Tourists take pictures at a flower planting base in Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yao'an County Committee)

The flower industry has become a signature calling card of Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Over the past decade, the county has built a complete industrial chain encompassing soilless cultivation, cold-chain logistics, digital trading, integration of agriculture with culture and tourism, and deep processing. At the same time, it has also made strides in seedling research and development (R&D).

A local resident works at a flower planting base in Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yao'an County Committee)

"We have introduced over 200 high-quality parent varieties of flowers from both China and abroad. Their pollination seasons fall in May, August, and October, and as soon as the flowers bloom, we have to get straight to work," said Wang Jitao, an assistant agronomist at the flower variety R&D center in Yao'an.

In 2023, the laboratory of the flower variety R&D center in Yao'an came into operation. Through hybrid breeding and selection, the center cultivates high-quality flower varieties that thrive in the local climate, meet consumer needs, and offer competitive pricing at the planting base.

Photo shows flowers at a planting base in Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yao'an County Committee)

"In the past, flower companies in Yao'an had to buy patents for new varieties from abroad, with royalty fees taking up about 5 percent to 12 percent of their annual revenue," said Wang.

In 2021, Yao'an county partnered with the flower research institute of the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences to establish the Yao'an flower variety R&D center.

Photo shows a panoramic view of the flower variety R&D center in Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Currently, Yao'an has developed and applied for intellectual property rights on 18 Chinese rose varieties cultivated for the fresh-cut flower market and cultivated more than 70 new flower varieties.

Workers work at a flower company in Yao'an county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo courtesy of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Yao'an County Committee)

In 2024, Yao'an produced 1 billion fresh-cut flowers, achieving an average yield of over 200,000 stems per mu (one mu is about 0.067 hectares)—three times that of traditional planting. The industry generated a total output value of 1.8 billion yuan (about $251 million), boosting incomes for 64,000 local residents.