| Internet
helps Chinese farmers to sell potatoes (11/07/2002)
The widespread influence of the Internet on Chinese people even
extends to farmers in China's landlocked western regions.
Thanks to the Internet, finding buyers is no longer a headache
for potato growers in Dingxi, a prefecture of northwest China's
Gansu Province, one of China's three largest potato growing bases.
He Qingji, dubbed the "potato king" of Longxi County
in the prefecture, is very grateful for the worldwide web.
"In the past, I'd go to great pains to find buyers, mostly
through acquaintances and by making telephone calls. Even if I found
some in the end, the prices tended to be very low", said He.
"But with the help of the Internet, finding buyers is easy
now, " he said.
By surfing the Internet, he has found customers in Malaysia and
Singapore, for example. His potato sales to those two countries
now amount to between 40 million yuan (about 4.82 million US dollars)
and 50 million yuan (about 6.02 million dollars) a year.
Of the websites he regularly visits, his favorite is the "
Xingnongwang", a pro-agriculture website set up by the provincial
meteorological bureau. The website offers a wide range of information
about agriculture, including market analysis, where to find buyers
and sellers, new production techniques and prevention and killing
of insects.
Wang Juntang, a farmer in Dingxi County, said he no longer worried
about potato sales. "I know all about the market from Xingnongwang,"
said Wang.
All counties in Dingxi Prefecture, which annually produces@than
4 million tons of potatoes, now have access to the website. Its
influence is spreading across the province.
Latest statistics show 56.6 million Chinese people nationwide use
the Internet via their home computers, a number second only to the
United States.
|
