In addition, there are many excellent varieties all over the country. Such as early maturity and high yield of plum; Mature late, chestnut in Guangxi; Hebei Qian 'an double-season chestnut, Shaanxi Zhen 'an chestnut, Yang Shan chestnut; Jiujiali in the west hill of Dongting Lake in Jiangsu Province is also a well-known variety. Chestnuts growing in the southern foot of Yanshan Mountain are mostly sweet and taste very sweet. The sugar-fried chestnuts processed with it are popular foods for the masses. Japanese also like chestnuts produced at the southern foot of Yanshan Mountain in China, and demand to increase export supply every year. The fruits of these varieties are beyond the reach of Japanese chestnut, European chestnut and American chestnut in terms of sugar content, shape, color, fragrance and taste.
Chestnut is an important dried fruit in China, with rich nutrition, sweet taste, high yield, wide use and strong adaptability. It has the characteristics of "planting for many years and enjoying from generation to generation" and is known as "cash cow". Chestnut is one of the important export materials in China. Therefore, in order to meet the demand of domestic and foreign markets, we must vigorously develop chestnut production, make full use of China's natural advantages such as large mountainous area, wide adaptability and precious varieties, vigorously develop chestnut planting, select suitable areas and establish commercial chestnut production bases. This is of great significance for developing the vast mountainous areas and changing the face of poverty and backwardness.