LOS ANGELES (AP) - China's booming economy has spelled trouble for many U.S. farmers who have lost market share to low-cost Chinese
imports.
But some California growers are cashing in on China's increasing wealth and growing hunger for table
grapes, almonds and other high-quality fruits and nuts that don't grow as well
in the Asian nation.
Such pricey commodities
helped drive the value of U.S. agricultural exports to China from less than $1.9 billion in 2001 to nearly $6.7
billion last year.
"There's a big enough
group of people there that don't want just the cheapest; they want high-quality
stuff, and they're willing to pay more for it," said Daniel Sumner, who
directs the University of California Agricultural
Issues Center.
The bulk of U.S. crops being shipped to China are soybeans, grains and other commodities that the
country buys from the Midwest to use as animal feed and process into noodles and
other products. China also buys U.S. cotton to keep its textile mills humming.
But some of the pricier
commodities that dominate California agriculture are also big hits in China.
Table grapes are California's best-selling food crop in China. The value of those exports hit $90 million in
2005, up from $80 million in 2001, according to the most recent statistics
available from the California Department of Agriculture.
State almond exports to China increased to $52 million in 2005 from $25 million
in 2001, while raisin exports grew to $17 million from $4 million.
Beijing shopper Yang Ling said she preferred California produce over domestic goods.
"I love them because
they are more delicious and of better quality than homegrown ones, although
they are more expensive," the 30-year-old Yang said at an upscale
supermarket.
California produce growers are trying to expand sales of their
crops in China by associating the produce with the expensive moon
cake pastries given as gifts in China during the annual Mid-Autumn Festival.
The California Agricultural
Export Council has a representative in China to market California-grown raisins, figs, dates,
prunes and chopped walnuts as alternatives to the sweetened bean paste that
usually fills the cakes.
"People who can afford
it want something that's a little unique, something that the vast majority
can't afford or can't attain, similar to a caviar kind of product," said
Frederick W. Klose, director of the council.
The success of California produce in China is helping counter losses by some U.S. growers to Chinese imports.
Since 2003, garlic
production in California has decreased from 160 million pounds to 100
million pounds, while imports of garlic from China have more than doubled, from about 55 million pounds
to 138 million pounds.
U.S. apple growers -- primarily in Washington, New
York and California -- also suffered when Chinese juice concentrate
entered the U.S. market in the 1990s.
The average price for juice
apples fell from $153 a ton in 1995 to $55 a ton in 1998, forcing many
companies out of the U.S. market.
In all, the value of
Chinese agriculture exports to the United States grew from $816 million in 2001 to $2.3 billion in
2006. Garlic, apple juice, canned and bulk oranges and mushrooms composed the
bulk of those products.
While China is suited for growing those crops, it lacks the
necessary terrain for producing high-quality pistachios and other nuts, growers
said.
It also lacks the sandy
soil and Mediterranean climate to produce grapes that match the quality of California offerings, growers said.
"Chinese grapes do not
have the sugar in them," said Nick Dulcich, who
has been going to China for 15 years to find buyers for the grapes his family grows in their Central Valley vineyard. "What I can fight the Chinese with
is with flavor, with sugar."
Still, growers in China are experimenting with ways to match the quality of
fruits and nuts grown in California in hopes of reclaiming some of the high-end market, both domestically
and abroad.
"They will eventually
most likely figure it out," California Pistachio Commission chairman Jim
Zion said. "They have the potential to be a larger competitor. Just ask
the garlic guys."
___
Associated Press staff
writer Liu Li in Beijing contributed to this report.
