This Country Produces The Most Strawberries In The Entire World

In years past, the U.S. and Turkey have led the world's strawberry production, but that is no longer the case. While they are still second and third, respectively, China is currently the global leader in growing strawberries, and for good reason. With over 200,000 hectares of fields dedicated to solely strawberries, it truly produces an astronomical amount of the fruit, totaling an average of 3.4 million tons per year.

There are plenty of reasons outside of its massive population why China would want to drastically increase the amount of strawberries it produces, even though it also produces the most watermelons of any country. One of the main factors is that it provides a clear indicator of China's agricultural sovereignty. Demonstrating that it's not reliant on other countries for its food gives China more freedom in global markets. Where it may have had little room for bargaining in trade agreements previously, it's now got chips to use to improve relations with other countries and assert itself as a strong player in international trade.

While strawberries are a single example of a crop being grown in China, it shows the rest of the world that this country is capable of creating and growing an industry to the point of being the world's largest producer over a relatively short period of time. Prior to 1994, the U.S. was the leading provider of the world's strawberries, but since then, China has been on top and maintained the lead by a margin of what is now over 2 million tons per year.

China has managed to grow such vast amounts of strawberries through a number of incredible means thanks to a recent push for more sustainable agriculture. Technologically, it has made leaps and bounds regarding the science behind growing strawberries by using tools like A.I., drones, and sensors for maintaining ideal humidity and temperature. With these tools at their disposal, Chinese farmers have been able to monitor their crops even in the least ideal environments and ensure the largest yield.

Horticulture has also played a massive role in China's ability to produce as many strawberries as it does. This breeds new strawberry varieties to maintain some of the best traits in each plant while eliminating the less desirable ones. Pest control also plays a major role — both through genetics and pesticides — allowing farmers to grow plants that are less susceptible to threats like insects, rodents, and diseases that may jeopardize crops.

One other method being used in China that helps boost its overall production is the manner in which strawberries are grown. While most are still cultivated in fields with land areas totaling more than 20 times the size of Paris, some farms are forced to grow in more restrictive environments without as much open space. To compensate, farmers in these areas are able to use buildings to grow their strawberries vertically in humidity- and temperature-controlled environments. Given that they couldn't grow outwards any further in these communities, farmers chose to find ways to grow upwards instead, adding just one other reason why China's strawberry production was able to take off the way it has in the last three decades.