Peanuts harvested by Chinese farmers are empty. Extreme weather has wreaked havoc on the country’s crop harvest.
Barren, shelled peanuts are the result of alternating droughts and excessive rainfall during the critical planting and growing season. Farmers are already reducing their acreage, a blow to China, the world’s largest peanut producer. Analysts say the poor harvest could cut China’s peanut production by up to 30% this season.
“I haven’t encountered a situation like this in years,” said Song, a peanut trader in Shandong province whose delayed harvest just started.
China Accounts for a Third of Global Peanut Output
Peanut production by major countries
Source: US Department of Agriculture
The farmers’ plight can be seen in the video of drought-ravaged peanut fields. The video, which was posted three months ago and circulated on social media in Shandong province, shows vast tracts of land that were once planted with peanuts are now barren and dotted with unusually small crops. By this time, parts of China were already experiencing water shortages.
Peanuts are among the crops that have suffered as extreme weather has disrupted China’s agricultural markets during the critical harvest season. Sichuan province experienced its worst drought in 60 years, hot weather in central and southwestern China and flooding in the northeast.
Original title:
news-rsf-original-reference paywall">Empty Peanut Shells Are the Latest Casualty of China’s Drought(excerpt)