1.Main market situation of bitter gourd seed in South ChinaSummary: CCM International invites an industry insider-Meng Lei, a sales manager ofGuangdong Kenong, to talk about the bitter gourd seed market in South China.Tags: seed, bitter gourd, agriculture, tomato, rice breeding, corn seed, agrochemical companies,euity transactionBitter gourd, also called bitter melon, is a popular vegetable in domestic market, with its specialmedicinal effects in reducing pathogenic fire. Originated from tropical and subtropical regions,bitter gourd has been widely planted in China for long-time artificial planting and breeding, but it ismainly concentrated in South China covering Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, according toCCM Internationals July issue of Seed China News.In order to figure out the main market situation of bitter gourd seed, CCM International invites anindustry insider- Meng Lei to talk about the bitter gourd seed market in South China. Meng Lei,who obtained his Masters degree of agronomy from South China Agricultural University, currentlyacts as a sales manager of Guangdong Kenong Vegetable Seed Co., Ltd. (Guangdong Kenong)which mainly operates vegetable varieties bred by Vegetable Research Institute, GuangdongAcademy of Agricultural Sciences (VRI, GDAAS).CCM International: What are the major types of bitter gourd in South China?Meng Lei: Generally speaking, there are four major types of bitter gourd in South China, namelystriped protuberance type (long-oil bitter gourd, ), granular protuberance type (pearlbitter gourd, ), the intermediate type of the two above (intermediate type) and coniformfruit type (coniform bitter gourd, ). Long-oil bitter gourd and pearl bitter gourd are theleading types in South China, occupying a vast majority of total bitter gourd area.CCM International: Which type of bitter gourd do consumers prefer to eat in South China?Meng Lei: The eating habits of bitter gourd are different for residents in various areas. It iscommon that consumers in a place would prefer the special taste of a type of bitter gourd andwould probably not accept other types of bitter gourd. The quality of pearl bitter gourd is generally

2. better than that of long-oil bitter gourd and most consumers prefer to eat pearl bitter gourd whichis becoming more popular in South China.CCM International: How vast is the planting area of bitter gourd in South China?Meng Lei: The planting area of bitter gourd is not fixed, generally fluctuating with the changes ofbitter gourd price and consumption habits in local areas. As far as we know, the total plantingarea of bitter gourd in Guangdong maintains around 20,000 ha. each year; Guangxi and Hainanwould totally have 13,000 to 20,000 ha. of bitter gourd planting fields.CCM International: What about the major planting distributions of bitter gourd in South China?Meng Lei: Nearly all key vegetable counties in the three provinces or regions of South Chinahave bitter gourd planting fields more or less. In Guangdong, bitter gourd planting is mainlyconcentrated in Jiangmen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Shanwei, Yufu, etc.; in Guangxi, it is mainlyconcentrated in Nanning, Guilin, Liuzhou, etc. Bitter gourd is widely planted in Hainan but thetotal planting area is relatively small and the multiple cropping index is relatively high in Hainan,compared with that in Guangdong and Guangxi.CCM International: Can you introduce some prominent varieties of bitter gourd in South China?Meng Lei: In South China, most varieties of long-oil bitter gourd are bred by VRI, GDAAS, suchas the representative variety "Fenglv" () which once held half of bitter gourd planting fields inGuangdong. As for pearl bitter gourd, various excellent varieties have been bred or introduced bya number of units such as Known-You Seed Co., Ltd. (Known-You), Shantou Jinhan Seed Co.,Ltd. (Shantou Jinhan), Guangdong Provincial Improved Variety Introduce Service Corporation(GPIVISC), etc., with some representative varieties like "Black Pearl" (), "Cuifei" (),"Lvxiu" (), etc. The intermediate type of bitter gourd generally has a small market share inSouth China, only planted in some areas. Coniform bitter gourd is also mainly concentrated insome areas of South China like Jiangmen City of Guangdong Province, with some representativevarieties like "Yuhe" () and "Cuilv 3" ( 3 ).CCM International: Which varieties of bitter gourd do farmers prefer to plant in South China?Meng Lei: Farmers like to plant those bitter gourd varieties which can bear fruits with higherselling price in market. It is sure that the fruit prices of winter-planting and early-maturing bitter 3. gourd varieties are generally higher than those of common varieties, and thus many farmersprefer to plant winter-planting and early-maturing bitter gourd. Moreover, the bitter gourd varietieswith high yield, good appearance and nice quality are also well recognized by farmers in SouthChina. As mentioned above, pearl bitter gourd with better quality is quite popular among farmers,compared with other bitter gourd varieties.CCM International: Are bitter gourd seeds sold by weight or grain number in the market?Meng Lei: In the market, bitter gourd seeds are sold either by weight (gram) or by grain number.However, bitter gourd seeds sold by grain number usually have better quality and higher pricewhile bitter gourd seeds sold by weight mostly belong to medium and low grades. Overall, high-grade bitter gourd seeds have been coated to enhance planting performance and improvecommodity value before selling in the market. (Guangzhou China, September 1, 2011)Source: Seed China News 1207http://www.cnchemicals.com/Newsletter/NewsletterDetail_28.htmlContent of Seed China News 1207:Zhangye boosting corn seed productionAgrochemical enterprises entering seed industry34.2% equity of Sichuan Chuandan to be transferredMain market situation of bitter gourd seed in South ChinaAnalysis of tomato seed market in Shandong2012 Alfalfa Construction Project released to boost alfalfa industry"Shannong 20" operated by Shandong ShengfengIPA1 gene applied in rice breedingSnow lotus GM technique obtains invention patentPeanut genome sequencing project to boost peanut breeding 4. Seed China News, a monthly publication issued by CCM International on 30th of every month,offers timely update and close follow-up of Chinas seed industry dynamics, analyzes market dataand finds out factors influencing market developmentAbout CCM InternationalCCM International is dedicated to market research in China, Asia-Pacific Rim and global market.With a staff of more than 150 dedicated highly-educated professionals. CCM International offersMarket Data, Analysis, Reports, Newsletters, Buyer-Trader Information, Import/Export Analysis allthrough its new proprietary product ValoTracer. For more information, please visit:http://www.cnchemicals.com.CCM International Ltd.Tel: 86-20-37616606Email: econtact@cnchemicals.comSource : http://www.cnchemicals.com/PressRoom/PressRoomDetail_w_1165.html