在这炎炎夏日，“冰镇西瓜+空调”的神仙组合简直是消暑必备。

 

Watermelon is synonymous with summer. Just the thought of the sweet and juicy fruit sparks images of sweltering hot days and racing¹ to finish a freshly cut slice before its juices drip down your arm.

 

据农业农村部监测数据显示，自三月下旬早熟西瓜进入市场开始，销量就在逐步上升，线上水果消费市场也迎来了消费热潮。

 

美团优选数据显示，自西瓜上市以来，全国消费者对西瓜的需求逐步上升，西瓜销量增长迅速。5月23日-5月29日这一周环比五月第一周，西瓜的销量提升近200%，其中“黑美人”西瓜整体销量同比增速最快，同比增长超50%。

 

According to the Ministry² of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, since early-ripening watermelons entered the market in late March sales have gradually increased and the online fruit market has also seen a consumption boom.

 

According to the data of Meituan, since watermelons entered the market, the demand for watermelons among consumers across the country has gradually increased and the sales of watermelon have grown rapidly. From May 23 to May 29, the sales of watermelons increased by nearly 200% compared with the first week of May. Among them, the overall sales of "Black Beauty" watermelons increased the fastest year on year, with a year-on-year increase of more than 50%.

 

中国西瓜产量惊人

 

中国既是西瓜消费强国，也是西瓜生产大国。

 

根据国家统计局以及联合国粮农组织数据库统计，2020年，中国西瓜种植面积在世界西瓜种植面积中占比近半，达到46.04%，是全球最大的西瓜生产国和消费国。

 

According to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, China accounted for 46.04 percent of the world's watermelon planting area in 2020, making the country the largest producer and consumer of the fruit.

据全球统计数据库Statista，中国2010年至2020年的西瓜产量均突破6000万吨。第二大西瓜生产国土耳其，产量却远不及中国的十分之一。中国的断层式数据令其他国家望尘莫及。这惊人的产量，是连吃瓜群众也要惊掉下巴的程度！

 

为什么外国人很少吃西瓜？

 

据统计，中国人每年吃掉的西瓜高达160亿个，平均每人每年要吃掉100斤。

 

在外国影视片中，很少看到西瓜的身影。外国人不是不喜欢吃西瓜，很大部分原因是价格太贵了……

 

数据显示，在华盛顿和纽约，一公斤包装好准备出口的美国西瓜的生产价格约为6.91美元（约合人民币46元）。

A kilo of US Watermelon is around $6.91 in Washington and New York, packed and ready for export.

 

西瓜在日韩也是贵得出了名的。

 

韩国门户网站“NAVER”的检索结果显示，一个重约5公斤的西瓜被零售商标价26900韩元（约为人民币140元）进行售卖。

 

在日本，普通品种的西瓜一般在2-3000日元，大概相当于150元人民币。

 

而且国外的瓜贵还不一定好吃。

 

实现吃瓜自由多亏了她
 

 

国人实现了“吃瓜自由”离不开80岁高龄依然坚守在科研一线的吴明珠院士。20世纪50年代吴院士主动请缨、远赴新疆，穷尽一生心血选育瓜种。

 

Wu Mingzhu is a melon expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. This 92-year-old has devoted³ her life to cultivating more than 30 varieties of fruit in China.

 

1930年，吴明珠出生于湖北武汉。1953年，她从西南农学院园艺系果蔬专业毕业，与“中国杂交水稻之父”袁隆平是同级校友。

在新疆的工作条件十分艰苦，但是吴明珠和同事花了3年时间，走遍当地300多个生产队，一块瓜地一块瓜地调查，最后收集了100多份资料，整理成44个品种，成为后来育种的基本材料。

Born in Wuhan, Wu graduated from the Department of Horticulture and Fruit Science of Southwest University in 1953. In 1955, she volunteered to research melons in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous⁴ region, where working conditions were tough at the time. She spent three years visiting over 300 production teams throughout the region, identifying 44 melon varieties.

 

这条瓜种培育之路，吴明珠院士一走就是五十多年。

 

如今吴奶奶因阿尔茨海默病已认不得人，但当老人吃了医疗人员为她端来的西瓜，记忆瞬间被唤醒。她依然还惦记着心里一辈子都放不下的瓜：

 

“西瓜8424我最喜欢，而且是我的拿手好戏。因为样子好看，果型好，也好吃。”

 

In the 1990s, she and her team developed "8424," a high-quality watermelon in east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and gradually extended the variety to northern areas of China.

 

一份2018年的数据显示，凭借200万公顷的西瓜种植面积，以及每年超2万亿元的产值，中国在西瓜生产和消费上名列全球第一。可以说，吴明珠用了半个多世纪的光阴，穷尽一生心血选育瓜种，构建起我国领先的西甜瓜育种技术平台，使优质的西甜瓜“家族”不断扩大，并在全国“开枝散叶”，实现国人“吃瓜自由”。

 

With about 2 million hectares of watermelons and annual production worth more than 2 trillion yuan (about $290.8 million), China ranked first in the world in the production and consumption of this juicy fruit in 2018. Her achievements have greatly changed the cultivation⁵ of melons in China.

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