A county that is known for its capsicum planting in southwest China's Guizhou Province has been awarded the title of "Capital of Capsicum" by the Chinese Research Society of Food Culture, sources with the local government said.

Zunyi County, located in the northern part of Guizhou, has a planting area of 305,000 mu (20,333 hectares) of capsicum, accounting for one third of the county's total arable land. The county has 25 capsicum bases that have a planting area of more than 5,000 mu and 152 bases that have a planting area of more than 1,000 mu.

Approximately 258,000 people, or 22 percent of the county's total population, are engaged in capsicum planting, processing, transportation and other related services. About 11 percent of the farmers' income comes from capsicum planting and half of the county's GDP come from the capsicum industry.

The country's trade volume of capsicum reached 60,000 tons in 2004 with a turnover of 480 million yuan (59.2 million US dollars) . The county not only sold its capsicum to neighboring provinces but also exported it to the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and ASEAN member countries.

It has taken one year for the Chinese Research Society of Food Culture, which organizes experts on food culture, agriculture and other scholars in the country, to complete the field inspection and evaluation about whether to confer the title of "Capital of Capsicum."

"The recognition of the title will help boost the economic construction of Chinese food culture and boost the economic development of China's western regions," said Chen Haoran, executive vice president of the Chinese Research Society of Food Culture.

The Chinese Research Society of Food Culture was founded in 1993 and is supervised by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Statistics show that China has a planting area of capsicum of 1.25 million hectares with a yearly output of 130 million tons, or 46 percent of the world's total, topping all other countries.

Source: Xinhua