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The falling price of water melon in Xi'an has drawn attention of many people around the country these days. The farmers in Xi'an wait in despair for even a bit of melon sales, even though they are suffering from a tremendous loss for the whole year.
"Last year, the lowest retail price is 3 Jiao and 8 Fen for 1 Jin. But now, it's only 8 Fen or 7 Fen for 1 Jin."
"I invested 8,000 yuan, but now I can only get 2,000 yuan back."
Last year the average wholesale price of water melon was 0.5 yuan per kilogram. But this year the price dropped to about 0.1 yuan per kilogram. This doesn't cover the farmer's cost and work.
Under such circumstances, an advocate encouraging residents to eat water melon was publicized by the Xi'an Agriculture Bureau. The local residents understand and many are responding positively.
"We should help each other. We city dwellers benefit from the melon the farmers grow. I plan to call on some friends to buy a wagon of melon. And we can share."
But why has the price of water melon fallen so dramatically this year?
According to the farmers, last year the whole sale price remained much hight above 0.5 yuan for half a kilo. This attracted too many farmers in the suburbs of Xi'an. Many farmers started to plant water melon this year. That's part of the reason why water melon is so cheap this year.
To help the farmers, the local government called on all residents to help them by making water melon thier top choice when buying fruit. The village committee director Liu Xuechang from Lantian county of Qianwei town , says the government officials are helping them with their move.
"Now half of the water melons in our town are sold."
Reviewing this event, Zhang Guisheng, vice director general of the Xi'an Agriculture Bureau says, some deeper thought is necessary to adjust the agricultural product structure, so as to help the farmers avoid the risk.
"I think the key matter is to educate the farmers to learn to survive in the market economy. Asking for help from the mayor whenever they're in trouble should not be advocated. The farmers should give more thought to the brand and quality of their product."
Until yesterday, the 5.8 tons of water melon were sold in Chang An district, which accounts for 60 percent of its total output volume. And 6 tons of melon were sold in Lan Tian county, which accounts for more than 50 percent of its output volume.
China Drive is one of CRI's radio programs aired from Monday to Friday. We pick the most interesting life reports from China Drive. Stay tuned.
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Director: Liu Chi