The shared name of pear farmers and pears is resilience

Editor's note: Pear farmer Yingzhe of Dongshi is finally about to joyfully harvest his pears, and they have tested as having "no pesticide residue" - truly no small feat. The author of this article is part of a work team that has long helped farming households with record-keeping and sales, and wants to share with everyone the bittersweet story of the pear harvest work. We also ask friends to give more support to this hard-won fruit.

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We like to encourage people with the saying "Shed tears in your efforts, and you will surely reap with joy." It sounds like an irrefutable truth, yet it is never reflected in the plight of farmers. Like every year, all the pear farmers put in their diligent effort, but after being battered by several bouts of wind and rain, this year's pear crop has generally failed. With the heavens as the home team, their odds of winning are always the greatest, and in this contest against the heavens, most pear farmers lost. Losing a battle is by no means the first time - there is only one campaign a year - yet pear farmers rise again and again after each fall. This is what is called the farmer's character, and the two words they rely on to make a living are called "resilience."

Not counting the preparatory work before planting, and not counting the complicated process after harvest, these piles of abundant Xinxing pears in front of us took 187 days from flowering to fruiting alone, a period that depended on the careful tending of the pear farmers. Although they must single-handedly face pests and diseases, disaster-induced crop reductions, price drops after a bumper harvest, and exploitation by middlemen, the pears at the consumer end are still, in the eyes of all buyers in Taiwan, China, taken for granted as fruit: flesh like honey, crisp and juicy.

Case or pear bag? The pear farmer's choice for shipping

On August 11, after 187 days of absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, Yingzhe's pears finally ripened, and the happiest moment for the farming family finally arrived!

After the pears are harvested, the most important thing is to sell them for a good price. But how should they be sold?

There are two ways of packaging for sale on the market. One is called the "pear bag": after the pears are harvested, the protective bags are not opened, and they are simply boxed and sold.

The other is called the "case": the pears are graded into nine classes by weight, boxed, and then sold.

Generally speaking, case transactions have clear items and a certain consistency in the goods, so there are fewer trade disputes, but the grading and packaging process is too labor-intensive. In order to increase the pears' sales appeal and reduce bruising that damages their appearance from collisions, packaging materials and other consumables are also numerous. Each box of pears requires four to six polystyrene trays (about 1.5 yuan each), three to five sheets of cardboard (2.8 yuan each), and also four to six foam sheets (about 1 yuan each), and finally each pear must be wrapped in a plastic bag. The materials alone add nearly 20 yuan in cost.

To be honest, case transactions are very time-consuming, labor-intensive, and not environmentally friendly. But whether middlemen or farmers, both consider case transactions to be a way of trading in which the pears' goods and quality are clear and evident, offering relatively more security to both sides and involving fewer disputes.

Order form download link http://d2.eoenet.com/g/0300174778287.aspx

People.Cultivation.Food Community Xinxing Top-Grafted Pear Bag Order Details Table

Taiwan New Society Promotion Association, Shi Chaoxiang

E-mail: [email protected]

People.Cultivation.Food Community: http://cultivator.pixnet.net/blog

First Bank transfer: 007-421-50-210741 [shipped within 2 days];

Tel: (04) 2588-41253; 0921-103606

No. 70-1, Donglan Street, Dongshi District, Taichung City 423