Production and Marketing of Chestnuts in the Southeastern United States1
自我介绍的作文
一针见血的意思Robert C. Hochmuth, Robert D. Wallace, Peter J. Van Blokland, and Jeffrey G. Williamson2
This is a revid copy of the original document, An Introduction to Production, Marketing, and Economics of Growing Chestnuts in the South East United Sates, by R.D. Wallace and P.J. VanBlockland. 1989. University of Florida, Dept of Food Resource Economics. Staff report. #354
Introduction
Chestnuts (Castanea sp.) are reprented by veral species of trees in the beech family (Fagaceae). The chestnut is native to warm, temperate areas the Northern Hemisphere.
The United States is one of the few nations in the world that can grow chestnuts and does not have a significant commercial chestnut industry. Becau the United States has such a small (less than 1 percent of world production) chestnut industry, chestnuts are imported to the United States in quantities with total annual value exceeding $20 million.刘耕宏
Development of new chestnuts cultivars, advances in propagation, and cultural techniques now allow for expansion of the commercial chestnut industry in the United States. Chestnuts may make a viable a
lternative crop for small farmers in Florida who are looking to diversify their operations.
History
Few tree crops have as much historical importance as a food source throughout the world as do chestnuts. Chestnuts were one of the earliest tree crops to be domesticated and were even mentioned in Chine poetry more than 5000 years ago. The European ttlers of North America found the New World was virtually one solid chestnut forest. The American chestnut was once among the most common trees in the eastern forest, from Maine to Georgia and west to the Mississippi.
This amazingly uful tree offers rot-resistant lumber, which was ud for veral items, from fence posts to furniture. The chestnut tree was also a source of tannin, in addition to its beautiful crop of nuts. But the
accidental introduction of the chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) from the Orient in 1904 killed almost every American chestnut in the United States in less than 40 years. The loss of the chestnut in the United States is considered one of the greatest botanical disasters in Western history.
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The chestnut industry is highly developed in Europe and in the Orient. The Republic of Korea and China are the top two countries for chestnut production; together the countries produce more than 40 percent of the world's chestnuts. Other major chestnut-producing countries include Italy, Turkey, Bolivia, Japan, Spain, and Portugal. The primary exporters of chestnuts to the United States are Italy, China, and The Republic of Korea.
Chestnut imports to the United States incread from 4,500 metric tons in 2003 to 5,400 metric tons in 2004, an increa that indicates the growing demand for chestnuts among U.S. consumers. The annual value of chestnuts imported to the United States is more than $20 million.不能忘却的纪念
The development of new American x Chine hybrid chestnut cultivars -- which are resistant to chestnut blight and produce large, sweet nuts -- have helped to make possible expansion of the domestic chestnut industry in the United States, including in Florida. The new chestnut cultivars have high-quality characteristics that compete favorably with the imported nuts. However, the commercial U.S. chestnut industry is relatively new; most growers have less than 10 years of experience. Major states for chestnut production include California, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, and Virginia.
Chestnut Economics
Chestnuts can be a productive and profitable orchard crop. Trees begin to bear after three to five years, and improved cultivars can, at maturity, produce from 1,000 - 1,500 pounds or more per acre every year. The nuts bring from $0.75-2.50 per pound wholesale, (depending on nut size) and $2-5.00 per pound retail, depending on the market.
Marketing of domestic chestnuts has been primarily through local or direct market sales methods. Some American growers adverti fresh chestnuts via the Internet at prices of more than $10 per pound in small quantities, but this price includes FedEx or UPS shipping and handling. Local, direct-to-consumer
sales may be up to $4.00 or 5.00 per pound, but such prices decrea considerably in sales to brokers, wholesalers, grocery chains, and other large markets.
To move American-grown chestnuts in large quantities, prices must to be competitive with imported nuts, and quality of American production must be superior to the quality to which foreign wholesale buyers and their American customers are accustomed.
Chestnuts crops grown in the United States have the advantage of reaching American markets earlier than imported chestnuts, with better quality control, and without the costs of international ship
下届领导ping. However, the key to success in moving large quantities of chestnuts is through marketing, education of the consumer and distributors, and the development of relationships with knowledgeable persons in food-distribution rvices. Many opportunities for marketing that did not exist in the past for small growers are now available through the Internet, but targeted marketing efforts to the food industry can also be very valuable.
Chestnut Species and Hybrids母亲节的花
Four species of chestnuts and veral of their hybrids are grown in the United States today.
∙American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) have small, sweet nuts, upright growth form, and are highly susceptible to chestnut blight.
∙The European chestnut (Catanea sativa) is also blight susceptible and can only be grown in blight-free areas. European chestnuts trees have an upright tree form, and the nuts from European chestnuts can be quite good from some cultivars. However, many of the cultivars and edlings produce nuts that are bland or bitter in taste and difficult to peel.
∙Chine chestnuts (Castanea mollissima) are highly blight resistant, and some cultivars produce nut
s of good size and sweet taste that are also easy to peel. Chine chestnut trees are sometimes upright in growth form, but many are low, spreading and multiple branched at the ground. ∙Japane chestnuts (Castanea crenata) are small, spreading, blight-resistant trees that produce large, poor tasting nuts. Japane chestnuts are mostly ud for hybridization.
∙Chinkapins (veral species) produce small, sweet nuts (one per burr), are often of shrubby form and are not ud for commercial nut production.
The members of the genus Castanea are very cloly related and interhybridize readily. Hybrids offer some of the best potential for promising commercial cultivars. In Europe, most chestnut breeding has been done with Japane x European cross. In Japan and Korea, the majority of the commercial production today is with Chine x Japane hybrid cultivars.
In the United States, some of the recently developed American x Chine hybrids offer the combination of characteristics that make for excellent commercial cultivars for Florida (Fig 1).
Figure 1.
American x Chine hybrid chestnut tree.
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[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]
Nut Quality and Grades
Size
A primary concern in any cultivar is the size of the nuts produced. For marketing to a fresh or
pre-packaged market, large size is required (Fig 2). While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has not adopted any standards for grades of chestnuts, the following size standards were propod by the USDA in 2001 (Table 1).
Figure 2.
Customers prefer larger individual nuts.
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]
Importers have sometimes ud size standards bad on the number of nuts per pound (Table 2). Nuts smaller than 40 count per pound are difficult to distribute through mass marketing systems (brokers and grocery chains) becau of the American desire for larger chestnut sizes (Fig 3). Smaller chestnuts are generally less desirable in the American market and bring a lower price. If, however, the chestnuts are ud for drying, pureeing, flour or candies, size is not as important.
Figure 3.
Various nut sizes among chestnut cultivars.
[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]
Taste
Taste is also very important. Some cultivars have a higher sugar content, even raw. The carbohydrates in chestnuts turn to sugar as the nuts mature and dry. Curing is important before cooking chestnuts, to bring out the flavor of the nuts. The American chestnut is quite sweet, as are chinkapins. Some of the Chine chestnuts and the American hybrids have very sweet nuts. Some of the European and Chine varieties are, by comparison, not as sweet.
Ea of Peeling
The third nut characteristic of importance is ea of peeling th e nut. The pellicle or “skin” that surrounds the kernel is bitter and must be removed before eating. In some types of chestnuts, the pellicle is ingrown
