Key Takeaways:
- Lufeng early-season broad beans have become a key local industry, providing early winter supplies to major Chinese cities and raising household incomes.
- The town has expanded planting to more than 4,600 mu, and supported farmers through cooperatives, high-standard bases and multi-crop rotations.
- Market demand keeps prices attractive, while buyers and processors ensure rapid distribution to preserve quality.
Lufeng Early-Season Broad Beans Boost Rural Incomes
Lufeng’s Dinosaur Mountain town in Yunnan has turned its long-standing broad bean cultivation into a reliable source of rural income, expanding plantings, improving standards and opening stable markets for farmers. The early-season broad beans, prized for their large, glossy kernels and sweet, glutinous flavour, now supply cities such as Kunming, Guangzhou and Shanghai in early winter.
Lufeng early-season broad beans support household earnings
Harvesting is underway in late December, and fields of mature early-season broad beans show vigorous growth. Local growers say the crop’s planting window and 100 to 120 day growing season enable harvests from December through March, extending the town’s presence in winter vegetable markets. The crop’s early availability and quality have encouraged merchants to buy on site and ship to major urban markets overnight to preserve moisture, colour and taste.
“I have grown early-season broad beans for 10 to 20 years,” said Pan Changwen, harvesting beans on his six mu plot in the An’a community. “Prices have been very good in recent years. When prices peak we sold at 30 yuan per kilogram. With six mu I can earn more than 30,000 yuan.” Buyers echo that sentiment. “These beans come to market early and the quality is high. We inspect, load and ship on the same day,” said buyer Liu Hongxian.
The economic effect is measurable. By 2025 the town had planted more than 4,600 mu of early-season broad beans, yielding an expected output value of over 27 million yuan. In addition, early peas were planted on more than 1,300 mu in several villages and more than 8,700 mu of winter vegetables produced an estimated 27,500 tonnes with a projected value exceeding 70 million yuan. Local records show some 28 agricultural cooperatives, 18 large holders cultivating more than 25 mu and over 2,000 planting households.
Standardisation and scaling drive growth
Authorities and farming groups in Dinosaur Mountain have promoted measures to upgrade the industry. They have built high-standard planting bases, encouraged green high-yield techniques and fostered new business entities. A multi-crop rotation model combining tobacco, rice or maize with broad beans helps optimise land use and provides farmers with diversified income streams. These steps aim to move the sector towards standardised, large-scale production.
The town has sought to position itself as Lufeng’s vegetable supply centre, creating local employment opportunities and reducing the need for villagers to seek work away from home. Expansion of cooperatives and larger-scale growers has improved bargaining power and market access for smallholders.
Local officials say the combination of favourable valley climate, short frost period and ample sunlight creates ideal conditions for autumn-sown crops. With ongoing technical support and market links, the early-season broad bean industry is expected to continue supporting household incomes and contributing to broader rural revitalisation efforts.
As the harvest progresses into the winter months, the community expects sustained demand from urban markets and hopes to strengthen processing and cold-chain links to maintain quality and capture higher value for local producers.
