Last week, One Media announced the news of lotus roots, which been drawing great attention from the general public.
Last week, One Media announced the news of lotus roots, which been drawing great attention from the general public. Supported by everyone, over 40,000 guardians of the land participated in the relay of helping farmers, assisting them in selling 105,000 KG of lotus roots. The participants’ kindness has warmed the heart of farmers in Henan Province who dug lotus roots at minus seven degrees with the wind chilling them to the bone.
The local people keep digging and shipping lotus roots every day. They still keep going, even though their hands are tired and cracked. So far, there are still 900,000 KG of lotus roots waiting for urgent support.
In the harsh winter, a group of farmers looked at their fields good harvest that had become dead stock and could do nothing but let them lie waste to the conditions.
On December 2nd, some caring consumers from WeChat community of Guard the Land gave feedback that farmers in Chenzhuang Town, Fan County, Puyang City, Henan Province were extremely anxious and upset as 15 million kilograms of organically grown lotus roots were left spoiled. Later, it was confirmed by volunteers’ field trip of Guard the Land that there are one million kilograms of organically grown lotus roots among the 15 million kilograms of unsellable ones.
There is A Long and Arduous Journey Called Guarding.
Having learnt this news, volunteers from Guard the Land started a long overnight trip of 1,670km on December 6th. They transferred for five times and arrived at the destination after 13-hour trip. They conducted field trip and looked thoroughly into the local situation. “We are taking action to guard the land.”
There is a kind of harvest called desolation.
“People stuffed the farmland in this season in the former years and all of us rushed to dig lotus roots before the weather cooled down. Nowadays, however, the temperature gets increasingly lower but lotus roots remain lying under the farmland. Once in a while, a few families dig lotus roots in the fields and place them on the roadside. If a dealer comes to buy lotus roots, then they sell them at a low price; otherwise, they are left to rot and wasted away,” said the Villagers.
Every Grain Comes from Hard Working.
The piercing cold wind blew keenly. We were still shivering in cotton-padded clothes. The old farmers dug with a shovel and then by hands. The moist soil could freeze their hands even if they wore gloves. For them, however, it didn’t matter.
The temperature was a few degrees below zero. Farmers’ hands were soaked in the wind chill for a long time and giving them painful cracks from the dryness and temperature. The farmers listened to inspiring Yuju opera with local culture features while digging lotus roots with a view to work energetically. The villagers explained that this made them work with strong energy. Volunteers from Guard the Land also experienced the work as local old farmers did.
Volunteers dug and picked up lotus roots one by one. Then they packed the crops into the bamboo crates and carried them out. Finally, all of the lotus roots were gathered together awaiting their buyers. What a toilsome process!
Digging lotus roots takes skills. Some of them are horizontally inside the soil; hands and feet are needed to fumble for the shape and length of the whole lotus root. Hence, farmers are required to do it in moderation so as to avoid trampling the lotus roots.
Lotus roots and harvesting farmers filled the mountains and plains as far as the eye can see. After a round of toil, their trousers were entirely drenched by sewage and shoes covered with mud.
It’s cold as hell at only minus six or seven degrees. In these days in Henan, volunteers were literally frozen with their teeth chattering and they did not even take showers. However, aiming to help local farmers, they contacted EMS, provided logistics training and packing details as well. Volunteers from Guard the Land simply wanted to spare no efforts to help them overcome such difficulties. If all of the volunteers take action, then local farmers will have a better winter.
Yellow River Breeds High-Quality Louts Roots.
According to local people, here is the largest planting base of lotus root in the north of Yellow River. Local soil is saline and sandy soil irrigated by water from Yellow River, which gives birth to good and high-quality lotus roots.
Immaculate lotus root hided in the soil (RMB 19.9 every 2.5KG)
In 2009, Chenzhuang Town was awarded the Second National “OTOP” Professional Demonstration Village by Ministry of Agriculture.
In 2010, lotus root of Fan County acquired the Henan Lotus Root Certificate of Origin and Non-Pollution Product Certification.
In 2012, its lotus root were successfully declared national green product.
In 2015, the product entered conversion period and started to be organically planted. It is an organic certification is expected in March 2018.
Yet, the pass success fails to bring about sales volume. Lotus roots contain no preservatives and bactericide. They keep fresh by soil but their ugly appearance has led to few buyers.
Farmers who cultivate lotus roots are industrious and irrigate the land with diligent sweat rather than spray preservatives and bactericide. They simply deem that someone or other will be sure to know so long as they are good crops. They know how to plant, but are failing to bring their fruit of painstaking labor to others.
“Our lotus roots stay fresh only relying on soil. They are not as beautiful as those washed ones since we don’t clean the mud. In addition, the cost of manual digging is higher than that of washed lotus roots, which makes the dealer further reluctant to buy our products, ” explained the villager.
Washed lotus roots are those washed off from the sludge by squirt gun. They can be easily picked up from water without digging but certainly, they need to be soaked with preservatives for freshness in that the covering mud on the lotus root is washed away.
They look ugly with mud.
But they become white and clean after washing.
Nevertheless, less than 1/50 of such good lotus roots were purchased in Chenzhuang Town. It has been three whole months since the products got ripe at the end of September. Later, young adults, even the old and kids went to the field to dig lotus roots with an attempt to help sell out the unmarketable ones.
For people in the city, they eat lotus roots occasionally as farm dishes. But for people in the home of lotus root, they are not only the whole-year harvest but also their children’s tuition and parents’ retirement costs.
How can we leave such good lotus roots in the fields without working out a solution and how can we bear to let these arduous old farmers lose hope for their lands simply owing to the lack of effective sales channels?
They plant lotus roots not only for survival but also for guarding the land. They are close to the nature with reverence and live a lifetime of diligent and conscientious work. The crop in the land is their sole hope for life.
Guard the Land: Prevent Good Harvest from Becoming Desolation and Assist the Farmers to Sell 1 million Kilograms of Lotus Roots.
Guard the Land Green League initiated the event of “Prevent good harvest from becoming desolation and assist the farmers to sell 1 million kilograms of lotus roots”, aiming to help the sale of organically grown lotus roots without pesticide from Chenzhuang Town, Henan Province.
Organic grown lotus roots produced in Henan: RMB 19.9 every 2.5KG (express fee covered) and they are much more fresh, cheaper and of more original ecology than those sell in the supermarkets.
Click the image above to buy superior-quality lotus roots, which is urgent and caring help for the farmers.
Organically cultivated with farm manure, every bite of the fresh lotus root is pure natural. Without pesticide residue, the lotus root is crisp & tasty and make people feel confident about its safety.
Warm tips:
1. 2.5KG in one carton, each lotus root is delivered after freshly dug, so they go with mud and can be kept for around 15 days while 7 days if without mud. They are shipped from Fang County, Henan by EMS. As the temperature lower to below zero since nightfall that affects digging lotus roots, only 2,000-3,000 KG of them can be delivered each day. Moreover, the deliver time maybe a bit late, which is expected to be shipped within a week upon payment and arrive in around 4 days after delivery.
2. We apply organic planting with farm manure, breeding pure natural lotus roots without pesticide. Our crops follow the growth rhythm of nature rather than being fertilized with pesticide and swelling agent. Thus, the lotus roots you receive will not be with the same size and even a little bit small. Each of them weights about 0.45-0.5KG and 5-6 pieces in every 2.5KG. Sorry for any trouble. They taste crisp once dug out from the soil but not in later period.
3. Order message: Click “Shan Yi Ji” in “Ant Good Things” at the lower left of our WeChat interface and then click “My” to check order message.
4. Customer service when problem occurs: If there’s something wrong with the lotus roots, welcome to send message in the chat frame of our WeChat backstage or dial 4007162103 to contact customer service.
This event gets great support from the government of Chenzhuang Town which proves its truthfulness; in addition, the government shows its gratitude and gives support to us as well.
▼Proof issued by the government of Chenzhuang Town
If you happen to like eating lotus roots or your family or friend does, please give preference to organically grown lotus roots of Chenzhuang Town, Hennan Province. Please do us a favor and help the farmers. It would be very grateful if you greatly forward and spread this message to solve the pressing need of the farmers, keeping their efforts from being wasted. Hope people in trouble can get warmth and receive kindness from the world.
Who Are We?
We are the Green League jointly initiated by Fly Ant and MAYCONSEN with the intention to build a bridge between people and non-pollution farm products with original ecology. On one hand, we help conscientious farmers who guard the land and support green farm products with original ecology. On the other hand, we attempt to enable people far away from villages to eat really green non-pollution farm products.
Profits deducting operating costs of each Guard the Land Project will all be donated to non-profit foundation of Guard the Land, using for continuously promoting non-profit good causes. By the way, Corporate Responsibility Report of Guard the Land will be published semiannually.
Farmer Assistance + Environmental Protection + Public Welfare
We are always on the way to guard the land and protect the soul with joint efforts.
Source&photo from Chinese WeChat Account: feimayi90