Strawberries unsold amid cancer-causing acetochlor exceedance scare; prices fall in many places

Although “excessive acetochlor residues in strawberries” was later refuted by authoritative test results and industry experts, the earlier “strawberry acetochlor residues exceeding the limit cause cancer” reports spread widely and quickly led to unsold strawberries in several major strawberry-producing areas, with prices falling sharply and growers and traders suffering serious losses.

Sales in several major producing areas quickly went cold, with prices falling by more than half

Liu Zuoren, director of the Donggang City Agricultural Economics Bureau in Liaoning, said Donggang grows strawberries on 168,000 mu, the largest strawberry-growing county in the country; 200,000 people across the city work in strawberry-related industries, making it a veritable “No. 1 strawberry county in China.” On the afternoon of May 4, a reporter came to the “Liansheng Strawberry Cooperative” in Lijiadian Village, Yiquan Town, Donggang City, and saw only four or five people sorting and packing the strawberries they had purchased. On April 26, more than a dozen people had still been working.

Cooperative chairman Wang Xiaodong told the reporter that the cooperative supplies strawberries directly to a large supermarket chain in Shenyang. “Before April 26, we supplied six or seven thousand jin a day; now it is only about two thousand jin, less than 1/3. When the acetochlor scare first broke, they even had us stop supplying for three days. Under the original agreement, we should have supplied about 15,000 jin a day during ‘May Day’; this ‘May Day’ it basically stopped.”

The sharp drop in sales brought a big fall in prices. Before April 26, the price of the greenhouse “JiuJiu strawberry” (a variety) purchased by this cooperative had been stable at 7.5—8 yuan, but after the acetochlor scare, and after some websites sensationalized it, the purchase price directly fell to 2 yuan a jin, and only now has it recovered to 3 to 3.5 yuan.

According to statistics, Donggang currently produces 1,800 tons of strawberries a day. A survey of 90 designated strawberry growers by the Donggang City Agricultural Economics Bureau showed that on April 25—26, the normal market wholesale price was 14 yuan per kg, but affected by the reports, the average wholesale price suddenly fell to 4—6 yuan per kg. Strawberry growers suffered huge losses.

Traders also suffered serious losses. Wang Xiaodong said that during the three days when they could not get into the supermarket, they had to take the strawberries to the wholesale market; seven or eight thousand jin of strawberries could not be sold, and because the shelf life is very short, they had to be thrown away.

In Liaoyang City, Liaozhong County and other major strawberry-producing areas in Liaoning, once-booming strawberry sales also quickly went cold, with prices less than 1/3 of the original. Liu Zuoren said, “After the ‘strawberry acetochlor residues exceeding the limit cause cancer’ report came out, panic about strawberries in various places quickly spread to the main producing areas. For several consecutive days after April 27, traditional major markets and large supermarkets in Beijing, Harbin, Shenzhen and other places stopped buying strawberries one after another. Only in the past few days have the markets allowed entry again, and prices have rebounded somewhat.

Consumer panic is hard to dispel; strawberries rotting in the fields this season may cause later losses

“We have never used herbicides in growing strawberries, so how could they contain cancer-causing acetochlor?” said a villager surnamed Jiang in Longwangmiao Village, Donggang City.

On the other side of the farmers’ helplessness is consumers’ unstoppable panic. Although many places said no acetochlor was detected, many consumers insisted, “Even if there are no cancer-causing pesticide residues, I won’t buy them anymore.”

Liu Jingliang, director of the Lvshi Strawberry Research Institute in Yantai City, Shandong Province, told the reporter that this is the peak fruiting period with the largest output locally, and 80% of the strawberries are ripe fruit. If they cannot be picked in time, they will rot the next day and may also trigger gray mold, affecting other strawberries. Now, affected by the negative news, it is roughly estimated that 1/3 of the strawberries have already rotted in the fields. “This year, strawberry growers in the Yantai production area are almost certain to lose money.” Liu Jingliang said.

The same situation has occurred in several strawberry-producing areas. Shuangliu County in Sichuan Province is the largest winter strawberry base in the country. Gan Damu, a staff member of the county’s Rural Development Bureau and executive director of the China Strawberry Association, told the reporter that affected by the reports, the number of customers coming to pick strawberries locally has dropped by more than 2/3 in recent days. The picking price used to be 30—40 yuan a jin, but now it has fallen to 10 or 20 yuan. Strawberries have begun to rot in the fields, and the total later loss is estimated at about 300 jin per mu.

Industry insiders believe strawberry cultivation is strictly supervised, and there is no situation of “those who sell don’t eat, and those who eat don’t sell”

Dr. Zhang Yuntao, chairman of the Strawberry Branch of the Chinese Society for Horticultural Science, believes that overall, a corresponding regulatory system has already been established for the safe production of strawberries.

Jiang Zhaotong, deputy director of the Donggang City Strawberry Research Institute in Liaoning, said the municipal government focuses on organizing scientific and technical personnel every spring and autumn to carry out science popularization training. They have a dedicated strawberry pesticide sales counter; strawberry farmers need to register when buying pest and disease control chemicals, and the law enforcement brigade also conducts spot checks frequently; strawberries also have a traceability system. Many people say farmers always follow “those who sell don’t eat, and those who eat don’t sell” for agricultural products, but Donggang strawberry farmers all pick strawberries in the fields and eat them directly.

Gan Damu also feels that Shuangliu supervises strawberry production strictly: the plant protection station provides technical guidance on pesticide use; the law enforcement brigade checks account records for pesticide purchases and sales; growers must sign safe production responsibility statements and keep field records; in addition, there are regular inspections by quality testing departments and so on.

Xia Shixiang, president of the Strawberry Association of Changfeng County, Anhui Province, said that every year they conduct 3—5 safe production training sessions for growers, and for strawberries they have also formed a “three-level monitoring network” with an agricultural product safety monitoring station at the county level, a monitoring room at the township level, and monitoring points at production bases.

During the interviews, strawberry growers and heads of grassroots agricultural management departments repeatedly suggested that mainstream media should increase reporting on the strawberry quality test results from various places, and that some media that reported earlier should actively clarify and explain to restore public misunderstanding. “Now ordinary people are especially concerned about food safety. When media report related negative incidents, they must have sufficient evidence, and cannot condemn a whole group with one sweeping stroke, still less broadcast rashly. This hurts farmers too much.” Zhang Yuntao said.