It's harvest season for the 227,900 acres of peanuts in Luanzhou City, Hebei Province. Harvesters weave through the peanut fields, pulling up peanut plants by their roots and revealing plump peanut pods scattered across the fields. Among these, approximately 120,000 acres are high oleic acid peanuts.
Luanzhou has long been known as "China's Peanut Town," with a century-long history of peanut cultivation and stands as one of Hebei Province's major peanut production areas. "Some of the raw materials for a chocolate bean product manufactured by Mars Inc. of the United States come from high oleic acid peanuts grown in Luanzhou," said Yu Shan, head of the planting industry division of Luanzhou's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau.
Niu Yuemeng, who lives in Xiaomzhuang Township, is a member of the Luanzhou Baixin Peanut Professional Cooperative and has been growing high oleic acid peanuts for nearly 10 years. This year, he planted 1,500 acres of high oleic acid peanuts.
Niu Yuemeng's peanuts have been sold overseas. He says that growing high oleic acid peanuts has significantly increased his income over the years, allowing his family to build a new house and dramatically improve their living conditions.
Since 2014, Luanzhou City has introduced several high oleic acid peanut varieties and conducted trials on 200 acres of land, ultimately selecting varieties such as "Jihua No. 16," "Jihua No. 11," and "Jihua No. 18" for large-scale cultivation.
Niu Yuemeng's cooperative was among the first to introduce these varieties. "High oleic acid peanuts contain more than 75% oleic acid, have strong antioxidant properties, and offer higher nutritional value than ordinary peanuts," said Guo Xiuyun, chairman of the cooperative. She noted that large domestic and international food companies have significant demand for high oleic acid peanuts, but in the past, China had low production of high oleic acid peanuts and had to rely on imports.
In 2019, the cooperative obtained production and management rights for "Jihua No. 11" and "Jihua No. 18" from the Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences. "Under the guidance of expert teams, the cooperative has built a national-level original seed multiplication base with an annual seed supply capacity of 800 tons, selling at 1,000 yuan per ton higher than ordinary peanuts," Guo Xiuyun said.
To further enhance added value, the cooperative has focused on deep processing of agricultural products, extending the industrial chain. Guo Xiuyun explained that with local government support, the cooperative has built a fully automated intelligent production line and collaborated with technical teams from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to develop high-value-added products such as cold-pressed peanut oil and peanut protein powder, while processing peanut shells and vines into biomass fuel and feed.
Today, Guo Xiuyun's cooperative has joined with 30 villages to establish a high-quality development base for high oleic acid peanuts, helping farmers achieve per-acre income exceeding 2,000 yuan and promoting high oleic acid peanut varieties to Henan, Liaoning, Xinjiang, and other regions. "We have also signed long-term contracts with multiple domestic and international companies including Shandong Luhua and Mars Inc. of the United States, with the cooperative's full-chain annual revenue reaching 120 million yuan."
From introduction trials to large-scale cultivation, from raw material sales to independent deep processing, Luanzhou peanuts have transformed from "local specialties" to "high-tech products." These small peanuts are creating vast new opportunities.
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