China's Tangerine Industry Endangered by Fly Rumor

Rumors that maggot of fruit lies had been found millions of tangerines have left thousands of tons of fruit rotting unsold, toppling the whole industry chain across China, according to fruit farmers.

As with many other tangerine farmers, Lin Xuezhen in a remote county in central Hunan Province sighed when staring at her trees.

"The tangerines are definitely going bad on the trees because no one buys," she said.

Her county, named Shimen, one of the famed tangerine producing areas in the province, used to attract more than 3,000 dealers during harvest time.

The province, a major producer of tangerines, expects a direct economic loss of 400 million yuan (about 60 million U.S. dollars) as mountains of tangerines sit in the market without buyers, said the local agricultural bureau.

The case is the same in the neighboring Hubei Province, where 70 percent of its tangerine harvest remains unsold and farmers look set to take a hit of up to 1.5 billion yuan (219 million U.S. dollars) if the scare continues, the local agricultural bureau said.

Customers are driven away by fear of finding maggot in the fruits.
 
Source: The People’s Daily