Southern lotus roots hit the market in concentrated volumes, with high prices and encouraging market conditions

CNR News, Beijing, September 16 (Reporters Liu Lu, Rugao Radio Gao Song) According to China Rural Voice's "Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers China" report, September and October each year are the season when lotus roots are concentrated on the market. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, every household in the south chooses to eat lotus root cakes, and lotus roots are also indispensable as Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. At present, lotus roots in Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangxi and other provinces have begun large-scale harvesting and marketing.

Anhui farmer Xiong Hongbao has planted 500 mu of lotus roots in Rugao, Jiangsu. Now the lotus roots are enjoying a bumper harvest, and in recent days he and local farmers are seizing the time to harvest them. It is understood that this year's lotus roots are exceptionally good in quality, and the prices offered by the traders who come to buy are also exceptionally high.

So what is the reason for the high price of lotus roots this year? How long will the upward trend last?

On the afternoon of the 14th, the glow of the setting sun gilded the autumn lotus pond. Anhui farmer Xiong Hongbao put on his tall boots and went down into the pond to dig lotus roots. He told reporters that there are many lotus leaves in the pond, but not every lotus leaf has a lotus root growing beneath it.

Xiong Hongbao: Lotus roots are found under the curved ones. Only under the small lotus leaves are there lotus roots; under the very large lotus leaves there are instead none.

With more than ten years of rich experience growing lotus roots, Xiong Hongbao can usually tell at a glance. Once he feels the lotus root, he uses a water gun to wash away the soil around it, and the plump, white lotus root floats to the surface.

Xiong Hongbao: After feeling the lotus root, you have to use a water gun to wash away the soil beside it. Point the water gun and spray for two days, then spray under the lotus root, and the whole lotus root floats up. Then you grab the stem of the lotus root with your hand and pull it up.

Xiong Hongbao picked up the lotus roots floating on the surface of the lotus pond one by one and brought them ashore. Before long, a small mountain had piled up beside the pond. He excitedly told reporters that this year's lotus root yield was exceptionally high.

Xiong Hongbao: Holding this big lotus root is a beautiful sight. Every year when this harvest time comes, it is when I am happiest. This year's yield is the highest. This year the temperature is high. In a normal year it would be 2,500 jin per mu, but this year it will be about 3,500 to 4,000 jin per mu.

It is understood that the increase in domestic lotus root production this year is related to the expansion of planting area and price fluctuations in the past two years. As early as 2014, domestic lotus roots saw a price peak, and many farmers made a fortune. Cao Dongbo, a market analyst at Yimutian, introduced:

Cao Dongbo: In 2014, lotus root origin quotes rose all the way, reaching 2.5-3 yuan/jin around the Spring Festival, with some origins reaching as high as 4 yuan/jin. Stimulated by the obvious economic benefits of lotus roots in 2014, the lotus root planting area expanded noticeably in the 2015 production season. Taking Jiangsu Province as an example, in 2014 income per mu was between 1,000-2,000 yuan, and the highest could reach more than 3,000 yuan.

Cao Dongbo told reporters that in 2015 the expanded lotus root planting area was large, causing overall lotus root production to surge. Lotus root prices then fell off a cliff.

Cao Dongbo: In the second half of 2015, lotus roots encountered a sluggish market, and prices fell from a high of below 2 yuan to around 1 yuan, and purchasers' purchasing standards were extremely strict. For example, for muddy lotus roots, in 2014 muddy lotus roots could be sold as soon as they were dug out, without removing the mud. In 2015, not only did the mud have to be removed, but the stem ends also had to be trimmed and those that were too small removed.

According to the reporter's understanding, the lotus root planting area continued at last year's high level. Cao Dongbo said this was mainly because many contracting households only began growing lotus roots in 2015, and switching to other aquaculture would have high costs, so most of them continued to grow lotus roots this year. This has also made current lotus root quotes across the country's production areas concentrated between 1.5-2.5, with some production areas able to reach more than 3 yuan, returning to the historical high prices of lotus roots in 2014.

Cao Dongbo: The reason lotus roots in production areas across the country can stop falling and rebound at present is mainly due to reduced lotus root production and high psychological expectations on both sides of market transactions; second, it has been helped by the east wind of Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day consumption, ushering in a good start to sales in the 2016 production season; and finally, schools across the country are currently starting the new term, and the demand for lotus root purchases from school canteens and nearby restaurants has increased noticeably. According to feedback from traders, the volume of ordinary goods has increased greatly since schools started, goods move very quickly, and traders are highly motivated to purchase.

Xiong Hongbao planted 500 mu of lotus roots this year. He calculated that after deducting costs, labor and other expenses, the net profit per mu of lotus roots is about 2,000 yuan. If all 500 mu of lotus roots were sold, the net profit would be about 1 million yuan. However, Xiong Hongbao does not plan to sell all 500 mu of lotus roots, but wants to keep them to continue expanding planting next year.

Xiong Hongbao: I will not sell them all this year. Most will be used as seed. This year I planted 500 mu, and next year I want to plant 1,000 mu. No matter how expensive they get, I will not sell.

Many farmers growing lotus roots have the same mentality as Xiong Hongbao. However, Cao Dongbo, a market analyst at Yimutian, advises farmers to sell at the going price and not to hoard goods.

Cao Dongbo: In this year's production season, the overall market situation in the early stage of lotus root marketing is relatively encouraging. This is based on the relatively high psychological expectations of both sides of the lotus root market transactions and on the holiday effect of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day. Once market transactions suffer a setback, the psychological expectations of both sides of market transactions will be severely hit. After all, China's overall economic situation is still in a downward range. Lotus roots are one of many vegetable consumer goods and are not daily necessities. Therefore, it is advised that lotus root farmers not blindly gamble on market conditions, but still sell at the going price and use the internet to expand their sales channels.