Grape Grower Old Wang's Approach to Market Savvy

"You can't just plant whatever everyone else is planting. You have to first see what's selling well on the market, otherwise you work hard for nothing and make no money." A few days ago, when the reporter met Wang Fengyi in Sunjia Village, Hongxing Township, he had just returned from a trip elsewhere to investigate new grape varieties.

"Come, take a look at our Jasmine Fragrance grapes. They ripen early, taste great, and all sell for more than 20 yuan per kilogram." Old Wang said as he led the reporter into the greenhouse. Clusters of purple grapes hung down through the gaps in the leaves, each one plump and juicy. The reporter picked one and tasted it, and immediately felt a fresh fragrance and sweet flavor in the mouth.

"Delicious, right! In the past, the grapes here didn't taste this good. Most of what we planted early on was Kyoho, but we don't get enough sunlight here, so the grapes had low sugar content and couldn't fetch a good price on the market at all. Later we tried planting Bixiang Seedless, but that wasn't ideal either. We put in a lot of effort, but didn't make any money." Speaking of the "market wisdom" of grape growing, Wang Fengyi was full of emotion. In 2013, Wang Fengyi saw that a grape called Jasmine Fragrance was selling very well on the market, so he asked around everywhere to find out where it was grown. After learning that someone in Liaoning was cultivating this variety, he headed there immediately. After a careful investigation, Wang Fengyi made up his mind: switch the planting variety.

"Most of what I plant now is Jasmine Fragrance. This variety is better suited to our local natural conditions. The fruit has high sugar content and is more popular on the market. Many out-of-town customers from Harbin, Jiamusi and other places book entire greenhouses of grapes in advance." Old Wang planted two greenhouses this year, plus 0.5 hectares of open-field grapes. "This is the third year, and it's reached full fruit-bearing stage. The harvest is good. Greenhouses plus open-field grapes should bring in about three to four hundred thousand yuan."

"In the short term, there's no problem with market sales, but you can't always rely on just one variety to make a living, and besides, more and more people are planting Jasmine Fragrance." The quick-witted Old Wang had gone out again a few days earlier to investigate new grape varieties. "I have to keep the variety a secret, but following the market will never be wrong."

The market is the best weather vane, and wise modern farmers increasingly recognize this and no longer follow blindly. As they find their way to prosperity, they also provide us with a greater variety of products.