Vegetable growers in Shouguang, Shandong province, harvest Chinese cabbages but face a disappointing market. Supply again exceeds demand, pushing down prices. Zhang Tao / China Daily

SHOUGUANG, Shandong - Lu Wenguo, the general manager of Hualong Storage Co in Shouguang, stored 1,000 tons of cabbage last year for 0.7 yuan (11 US cents) a kilogram.

In April, when the wholesale price of cabbage dove to 0.14 a kg, Lu suffered a stinky loss. The smell of the unsold, rotten cabbage drifted from units in his cold-storage warehouse, prompting passers-by to cover their noses. One of Lu's customers skipped out on the 20,000 yuan ($3,160) storage fee he owned.

Lu learned a lesson. When new cabbages came in in November, Lu refused to handle any. "Cold storage owners like me prefer to store vegetables that are more expensive."

But the harvest this fall was bountiful and supply again exceeds demand, pushing down prices. Farmers have found it difficult to either sell their cabbages or store them.

Lu was a farmer himself for many years so he understands how things work. "Without enough information about the whole market, many farmers were unable to adjust their plan of growing different kinds of vegetables to avoid these risks."

Although Lu is trying to avoid last spring's problem of holding goods that won't sell - he wholesales vegetables, too - it's difficult to predict price fluctuations. He now has 2,000 tons of potatoes in storage, and he's hoping they can be sold at a good price. The situation does not look good. Lu paid 1 yuan a kg for these potatoes; the price has declined by half.

Lu wants to stay positive. "I'm still waiting for the price to go up." Otherwise, Lu will have to hire people to clean up his stinky warehouse again.

Find the original Cover Story, published April 26, at cruel harvest.