Henan Province, known as the “granary of Central Plains,” has encountered a series of challenges during the autumn harvest season following a severe drought in the summer. The province has been plagued by continuous rainy weather for a month, causing extensive sprouting and molding of corn and peanuts yet to be harvested, leading to significant losses for farmers.
Henan is one of the main peanut-producing areas in China. Due to excessive water accumulation in the fields, farmers who originally planned to wait for the rain to stop before harvesting corn and peanuts had to rush to harvest in the rain. Wang Li (pseudonym) hails from a rural area in Zhoukou City, where his parents planted nearly ten mu (about 1.6 acres) of corn. During the National Day holiday, he and his sister, who was studying at a university in another city, were called back home to help with the harvest.
He told Epoch Times that the fields were knee-deep in water, making it difficult to move around. The nine-member family worked barefoot, carrying small buckets and bags to transport the crops little by little. After a day of hard work, they only managed to harvest three to four hundred jin (around 50-60 kg), with a significant portion already molding and rotting.
“The white grains, if not harvested soon, will have to be discarded. The corn cobs are all very small, we can’t even talk about a good harvest this year, just getting some home is enough,” Wang Li said.
“Just breaking even this year will do,” Wang Li calculated the expenses, including the cost of watering the crops three times due to drought, along with fertilizers, electricity, pesticides, and other expenses, amounting to at least 500 yuan per mu. This doesn’t even include labor costs. Next year, they plan to lease out the land for 300 yuan per mu.
Villagers in other areas are facing similar difficulties.
Yang Min (pseudonym) from Yuzhou hired laborers to harvest over ten mu of corn. She noted that the corn cobs are generally small, with some already sprouting and rotting on the stems. “This year is definitely a loss. During the dry season when we planted the corn, there was no rain, and now that it’s time to harvest, it’s raining every day. Henan is too tough!”
Xiao Yan (pseudonym) from Zhumadian had no help at home and didn’t hire anyone, so she was harvesting alone in the fields. She mentioned that neighboring villagers were also working overnight to harvest, and they were exhausted.
Yu Ping from Kaifeng expressed her distress at seeing the white peanuts soaking in water. “All of Kaifeng, Henan, is affected. We have to harvest everything, whatever we can salvage. It’s not about breaking even this year, it’s definitely a loss. Farmers really suffer when they plant their crops.”
Due to the bad weather conditions preventing drying, the harvested crops brought home would quickly mold and spoil. Villagers are lining up at grain stations, eager to sell their crops, even at reduced prices, just to get them off their hands.