Iron stick yams revitalize Wenxian county

The large-scale cultivation of iron stick yams and the production of yam products have boosted farmers' income and promoted rural vitalization in Wenxian county, Henan province.

Li Lei, an iron stick yam grower in the county's Guanzhao village, who is busy with the harvest, said each hectare yields about 22,500 kilograms of the local specialty this year, selling at about 16 yuan ($2.2) to 18 yuan per kg.

"I grew eight hectares this year, with a net profit of about 75,000 yuan per hectare," he said, adding that he had to hire over 30 residents from his village and neighboring villages to help with the harvest.

A woman surnamed Guo, who was hired by Li, said she earns about 80 yuan a day cleaning and sorting the freshly dug yams, while another man surnamed Wang said he could earn over 200 yuan a day digging out the yams.

Hanguozuo village, which specializes in growing iron stick yam, has harvested 70 percent of its 466.7 hectares of yams this year.

Zhang Yikun, the village's first Party secretary, said most of the yams have been sold through e-commerce channels, with an average daily shipment volume of 15,000 to 20,000 orders recently.

He said the village has built a yam market, which generated sales exceeding 100 million yuan last year, and the figure is expected to reach 150 million yuan this year.

The Wenxian-based Huaishantang Biotechnology Co Ltd, which specializes in producing health and wellness products using yam as the main ingredient, earns an annual revenue of about 100 million yuan.

Kang Mingxuan, the company's chairman, said it has signed procurement contracts with more than 200 farmers, whose total yam planting area exceeds 1,300 hectares, to help them increase their income.