Farmers fight back after rain hits crops

The growth of crops, fruits and vegetables in Jiading has been affected by unusually heavy rain and lack of sunshine.

By March 2, Shanghai had recorded 49 rainy days since December, according to Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, making it the second highest record of rainy days in history.

Looking back at local weather history, the winter with the most rainy days between December and February was from 1918 to 1919, with 50 days of precipitation. The same period from 1968 to 1969 came a close second with 49.

After the Chinese New Year holiday, technicians from Jiading District Agriculture Technology Center visited agricultural cooperatives, guiding farmers to improve irrigation, disease prevention and fertilization.

Melons and watermelons sown before the holidays had poor growth due to disease and a lack of sunshine. Technicians advised farmers to keep drainage ditches clear, control humidity inside greenhouses and strengthen disease prevention.

“It’s so wet these days that it’s very inconvenient to pick strawberries, however, we decided to come as my son insisted on joining the activity,” local resident Zhu Yang said at a strawberry base in Dengta Village in the Jiading Industrial Zone.

Though trainy days delayed the maturity of strawberries and was likely to have caused diseases, farmers dealt with the problem skilfully thanks to their experience and guidance from the technicians.

It is estimated that the number of strawberry pickers dropped by around half due to the long period of rainy weather.