The cassava planting cooperative of Laoma village in Lianjiang, Zhanjiang signed an agreement with e-commerce enterprise JD.com on March 8 to establish a direct to-order e-commerce cultivation system.

Once a profitable cash crop of Laoma village, poor marketing and cassava's low purchasing price of 0.2 yuan ($0.03) per kilogram have destroyed famer's enthusiasm for continued cultivation.

The cassavas planting cooperative of Laoma village in Lianjiang, Zhanjiang signs an agreement with JD.com on March 8 establishing an online order-based cultivation system. [Photo by Ou Dandan/gdzjdaily.com]

According to the agreement, JD.com will team up with Guangdong Chengxiang Weidao (Taste) Trading Company (cxweidao.com), a local e-commerce company to promote the new plant-to-order sales model and expand the cassavas market using a combination of F2C (factory to customer) and C2F (customer to factory) marketing schemes.

According to Huang Xiaolong, CEO of cxweidao.com, the new sales system will directly sell cassavas to consumers via JD.com without any middle men and free of any transition costs.

The company will also customize a marketing plan based on consumer demands, in order to cover the expenses arising from logistics, stock control and customer relations maintenance in F2C.

Huang's company will also handle product branding and packaging to improve the image of cassava.

"We now have our own brand, and the current purchasing price has tripled," said Laoma villager Hong Dian. "It is thanks to the guidance of our cooperative and the new selling system."

According to Hong Qiang, a local cadre, the village has planted more than 200 mu (13.3 hectares) of cassava, and is expected to implement the new system this September. If successful, more villages will join the new e-commerce schema, with cultivation areas expected to reach 20,000 mu (1333.3 hectares).