How Specialty Agricultural Products Can Break Free from the "Boom-and-Bust Cycle" | Wind from the South

These days, many Guangzhou college students’ social media feeds are flooded with posts about “free sugarcane.” Several universities in Guangzhou have received free sugarcane donated by Nansha District, Guangzhou.

Nansha District in Guangzhou has delivered unsold sugarcane to universities and hospitals. (Image: Nansha Release)

Since the beginning of this year, due to an abundant harvest leading to oversupply of sugarcane nationwide, many regions in Guangxi and Guangdong have experienced varying degrees of unsold sugarcane. Nansha District in Guangzhou has sent the unsold sugarcane to universities and hospitals, solving an urgent problem and creating a “sweet topic” of discussion.

Guangzhou universities are distributing sugarcane to students for free. (Source: Internet)

This emergency measure of “giving away sugarcane” also reflects a deeper issue—how specialty agricultural products can break free from the cycle of “big year, small year” fluctuations.

The so-called “big year, small year” refers to the phenomenon where the price of agricultural products rises sharply in one year, prompting increased planting enthusiasm, but the following year, the harvest is concentrated and oversupply leads to a price crash or even unsold stock; then, planting area decreases the next year, potentially causing prices to rebound. Experts have bluntly said: “When prices go up, they go up; when they go up, they stay; when they stay, they fall.”

This pattern of rise and fall causes farmers to passively follow market fluctuations, making it difficult to achieve stable income. In recent years, from lychee to citrus to sugarcane, the recurring dilemma of increased production but stagnant income has appeared multiple times.

On March 18, in Xibei Village, Yingde City, vast sugarcane fields are visible.

How should we avoid this persistent “time lag” between agricultural production and market demand?

First, we need to make planting more “predictable” by establishing dynamic monitoring of agricultural product cultivation. If farmers have more timely and transparent market information about how much to plant and what to plant, instead of relying solely on experience, the situation of “overcrowded planting” can be reduced, and supply-demand mismatches can be alleviated.

Second, sales cannot always wait for buyers to come and pick up. In recent years, e-commerce, live streaming sales, and agricultural tourism integration have already provided many new pathways. The key is to normalize these channels as regular sales routes, rather than only resorting to them when products are unsold.

Models like “farm-school cooperation” and “farm-enterprise cooperation,” if established early and operated long-term, could become stable solutions rather than just emergency measures.

More importantly, modern agriculture should be developed with “industrialization concepts and supply chain thinking,” transforming agricultural products from mere “raw materials” into more diverse forms.

If sugarcane can be transformed into beverages, processed foods, or other product forms, dependence on a short fresh-eating window can be reduced; the same applies to lychee and pomelo. Extending the industry chain and exploring deep processing products can help spread risks. Meanwhile, grading and branding—though seemingly “slow work”—are crucial for products to establish a foothold in the market.

Ultimately, the cycle of “big year, small year” is not unbreakable. Nansha’s sugarcane, from fields to campuses, is on a unique “path” out. However, the underlying structural issues in agriculture still need attention—when agriculture becomes more deeply embedded in the market system, simply “growing more” is no longer enough. We must also think clearly about “how to sell,” “to whom,” and “what else it can become.”

Once these questions have more stable answers, the next viral trend may not only be the novelty of “free sugarcane,” but also the “sweetness” in farmers’ hearts.

Reporting by Nanfang+ journalists He Dayuan, Wang Yuying, Zhang Xiangjuan

Photographs by Nanfang+ journalist Wu Ming

【Authors】He Dayuan; Wu Ming; Wang Yuying; Zhang Xiangjuan

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