How much was a jin of pine nuts in 2019, and why is the price getting more and more expensive?
As the weather gets colder and colder, many people do not want to go out. At this time, all kinds of nut foods become very popular. Pine nuts are one of the currently extremely popular nuts, so how much was a jin of pine nuts in 2019?
1. How much was a jin of pine nuts in 2019?
Pine nut prices differ from region to region. For example, the wholesale price of wild pine nuts in Qixingguan District, Bijie City, Guizhou Province is about 20 yuan/jin. The wholesale price of wild pine nuts in Eryuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province is about 19.9 yuan/jin. The wholesale price of wild pine nuts in Zhenxing District, Dandong City, Liaoning Province is about 35 yuan/jin. The wholesale price of wild pine nuts in Fusong County, Baishan City, Jilin Province is about 40 yuan/jin. These prices are for reference only.
2. Why are pine nuts getting more and more expensive?
1. Pine nut yields are low
Although pine trees grow in both northern and southern China, and the planting scale is still very large, the pine trees planted in China are mainly lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana) and Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis), whose fruits are not edible. The edible pine nuts mainly come from the Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) in Northeast China. It has relatively high requirements for its living environment and only grows in the forest sea and snow plains of Northeast China. The pine nuts it produces have a rich aroma, and their quality is the best among similar products.
Moreover, the planting cycle of pine nuts is very long, and it takes 50 years before they bear fruit. If a Korean pine tree is planted, it must grow for 50 years before it bears fruit. Pine nuts generally have a small harvest every three years and a big harvest every five years, and the annual output is different each year. If there is a bumper year, the price of pine nuts will be slightly lower, while if there is an off year, then the output is affected and the price will be higher.
2. Picking is difficult
Picking pine nuts is relatively difficult and labor costs are high. The Korean pine trees in Northeast China are almost all tall trees, and each tree is almost dozens of meters tall. Manual picking is extremely difficult and also dangerous. Pickers have to climb dozens of meters up the trees and then knock the cones down with poles. Only a few experienced older farmers will do it. Every year when the pine nut harvest season arrives, even many places cannot recruit harvest workers even at high wages.
3. Processing is cumbersome
Most Korean pine trees grow in uninhabited primeval forests. Before picking, besides needing to find the picking locations in advance, the harvested pine cones also need to be carried out of the forest by people. After drying, the pine cones are threshed with machines, and after threshing, air separation and weight sorting are used to remove empty and bad pine nuts. Finally, they are opened at high temperature, and only then are they the pine nuts we usually eat.