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Apple farmers struggle to sell bumper harvest

By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-11 07:57

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Apple farmers struggle to sell bumper harvest

More than 100 cartons of unsold apples are stacked at the home of a resident in Donggou village, Miyun county, yesterday. [China Daily]

About 3,000 farming families in Beijing's Miyun county say they are struggling to sell their organic apples after a bumper harvest this year.

The farmers in Xinchengzi town have produced a total of 4.5 million kg of apples, up by 1 million kg on last year. The organic apples sell for between 4-6 yuan per kg.

Shi Tiecheng, a 53-year-old farmer who owns 600 trees that produce about 15,000 kg of apples, said he earned little money from the business because he did not know how to sell the apples.

"So far, I've sold less than one third of them," Shi said.

He said organic apples required more investment than ordinary apples, so the lowest price he could accept was 4.5 per kg. At this price, he can cover costs for the fertilizer and his employees, but Shi and his wife get nothing.

Shi has considered selling apples in the city's market, but the two-and-a-half hour drive would result in higher costs.

"We have no choice but to wait. Every day we wait in the entrance of our village, hoping to find someone to come and buy apples," Shi said.

However, Hu Yumin, the spokesman for the Fruit Tree Association in Xinchengzi town, described demand for this year's apples as "not bad".

"I believe we can sell all the apples in a short time," Hu said.

The Xinchengzi town's governor refused to comment, but an official at the town government who didn't want to give her name said the county had produced a harvest of 4,500 tons and only 450 tons are left.

When asked about the difficulty of selling the apples, she said: "We are far from the city center and so not many people know we have good quality apples here."

Wei Xiuqin, another organic farmer, said she could only sell her apples to relatives and friends.

"I have around eight tons of apples in my house and I have no idea what to do with them," Wei said.

"Some people want to buy our apples at about 0.2 yuan per kg. We cannot accept that."

Wei echoed Shi's complaint that there was no way to sell the apples in town.

"New Year's Day and Spring Festival should be a good opportunity to sell apples, but we don't know how to use those opportunities," she said.