There are many kinds of berries in development, including strawberry, sea buckthorn, mulberry, bilberry, goji, grape, blueberry, gooseberry, honey berry, cherry, rowanberry, Schisandra and Rosa, said Dr. Yu Hong from Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IB-CAS). These berries can be divided into three class--the one which has been cultivated and widely used, grape and strawberry for example; the one which is being studied for application, bilberry and honey berry for example; the one which will be used and cultivated, cotoneaster and rowanberry for example. Dr. Yu Hong introduced blueberry, raspberry, blackberry and honey berry on 2013 China Antioxidant Berry & Super fruit Summit.

Blueberry

Growing area and Output: It has been cultivated for about 100 years in the world. With planting area of 77 thousand ha, the global output reaches 400 thousand tons. With planting history of 20 years, China grows 20 thousand ha and produces 18 thousand tons per year.

Distribution: Northeast China, Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangzhou.

Blackberry and Raspberry

Growing area and Output: It has been cultivated for several thousand years in the world. With planting area of 200 thousand ha, the global output arrives to 400 thousand tons. With planting area of 8.7 thousand ha, China produces 35 thousand tons per year.

Wild species in China: 201 species and 98 varities known. Some have been developed utilized, including Rubus idaeus, Rubusolius and Thimbleberry.

Honey Berry

Mainly grows in Changbai Mountain, Heilongjiang, Daxinganling and Daqing Mountain of Inner Monogolia, Shandong, Hebei, Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan provinces and Ningxia municipality. The herb mostly grows intensively and can spread up 100 more kilometers. Heilongjiang province has 5900 tons of Honey berry in stock. Only a few countries began breeding and domestic cultivation programs.

Species: 15 species in Northeast China; 1 species in Heilongjiang.

Sustainable Development-Cultivation

Cultivation is the necessary way to use botanical resource, emphasized Dr. Yu Hong.

Take blueberry for example, there is a long way from place selection to extensive cultivation. China began blueberry cultivation in 1980s, but IB-CAS found that the soil is not adaptable to the growth of blueberry in some planting areas of China.

The price of blueberry is higher than that of bilberry. Considering domestic average consumption level, it's very hard to make blueberry and its serial products into every family. The cost of blueberry extracts is significantly higher than that of bilberry extracts. Therefore, blueberry can't be the main source of extracts. China begins importing bilberry without tariffs in 2014, leading to lower prices in bilberry industry. But players should keep calm on the future market.

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