Torreya, an evergreen plant good for soil and water conservation, is a shelter for the eco-system in Kuaijishan, where the land resource is scarce and typhoon and floods are frequent. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Agricultural heritage

Luo was speaking a few weeks after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations selected Mount Kuaiji's ancient Chinese torreya as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.

The GIAHS was initiated in 2002 to protect traditional farming processes, which are at risk of disappearing in the face of rural migration and rapid urbanization. China now has eight agricultural heritage sites.

Chinese torreya trees are commonly found around 31 degrees north latitude. But while the wood of the trees is used for logs and ornaments, only the torreya in the Mount Kuaiji area in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, produce savory fruit. This is because they have been carefully selected and grafted for more than 2,000 years.

MountKuaijiis home to more than 100,000 ancient Chinese torreya trees, also known as "trees of longevity". Among them, 72,000 are more than 100 years old, and thousands are more than 1,000 years old. The longest living Chinese torreya tree known is 1,432 years old. It is the oldest grafted tree in China, and it still produces 500 kilograms of fruit every year.

"Chinese torreya are a living fossil of ancient grafting and artificial selection techniques," says Tong Pinzhang, a senior engineer with the Zhuji Forestry Bureau. "But it remains a mystery how and when the first Chinese torreya were grafted."

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