Low-carbon production adds sweetness to grapes

In mid-August, boxes of grapes transported from Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, carried carbon labels because they were grown in greenhouses. By scanning the QR code on the label, consumers can check the carbon track of the grapes including carbon emissions during different stages of production, packaging and transportation.

The first carbon label in China's fruit industry has opened a new chapter in low-carbon development, and could set a trend in the sector, Wang Yiqiang, a professor at the Zhejiang Agriculture and Food University, said during the labeling of "Shine Muscut", a popular grape variety.

Zhu Yifeng, head of Lyujiang Grape Cooperative that applied for the carbon track certificate, has been growing grapes for more than 30 years. "I realized that low-carbon production is possible even in grape production, and fruits can get a carbon label," he said.

The cooperative is based in the biggest grapegrowing area in northern Zhejiang, where the annual production has reached 23,000 metric tons. The grapes were grown in vineyards covering 1,053 hectares.

Although the vineyards have benefited farmers in recent years, few paid attention to carbon emissions. But now the carbon label can show the products' carbon track through seven stages of production.

The carbon label of Shine Muscut was generated by modeling carbon emissions during 41 operational procedures and the input and transportation of original materials. The carbon track shows carbon emission per unit of product, informing consumers of the impact of agricultural products on the environment.

The certificate, for example, shows that from December 2019 to August 2021, the total carbon track was 0.824 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of grapes, among which 35 percent of carbon was emitted when building the vineyard and 29 percent during packaging and transportation.

The carbon track of Shine Muscut meets the global standard, which has been notarized by Linan Notary Office in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

Zhu said the cooperative has reduced fertilizer use by two-thirds since it started using low-carbon technology to grow the Shine Muscut grape variety. As a result, the 1.8-hectare vineyard reduced 4.7 tons of carbon emissions — more than 10 percent — by using fertilizer substitutes. In fact, carbon emissions could be reduced by 85,300 tons if all 32,700 hectares of vineyards chose the same farming methods.

Zhu raised the price for a box of grapes by 30 yuan ($4.21) as soon as he got the carbon label, in order to promote low-carbon farm products. "The carbon label is just the first step. It will be followed by operation standards to reduce carbon emissions at each stage of grape production and popularize the low-carbon standards," Wang said.