Which regions are the main producing areas of asparagus distributed across?

Asparagus is native to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. To this day, wild species still exist in the grasslands and river valleys of Europe, the Asian continent, and North Africa. It has a cultivation history of more than 2,000 years. It was introduced to the Americas in the 17th century, to Japan in the 18th century, and to China in the early 20th century. It is cultivated in countries all over the world, with the United States having the most.

Cultivation of asparagus in China began in the Qing Dynasty, with a history of only more than 100 years. It was grown sporadically in the suburbs of major cities in coastal areas and sold fresh locally. In the 1950s and 1960s, the export volume of asparagus from Taiwan, China increased year by year. By the 1980s, the export volume of vegetables from Taiwan, China occupied a pivotal position in total material exports, and the export volume of asparagus was second to none among vegetables. In 1980, the export volume of Taiwan, China was 76,400 tons of canned asparagus, while frozen vegetables were only 61,500 tons. The export volume of canned asparagus from Taiwan, China accounted for more than 70% of world trade volume. After the 1980s, because the quality of asparagus from Taiwan, China was poor, the economic benefits of growing asparagus were somewhat neglected. As a result, the planting area decreased year by year. By 1987, the export volume of canned asparagus was only 12,100 tons, decreasing at an annual rate of 23.1%. As a result, asparagus was in short supply on the international market. Starting in 1984, this situation prompted large-scale development of asparagus production in Fujian, Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Tianjin and other places in China. By the early 1990s, the national cultivation area reached more than 66,000 hectares, and annual canned production exceeded 80,000 tons, making it one of China's main vegetable products for earning foreign exchange through exports. Among them, Shandong Province is the main base for asparagus production. Its annual export of canned asparagus accounts for about 1/3 of the national total export volume, occupying a pivotal position in the country's asparagus production and exports. China's asparagus is mainly sold to the United States, Japan, European countries and other countries as well as Hong Kong, China.

According to statistics from the early 1980s, world production of canned asparagus was 200,000 tons, with import and export trade volumes each around 90,000 tons. China and Spain were the main exporting countries, accounting for 80%-90% of world export volume. The main importing countries were Germany and France and other Western European countries. Countries such as the United States and Japan gradually reduced production because of the low economic benefits of canned asparagus production. In the future, the dominant players in the world asparagus trade will be China and Spain. With China's good ecological environment and the development of the domestic market, a major expansion of asparagus production is certain. To date, asparagus is still one of China's main foreign-exchange-earning vegetables, but in the domestic market it is still a relatively rare specialty vegetable with relatively low sales.

Now Caoxian County in Heze City, Shandong Province, China is known as the “Hometown of Asparagus”. A grand Asparagus Festival is held every spring.