Continuous rain causes wheat ears to go moldy, leaving wheat farmers deeply worried

On June 4, in Lütang Village, Daqiao Town, Nanhu District, Jiaxing, Zhang Yumei from Chaohu, Anhui, was on the verge of tears but had none to shed, because the more than 200 mu of wheat she and her husband had contracted to grow had now, due to the rainfall earlier on, suffered losses that were already a foregone conclusion. In the vast wheat fields, waterlogging was very severe, and many wheat ears had already gone moldy; rub open a wheat ear, and the grains, swollen from soaking in rainwater, were plump, while much of the wheat that had lodged on the ground had already put out long sprouts. Zhang Yumei and her husband had been contracting land here to grow wheat and rice for 9 years. This year's wheat had grown very well, and they had thought a bumper harvest was certain, only for it to be washed away by the continuous rain. Photo by Jin Peng, correspondent for Zhejiang News Client

The wheat grains, thoroughly soaked by rainwater, swelled up one by one.

The wheat that had lodged on the ground had already sprouted; this green was, however, a pain in the hearts of the wheat farmers.

"Every single grain is the fruit of hard toil." Holding the dripping wet wheat, Zhang Yumei was heartbroken.

Every wheat ear had already gone moldy, and the quality of the wheat had clearly declined.