Fruit farmers face growing price dilemma

Resumption

Zhou Dengping, who grows navel oranges, is struggling to hire enough people to work in his orchard and fruit processing plant, because large groups are not allowed to gather for fear of facilitating the spread the coronavirus.

The 46-year-old, from Fengjie county in the southwestern city of Chongqing, farms 533 hectares of land across four villages. All the land is rented from local farmers and Zhou's total annual harvest is more than 2,000 tons.

"The fall in sales started in late January when there was competition from similar products, such as tangerines. The situation got worse as the epidemic progressed, especially after Spring Festival. Many supermarkets and factories downstream closed and use of the expressway was restricted," he said.

On Feb 7, Zhou organized for local villagers to donate 25 tons of oranges to doctors in Wuhan, who are on the front line of the fight against the epidemic.

"Wuhan is Chongqing's neighbor, and people there need all kinds of food. We grow oranges, which are high in vitamin C and therefore good for boosting immunity, so we want to donate some to them," Zhou said.

At age 16, he was taught to grow oranges by his parents, who started cultivating the fruit in the 1950s.

In 1989, he moved into marketing work for orange growers in Hubei province, but in 2012 he returned to his hometown and founded a company to plant, harvest and sell the fruit.

"I love oranges. I was raised with oranges by my parents, and now I want to share them with everyone," he said.

Zhou's two eldest children work in the education industry, while the youngest is at primary school. He doesn't want them to become involved in the fruit business because he believes they have to go their own way.

To avoid problems with this year's harvest, he has decided to sell some of the oranges cheaply. He can sell about 150 tons per day through online and offline channels, but the price is about 4 yuan per kg this year, much lower than the 10 yuan he earned last year.

Due to the closure of many factories and restrictions on gatherings of people, Zhou cannot get enough fertilizer or workers for his orchard.

"The process of pruning the branches and fertilizing the trees has not finished yet. In previous years, the first fertilization would have been done by now," he said.

Zhou has raised the daily rate for his employees to 50 yuan per person, so his costs have risen by several thousand yuan per day. After the local government gave permission to resume work last month, about 70 people started working in his orchard and processing plant.

To reduce contact with other people, he needs to pick up the workers at 6 am and take them home at 11 pm every day.

He has also received help from the local government, which has accelerated the procedures for issuing certificates to allow his vehicles to pass through inspections and encouraged wholesalers to purchase his products.

"If anyone tells you there are no difficulties right now, it is a lie. We mainly rely on ourselves to overcome such difficulties, so if you ask me whether I am anxious, the answer is yes, but there is no need to overreact－I know there must be a way to get out of this mess," Zhou said.