Chongqing farmers donate fruit, vegetables to Wuhan, Xiaogan

On Feb. 21, a convoy of trucks carrying 165 tons of navel oranges departed from Fengjie county, Chongqing municipality to the cities of Wuhan and Xiaogan in Hubei province. The oranges were grown by 2,703 farmers from Kuimen sub-district, Zhuyi town, Baidi town, and Caotang town and were the second batch of donations from the municipality to its neighboring province in the past 10 days.

“A shipment of navel oranges was supposed to go to Hubei several days ago, but was delayed because more growers continued to donate,” Fengjie County Forestry Bureau Director and Navel Orange Industrial Development Center Director Xiao Gongxun explained.

Navel oranges are grown on 22,333 ha of land in Fengjie, and 315,000 tons of the crop are produced each year. Special geographical indication stickers are put on the oranges, specifying that they were cultivated in the county and therefore possess a high level of quality. The industry has helped many of Fengjie’s farmers escape from poverty and become more prosperous.

Many navel orange growers in the county have donated the fruit to Wuhan since the COVID-19 outbreak emerged.

Huang Xiaolan lives in Kuimen’s Baotaping community and is one of the sub-district’s farmers that donated navel oranges. The formerly impoverished woman donated 250kg of the fruit and mentioned: “Many people helped me when I was experiencing difficulties. It is time for me to pay it forward and provide some assistance during the epidemic.”

A 69-year-old member of the Communist Party from Zhuyi’s Xiannv village named Xu Yiyin donated 400kg of navel oranges. He stated: “I am moved by the medical staff that are working on the front lines in the battle against the COVID-19 virus and other people involved in epidemic prevention and control. I want to help also.”

More than 20 orange companies in Chongqing’s Zhongxian county have mobilized residents of local villages to pick and sort the administrative division’s geographically indicated fruit. One hundred tons of the crop will soon arrive in Wuhan and Xiaogan.

On Feb. 21, 31 tons of green vegetables were also shipped to Xiaogan from Chongqing. They came from Tongnan district, which is known as the “western capital of green vegetables.” The locale’s Communist Youth League committee, Young Volunteer Association, and Agriculture Investment Group quickly launched an assistance campaign after the COVID-19 outbreak emerged. Many people in the district donated more than 200 tons of fruit and vegetables, which will be transported to Xiaogan in several batches.

About 700 tons of various agricultural and specialty products from Chongqing have been donated to Hubei as of Feb. 19.