How does perilla from Yishan Town, Jiangsu, pry open the Japanese market?
Since the beginning of this year, perilla exports from Yishan Town, Guanyun County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, have accounted for 75% of the national total, earning nearly 30 million yuan in foreign exchange. It can be said that the town's small perilla has pried open a big market in Japan.
Why is perilla from Yishan Town favored by Japanese people? Li Wenbiao, general manager of Lianyungang Yesheng Agricultural Horticulture Co., Ltd., said: "Perilla from Yishan Town has no pesticide residues, good quality and sufficient supply, so Japanese people like it very much." If Yishan Town's perilla were to stop supplying the Japanese market, perilla prices in Japan would immediately rise. Especially during the Ghost Festival in August and Christmas in December each year, Yishan Town's perilla is in short supply in Japan, with each small perilla leaf selling for as much as over five mao, and perilla beyond the orders even selling for six to seven mao per leaf, yet all being snapped up.
Eating perilla raw is a traditional custom among Japanese people, because perilla leaves are rich in vitamins and other trace elements and have effects such as lowering blood pressure; eating perilla regularly is good for health. However, due to the influence of climate, environment and other factors, Japan cannot grow perilla on a large scale and can only rely on scattered planting by farmers. Because farmers find it difficult to achieve scientific planting and fertilization, scientific pest control and fumigation and other physical measures, Japan's perilla is far inferior to Guanyun's perilla in quality, which is the fundamental reason Japanese people favor perilla from Yishan Town.
Several years ago, Yishan Town transferred 5,200 mu of land to the west of the Dayishan Scenic Area, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, and built a high-efficiency agricultural demonstration park, followed by a thousand-mu perilla garden. The ecological environment here is good, the soil quality is good, and the water source quality is even better, making it the best place to grow perilla. "We all use organic fertilizer, and the pesticides are the best in the world. Coupled with scientific blending by agricultural technicians, leaves sprayed with pesticide on the same day can be picked, and all of them pass strict inspection by Japanese customs." Several farmers picking in the greenhouse said, "After picking, the leaves must first be sorted, then impurities and old stems removed, to achieve no dust, no soil, no insect spots and no perforations, then washed with clean water, subjected to sterile processing, prepared and stored in a desiccator or cold storage, and then exported to Japan by air." It is understood that the company has provided 500 jobs for local farmers and paid farmers more than 10 million yuan in wages annually on average, becoming an important channel for increasing farmers' income in Yishan Town.
The author saw in the packaging workshop that more than a dozen farmers were sorting, classifying and packing the picked perilla leaves, all busy and happy. They told the author: "Small perilla, truly affordable, exported to Japan to earn foreign exchange. Small perilla, a treasure, good for the body just to smell."
Zhu Liyong, Xu Haiyan, Chen Ruchao