International Journal of Aquaculture, 2025, Vol.15, No.4, 208-220 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ija 218 have also formed well-known water chestnut production areas. However, there are differences in product quality in different regions, and the brand effect in various regions still needs to be strengthened. In the future, we should give full play to regional advantages and create a well-known brand of water chestnuts. Guangxi can continue to strengthen the "Guilin Horseshoe" brand, apply for geographical indications and organic certification, and occupy the high-end market with its crisp and sweet taste; Jiangxi Qianshan can highlight the cold-resistant and late-ripening characteristics of "red bud water chestnuts" to fill the winter off-season market. In terms of brand building, local governments and leading enterprises should increase publicity and marketing, and enhance the popularity and reputation of water chestnut products through e-commerce live broadcasts, origin traceability and other means. At the same time, strengthen cooperation and exchanges between production areas, avoid disorderly competition and low-price dumping, and jointly maintain the overall image and benefits of the water chestnut industry. 8.2 Bottlenecks of mechanization and intelligence technology The water chestnut cultivation and harvesting process has a high degree of dependence on manpower and a low level of mechanization. Especially in the harvest stage, there is currently a lack of mature and reliable special machinery, which has limited large-scale planting. The development of full-process mechanized equipment for water chestnuts is an urgent need for industrial upgrading, but it also faces many challenges: First, water chestnuts grow in paddy fields with complex harvesting machinery design and poor equipment versatility, and specific models need to be developed for different mud soils. Second, the bulb burial depth and distribution are highly random, and mechanical excavation must take into account both the leakage yield and the damage rate, which is difficult to balance. Third, the current market capacity is limited, and professional agricultural machinery enterprises are not very enthusiastic about investing in R&D. In order to break through the bottleneck, it is necessary to strengthen the integration of industry, education and research, and strive for special support for water chestnut mechanization technology research on national and local agricultural machinery research. In terms of cultivation management, intelligent means should also be actively introduced, such as using the Internet of Things technology to achieve automatic regulation of water levels and water fertilizers, and using drones to carry out field growth and disease monitoring. 8.3 Organic planting and green certification barriers Driven by consumption upgrades and export foreign exchange earnings, producing safe and high-quality organic water chestnuts has become the direction of industry efforts. However, organic water chestnut cultivation faces some unique obstacles: high pest pressure, soil restrictions, cost-benefit issues, etc. To overcome these obstacles in the future, innovation in technology and models is required. For example, developing a circular organic breeding model of rice+water chestnut+fish farming, using the ecological chain to suppress pests and reduce external investment; cultivating disease-resistant varieties to reduce the risk of organic cultivation diseases; the government provides financial and technical support to organic bases to help them overcome the difficulties during the transition period. At the same time, we will increase publicity and increase the market recognition and price advantages of organic water chestnuts, so that growers are willing to invest in the long term. As the concept of green agriculture is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the water chestnut industry should also follow this trend, gradually increase the proportion of green food, pollution-free and organic products, and promote the sustainable development of the industry and the improvement of international competitiveness. Although there are many challenges ahead, through the joint efforts of all parties, the scale of organic water chestnut cultivation is not out of reach. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank all teachers and colleagues who provided guidance and assistance during this research, and for the peer review's revision suggestions. Conflict of Interest Disclosure The authors confirm that the study was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships and could be interpreted as a potential conflict of interest.
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