Eggplant production in China facts for kids
China is the world's biggest grower and user of eggplants. After China, the top countries that grow eggplants are India, Turkey, Japan, Egypt, and Italy. Eggplants grow best in warm, sunny places, like areas with a Mediterranean climate.
People in China have been growing eggplants since the 5th century BC. They used them for food and other purposes. Eggplants originally came from India. They first arrived in coastal parts of mainland China, then spread to Taiwan. The long, thin kind of eggplant is usually preferred for cooking there. In the past, rich women used the dark skin of eggplants to make a black dye. They would use this dye to make their teeth shiny and black. In Japan, this practice was called ohaguro.
In 2010, China grew over 26 million tonnes of eggplant. This was a huge 59% of all the eggplants grown around the world! The amount of eggplant grown in China is increasing quickly. For example, in 2006, China produced about 17.5 million tonnes. Chinese farmers are always looking for new ways to grow more eggplants. In 1987, China set up the first modern farm in Beijing to grow young vegetable plants. This method, called "plug-seedling production," is used for eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and melons. Farmers often rotate their crops to get better harvests.
Chinese eggplants are usually long, thin, and shaped like a cylinder. They are less purple than eggplants from America or Japan. They often have a greenish-purple part at the top called a calyx. Most eggplant farms in China are small, family-run farms. Even though more and more eggplants are being grown, farmers sometimes face problems. A plant disease called Pseudomonas solanacearum can infect their crops and cause damage.
How Eggplants Are Grown
Farmers often use a special technique called grafting. They take a strong eggplant root, often from a local plant called “soloman torbon”, and attach a Chinese eggplant plant to it. It takes about 75 days for the grafted plant to be ready for planting in the field. Grafted plants usually produce about 30% more eggplants than plants that are not grafted.
In Taiwan and China, greenhouses grow two types of grafted eggplant plants, called Exporter 1 and Exporter 3. These young plants are sold to farmers at a very low price. Farmers often change the types of crops they grow in their fields. This is called crop rotation. They might grow maize, other plants from the Solanaceae family, or cucurbitaceae plants in between eggplant crops.
To keep pests away, farmers sometimes plant tall barriers. They use plants like sorghum, king grass, or sugar cane as "wind breaks." These barriers help protect the crops. Tiny worms called nematodes can harm farm fields. However, the transplanted eggplant plants are often resistant to these pests. In mainland China, eggplants grown in open fields are often planted with plastic mulching. This helps keep the soil moist and warm. Sometimes, farmers grow climbing cucurbit plants alongside eggplants. These climbing plants can create shade for the eggplants during hot summers. However, growing different crops together is less common now because there are fewer workers.
A small amount of eggplant is cut into cubes and cooked in tomato sauce, then put into cans. But most of the eggplants are sold fresh at local markets. Eggplant appetizers are also made with onions and other vegetables. You can also find frozen eggplant slices or frozen eggplant parmigiana in small jars.
Eggplant Facts and Figures
In 2010, most of the world's eggplants were grown in just a few countries. About 90% of all eggplants came from five countries. China was the top producer, growing 58.55% of the world's eggplants. India was second, growing 25.24%. After them came Egypt, Iran, and Turkey. More than 4,000,000 acres (1,600,000 ha) of land around the world are used to grow eggplants.
| Top ten eggplant/aubergine producers — 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Production (Tonnes) | Percentage of World Total | Footnote | |
 People's Republic of China |
24,501,936 | 58.55 | F | |
 India |
10,563,000 | 25.24 | ||
 Egypt |
1,229,790 | 2.94 | F | |
 Iran |
888,500 | 2.12 | F | |
 Turkey |
849,998 | 2.03 | ||
 Indonesia |
482,305 | 1.15 | F | |
 Iraq |
387,435 | 0.93 | F | |
 Japan |
330,100 | 0.79 | F | |
 Italy |
302,551 | 0.72 | ||
 Philippines |
208,252 | 0.50 | ||
| World | 41,840,989 | A | ||
| No symbol = official figure, P = official figure, F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial/Semi-official/mirror data, C = Calculated figure A = Aggregate (may include official, semi-official or estimates); Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) |
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