Gansu's Longnan Expands Olive Oil Industry Across 1.2 Million Mu

Longnan in northwestern China's Gansu Province has developed an olive oil industry covering 1.2 million mu (about 80,000 hectares), producing 65,000 tonnes of fresh olives annually with an output value of 5 billion yuan, according to People's Daily. By adapting Mediterranean olive varieties to local dry-hot river valleys, breeding space-flown seeds, and deploying 169 mountain monorail lines in Wudu District, local authorities have connected smallholder plots to modern cold-press processing lines that represent over half of China's advanced capacity.

Longnan's olive sector provides a model for converting ecologically fragile mountain slopes into high-value agricultural supply chains. By overcoming mismatched seasonal rainfall and steep terrain through targeted agronomy and mechanized transport, the region shows how specialized local cash crops can drive rural income growth in China's interior.

Longnan, located in northwestern China's Gansu Province, has built a specialized olive oil supply chain spanning 1.2 million mu (80,000 hectares) of mountain orchards, generating an annual harvest of 65,000 tonnes of fresh olives and 5 billion yuan ($695 million) in output value, according to state media outlet People's Daily. Situated near 33 degrees north latitude, Longnan features dry-hot river valleys with soil and climate conditions resembling the Mediterranean basin. Local authorities began promoting olive cultivation on barren hillsides in the 1990s as part of farmland-to-forest ecological initiatives. Adapting the imported species to the region required sustained research and varietal selection by institutions including the Longnan Academy of Economic Forestry. Through selective breeding and acclimatization, researchers expanded the viable planting altitude from 900 meters to 1,600 meters above sea level. Top-performing cultivars now include 'Leccino' for high-end virgin oil and 'Ezhi' for cold resistance and high extraction yields. In addition, local research facilities are cultivating over 3,800 saplings across six varieties developed from seeds sent into space aboard the Shenzhou-14 mission in 2022. To overcome climatic differences—such as Longnan's rainy summer and autumn contrasted with Mediterranean winter precipitation—agronomists introduced custom orchard drainage systems to preserve fruit quality and targeted winter-spring irrigation. In Wudu District, where steep mountain terrain previously hindered transport, local authorities built 169 monorail transit lines across 80 administrative villages and 20 cooperatives to move harvested olives directly down slopes. To prevent price collapses and post-harvest spoilage across fragmented mountain plots, Wudu District established township-by-township harvest schedules based on elevation, variety, and ripening cycles. Fresh fruit reaches processing workshops in as little as four hours. Wudu now hosts 25 cold-press production lines operating below 27 degrees Celsius, accounting for 53 percent of China's advanced virgin olive oil processing lines, with a daily processing capacity of 1,400 tonnes. The sector currently supports over 200,000 residents across 320 administrative villages in Wudu District, with mountain orchards yielding at least 500 kilograms per mu.