The planting area of Asparagus in Caoxian County, Shandong Province is nearly 12,000 hectares, with an annual output of 160,000 tons of high-quality asparagus. There are more than 20 large asparagus processing enterprises with an annual processing capacity of 140,000 tons. The annual export earns US$200 million, employs 100,000 people, and exports products to many western developed countries and regions. In December 2003, Cao County was named "Township of Asparagus in China" by the Ministry of Agriculture, and two national large-scale standardization projects, namely "Research on Asparagus Standardization Technology" and "Construction of Asparagus Standardization Demonstration Zone", were completed in Cao County. In 2006, it was certified as a pollution-free asparagus production base by the Ministry of Agriculture, and China asparagus science and technology public service information platform was built in Cao County. Three International Asparagus Festivals of China (Cao County) were successfully held in April 2007-2009. Cao County has become the county with the largest asparagus area, the best product quality, the strongest processing capacity, the highest production level, the most varieties, the highest scientific and technological content, and the largest export earnings.
In 2002, the area of Asparagus in China once reached about 100,000 hectares, accounting for one third of the world's total area. From 2003 to 2005, the area of asparagus was reduced to about 100,000 hectares due to SARS and severe floods.
About 60,000 hectares aggravated the tension between supply and demand of Asparagus in the world. As a result, the international price of asparagus has been rising all the way. In 2007, the purchase price of asparagus reached 19 yuan/kg, a record. By January 2009, the area of Asparagus in China had been restored to about 80,000 hectares, and the supply gap of product exports was still more than 30%.With the continuous improvement of cultivation techniques and the popularization and application of new hybrid varieties, China has made great progress in cultivation techniques.
The output of asparagus is also increasing. From the beginning, 200-350 kilograms per mu was increased to an average of 500-60 kilograms per mu in a large area (kilograms per mu, high-yielding fields up to 1001 kilograms per mu), and more than 1500 kilograms per mu in individual places, which opened up a new way for rural economic development and for farmers to get rid of poverty and become rich.
In the last century, China exported almost all asparagus. After entering the 21st century, with the rapid development of China's economy, the domestic market of asparagus has started, and shows great market potential. In 2000, the daily consumption of green asparagus in Shanghai has reached 50-70 tons.
In addition, the asparagus cultivation in Qingxu County of Shanxi Province and Anqiu City of Shandong Province has been successful. The benefit of asparagus cultivation in protected areas is more than twice that of in-situ asparagus cultivation. While increasing the harvest of asparagus farmers, it also fills the gap of fresh asparagus supply in non-harvesting season.
From the introduction of varieties, the introduction of "Mary Washington", "A model" and other varieties at the beginning, and later increased "Mary Washington 500" and "Mary Washington 500" 500W ". With the increasing demand for green asparagus, UC series varieties (California) were introduced. University Series Department) includes "ul-72", "uc157", "uc800", "uc309" and so on.