Farmers are harvesting shallots by hand. [Photo/ article.xuexi.cn]
Shallots that grown on small farmlands surrounded by water in Duotian sub-district, Xinghua city in East China's Jiangsu province, have moved towards scaling up their production volume and quality.
The unique conditions of the small farmlands in Xinghua are inconvenient for mass production, as there have small water gaps around the land and their size is small.
To solve these problems, the first family farm in Duotian sub-district was established in May 2022, becoming a good start for the large-scale cultivation of shallots.
The farm has upgraded its water and fertilizer management equipment for three times, thus watering, fertilization and pesticide application are currently being implemented via a sprinkler system.
Zhang Nianchai, a Duotian sub-district official, said that the farm has been recruiting over 30 female workers every day to help with the harvesting since late April. After deducting the labor cost, the net income of shallots per mu (666.67 square meters) will exceed 3,500 yuan ($488.9) per year.
The selling price of shallots grown by individual farmers is only half that of the farm, and when considering the costs of seeds, fertilizers and oil, there is barely any profit.
With a total area of 25,000 mu, the small farmlands in Duotian sub-district have formed a complete industrial chain for shallot cultivation.
Notably, the dehydration process for scallions with high value-added freeze-drying technology has been out-sourced to Japan, South Korea, and the European Union, with 12,000 people working in the entire industrial chain.