Representational Image. ANI
Beijing: Business is booming for China’s lemon farmers as citizens in the COVID hit country turn to natural remedies to fight a mounting wave of Coronavirus infections triggered by the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
“The market is very much on fire. I grow lemons on about 130 acres (53 hectares) in Anyue, a county in the southwestern provinc.e of Sichuan that produces around 70% of the fruit in China. My sales have skyrocketed to 20 to 30 tons a day over the past week, from just 5 or 6 tons previously, a farmer was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
The surge in demand for lemons is coming from big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where residents are rushing to buy foods rich in vitamin C to boost their immunity.
“Lemon prices have doubled in the past four or five days,” said another farmer in Anyue, named Liu Yanjing. Liu said he’s working 14 hours a day to deal with the orders flying in from all over the country. Prior to the latest surge, lemons were selling for 2 or 3 yuan per half kilo, or around 30 to 40 US cents. Now they’re 6 yuan, he said.
Last month, China’s fruit and vegetable farmers were concerned about tonnes of fresh products that were piling up as a result of the country’s strict virus restrictions on transportation.
COVID situation in China
China is experiencing a massive surge in coronavirus cases. Hospitals are completely overwhelmed in China, reported Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist.
The epidemiologist estimates that more than 60 per cent of China and 10 per cent of Earth’s population are likely to be infected over the next 90 days with deaths likely in the millions.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.