Zhailang Village in Baishanzu Town, Qingyuan County, Zhejiang, held its first "Red Rice Festival" and sold red rice right at its doorstep

With spring planting and autumn harvest, the grain crop harvest season has now arrived. In Zhailang Village, Baishanzu Town, Qingyuan County, the red-awned rice, bright red in color with plump grains, has also welcomed its harvest. On the occasion of the red-awned rice harvest, Zhailang Village held its first "Red Rice Festival," selling health-promoting rice right at its doorstep.

"The first Zhailang 'Red Rice Festival' held on Saturday attracted hundreds of local residents and triggered a buying spree for red-awned rice," said Ye Longfeng, director of the Zhailang Village Committee. This year, Zhailang Village planted more than 300 mu of red-awned rice, with a yield of about 300 jin per mu, a rice output of more than 90,000 jin, and a red rice output of 67,500 jin. On the day of the event, more than 5,000 jin of red rice was sold, and in addition, many merchants contacted farmers directly to reach purchase intentions.

According to reports, because the grain husk of red-awned rice is relatively hard and its shape is relatively pointed, even gluttonous wild boars dare not approach it, and local villagers call it "wild boar fear." Red-awned rice has very high requirements for the growing environment; it is generally planted in pristine high-mountain terraced fields at an altitude of more than 1,000 m and needs irrigation with high-mountain spring water. Zhailang Village, however, sits at an altitude of more than 1,500 m, with an extremely high forest coverage rate, fresh air, very good environmental quality, and a large temperature difference between day and night, with almost no pests or diseases, so Zhailang Village grows red-awned rice according to local conditions.

The harsh growing environment gives the red-awned rice of Zhailang Village very high quality. The village's red-awned rice not only contains protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, zinc, phosphorus, iron, copper, and various trace elements such as vitamins A, B, and C, but also has multiple physiological functions such as scavenging free radicals, improving iron-deficiency anemia, and resisting stress reactions. It tastes sweet and glutinous with a pleasant aroma, is a health-promoting grain, and is very popular on the market.

Ye Longfeng told reporters that as market demand for red-awned rice grows larger and larger, and the red-awned rice of Zhailang Village is of relatively superior quality, the price of the village's red-awned rice has shown a trend of rising year after year. This year, the price of red-awned rice rose from 5-8 yuan per jin last year to 10 yuan per jin.

Zhailang Village cleverly used the "Red Rice Festival" to peddle health-promoting rice right at its doorstep, changing the previous model in which villagers mainly grew it, the cooperative purchased it uniformly, and then distributed it to major local specialty stores for sale. This not only raised the selling price of red rice, but also let local residents further understand the nutritional value of red rice and opened up the local market.