Chapter 291 Banana Cancer (Please give me some monthly tickets!)
The output value of the banana industry accounts for one-third of Hainan's fruit industry and one-tenth of its agricultural output value.

Land, planting, purchasing, packaging, transportation, countless people make money by relying on the Hainan banana industry.

However, within just a few days, those who made money from packaging and transportation in the banana industry chain suddenly had nothing to do.

The growers soon panicked, and Zhuang Shuling kept calling the buyers.

"Boss Mu, why are you suddenly not accepting bananas?"

“It’s not selling now!”

"Wasn't it fine a few days ago?" Zhuang Shuling's heart skipped a beat and he said, "If it really doesn't work, I'll lower the price a little bit and you can come and buy it again!"

"I haven't sold all the truckloads of bananas I bought last time." Boss Mu was also very worried. "Lao Zhuang, are the bananas in your garden cancer-free?"

"Banana cancer? No, Boss Mu, my bananas are of good quality and are almost ripe. If we don't harvest them now, they will rot in the field."

As he spoke, Zhuang Shuling gradually became a little anxious.

The bananas in Hainan ripen in late March and it takes time. If they are harvested late, the inconvenience in transportation is not a big deal. The worst thing is that they will rot in the fields.

"There's really nothing I can do...Ah...beep...beep..."

Zhuang Shuling stood there in a daze. His wife looked at him helplessly. His two children, who had been busying around since school, were tanned and looked confused.

"You really don't want to accept it?"

Zhuang Shuling pursed his lips and said, "I'll think of a way...a way."

A 200-acre banana plantation requires an investment of three to four thousand yuan per acre. Based on the average price over the years, the profit per acre is several thousand yuan.

But if it couldn't be sold, everything was ruined.

……

Qiongbei, Fushan Banana Cooperative.

"Boss, how many cars are you going to send out today?"

"About 30 trucks." Qian Shuyin said helplessly. Originally, there should be 100 trucks from Fushan every day, with 22 tons of bananas per truck sold outside the island. Now there are only 30 trucks, which is equivalent to a loss of more than million yuan a day.

The people below were immediately in an uproar, "Why are there fewer and fewer?"

"30 truckloads? The remaining bananas will rot in the fields. What happened, President?"

Someone said: "I heard that the media reported on banana cancer. Now people in the city don't eat bananas anymore."

"Banana cancer? Is that harmful to humans?"

"The wilt disease in Hainan is very mild, and only occurs in a few areas. It is only in Guangdong and Guangxi that it is so serious, right?"

"City people don't care where you come from!"

……

Beijing, the headquarters of Huinong.com.

Zhang Wen, who had just returned from Long Province, was in a good mood. In the past two months, he completed the brand building and sales services of Minqin melons and greenhouse vegetables, which not only helped farmers but also brought profits to the company.

The key is to show up in front of the boss.

Zhang Wen came to the sales department's office and said, "Everyone, please pay attention to garlic, onion and other products. The planting area has increased significantly this year, and the production and sales may be unbalanced."

"it is good…"

Just then, a woman spoke up: "Mr. Zhang, there is a risk that bananas from the south will be unsalable in the early spring."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"There have been a lot of reports on 'bananas causing cancer' on the Internet in the past two days, causing panic among consumers. Banana purchase and sales orders on the website's backend have dropped significantly today."

Zhang Wen frowned. "Banana causes cancer? Is this another food safety issue?"

“Not sure yet.” Wang Wenli thought for a moment and said, “But related topics are also very popular in the Q&A section.”

Zhang Wen looked at the relevant information and realized that something was wrong.

Because Tianhe has a seed production base and nursery in Hainan, Huinong’s production and marketing agency services entered the Hainan fruit market very early, but sales have remained stable.

The sudden decline now is not a good sign.

In the past two years, there have been several incidents where consumers panicked during the peak fruit season, leading to unsold products.

"Hurry up and sort out the sources of the relevant rumors. We will have a meeting later." Zhang Wen said in a deep voice, then turned and went to Qu Sheng's office.

Soon, several senior executives of Huinong and a group of key members gathered in the conference room.

Wang Wenli, who was responsible for following up on this matter, began to explain the situation.

"The earliest report on banana cancer came from a certain agricultural science academy in Guangzhou. An expert from the academy said that more than 3,000 hectares of bananas in Guangdong have been infected with Panama disease. For bananas, this disease is comparable to human cancer and there is no cure."

Everyone listened attentively, already having some guesses in their minds.

As the spokesperson introduced, unfortunately, they guessed it right.

"On March 3, Yangcheng Information Times published three reports in a special edition with exaggerated headlines, which attracted many online media to reprint them."

Everyone has seen the relevant reports.

The headline "Guangzhou Banana/Banana Cancer/Extinction" was arranged in three rows and was accompanied by photos of diseased banana groves, which was very eye-catching.

The specific title was printed across the page: "Panama disease spreads, 30% of bananas in Guangzhou destroyed"

The subtitle is also called: "This deadly banana virus is rapidly expanding the infected area. Guangzhou people may not be able to eat local bananas in a few years."

The main photo of the infected person is located in the center of the page, taking up half of the entire page, which is very visually impactful.

The wording of the subheading is also eye-catching.

"The thousands of acres of banana trees that once existed are now completely gone, and the remaining banana trees will die in a few years."

"If the blockade was not implemented in time, Panama disease would spread everywhere, and banana farmers would leave their hometowns to continue their old business."

"Panama is not only the cancer, it's the S**S of the banana world."

The main text also uses words such as "withering", "spreading", "banana cancer" and so on to create a dramatic effect, emphasizing the severity and horror of banana infection with Panama disease.

There was silence in the conference room, and some people who liked bananas swallowed quietly.

“Do bananas really cause… cancer?”

“It’s a little chilling.”

"Will it be another milk?"

It’s not that people lack confidence, it’s just that various events have emerged one after another in recent years.

I'm a little numb already.

The shadow of white terror has not even completely dissipated, so another banana doesn't seem so strange.

Simply put, everyone has become accustomed to it. It is better to believe it than not to believe it. This is the first reaction of many people when faced with rumors.

After thinking for a while, Huinong General Manager Qu Shengcai asked, "Have you asked an expert to confirm it?"

"The Q&A section has expert interpretations," Wang Wenli said. "I just called to ask, the Panama disease affects the trees, not the people."

"So this is just a rumor from Information Times?" Qu Sheng said.

Everyone looked at the report again, and someone said, "It's not clear in the report whether it will affect human health, nor does it indicate whether ripe bananas are poisonous."

"Let's not dwell on these things for now." Qu Sheng said, "The important things to do now are: first, communicate with NetEase and Tencent immediately, conduct food testing, remove the article, and clarify the relevant information; second, connect Hainan banana production and sales; third, invite experts to come forward to guide; fourth, organize the media to promote positive publicity."

The article in Information Times has been published for nearly a week, but it has only had a significant impact in Guangdong.

The bad news is that portal websites such as Sina, NetEase, Tencent, and Sohu have begun to reprint the article in the past two days, which has attracted widespread attention from the society.

People began to worry that eating infected bananas would be harmful to the human body and even cause cancer, causing dealers in some major cities in the country to be unwilling to purchase bananas.

Huinong.com took action.

The food testing laboratory in cooperation with NetEase and Tencent is already in trial operation, and the relevant team immediately rushed to Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.

After receiving the news, Tencent and NetEase also withdrew the relevant reprinted reports.

Sales agents also rush to the front line to grasp first-hand information on warehousing, logistics, markets, etc., and are always ready.

Although Huinong is only an agricultural B2B platform, it has demonstrated remarkable action in connecting production and marketing, inviting experts to provide guidance, and appearing in the media.

It’s just that some local governments lack experience and are slow to respond.

The first choice was to lower the price, rather than holding a press conference in a timely manner to clarify the rumors.

Some even thought that Huinong.com was too radical.

Helpless, Qu Sheng could only contact the Ministry of Commerce and then called his boss.

……

September 3, evening.

When Guo Yang received Qu Sheng's report, he was obviously stunned.

When he was still in Pengcheng, he learned about banana cancer from the question-and-answer section of Huinong.com. He never expected that an ordinary agricultural disease would evolve into this.

Is the Information Times report wrong?

Guangzhou bananas are indeed infected with Fusarium wilt. The report is not fabricated and there is no false reporting.

However, the entire report is sensational, exaggerated, unbalanced, and imprecise, which misleads consumers to some extent.

"Eating bananas causes cancer? Old Ding, do you believe it?" Guo Yang called Ding Lei.

"It may not cause cancer, but it may be harmful to the human body." Ding Lei still has lingering concerns about food safety. "We will know when the test results come out."

“Can we communicate with Sina and Sohu and ask them to withdraw the report first?”

Although NetEase and Tencent withdrew their reports, the largest portal Sina still reprinted the report on banana cancer, which had the greatest impact.

"I can't control others!" Ding Lei said: "Once the test results come out, they will be publicized online and a clarification announcement will be issued."

“Can you put it on the front page?”

"can."

"I'm watching the test results. They'll be out in two hours. Please get the article ready."

Ding Lei thought about the agricultural products he had received these days and said, "I will personally monitor this matter, for the sake of the specialty products you sent."

Guo Yang smiled and said, "I have some good stuff here, some treasures, which I can't even bear to drink myself, I will send them to you later."

"Okay, it's a deal." Ding Lei said, "I want to see what kind of things you can call treasures."

"never mind."

"???"

"I'll find someone to prepare the article." Guo Yang said with a smile, "I don't think you will be able to find a suitable expert for a while."

"Is it fun to be scary?"

...

After dealing with Ding Lei, Guo Yang used the same method to communicate with Xiao Ma Ge.

"Don't worry, what Lao Ding can do, I, Pony, can do the same."

Pony Ma vowed that Happy Farm would be extremely popular on QQ.

On the first day of its launch, the massive influx of users overwhelmed the QQ Space server.

In just one week, the number of active users of the farm reached 500 million, generating an average daily revenue of 160 million yuan. Tencent's stock price also rose in response.

Xiao Ma wanted to talk more, but Guo Yang hung up the phone rudely and asked Qu Sheng to find an expert from the Institute of Thermal Science to write an article.

After being busy for a while, Guo Yang finally had time to add some tea to himself, took a sip, and relaxed.

We have basically communicated with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, online portals, Huinong.com, the Chinese Academy of Thermal Science, South China Agricultural University...

Is there anything missing?
Why does this happen?

Or maybe consumers are too sensitive and popular science education is not adequate!

Guo Yang then called Qiu Ming again, "Does Happy Farm have any new banana varieties?"

“Yes, but you have to reach level 35.”

After walking back and forth twice, Guo Yang had an idea in his mind and pondered:
"In response to the recent banana cancer, we have launched a related activity. The main purpose is to popularize the fact that banana cancer affects the tree, not the person... You can ask Qu Sheng for information."

Before Qiu Ming understood what was going on, he heard his boss say, "It needs to be fast and the event needs to be attractive. I'll talk to Penguin about it."

As soon as he heard the word penguin, Qiu Ming immediately felt a sense of crisis.

"The mission must be completed!"

……

As the phone calls ended, many people began to take action.

Under Qu Sheng's instructions, the production and sales teams of Huinong.com and even Tianhe gathered in Hainan and other major banana producing areas early on.

While coordinating with cold storage to purchase bananas at the best possible price, we also test whether the chemicals used in the harvesting, cleaning and preservation stages meet the standards.

Separate testing is also conducted when leaving the island.

All data are updated in a timely manner. To this end, Huinong.com has opened a new column overnight to track the latest situation with real-time text and pictures.

At the same time, growers and companies that overuse pesticides will also be exposed.

This is a test of the services provided by Huinong.com.

Good performance can win the trust of growers in Guangdong and Guangxi, thereby gaining more users, entering the agricultural product wholesale market in the south, and even opening up more export channels.

The entire group will benefit from this.

At the same time, it is also a good opportunity to show off in the eyes of the public and senior leaders.

How to deal with agricultural product emergencies?
How to solve the problem of unsold agricultural products?

Use Huinong.com!
In the next two hours, Guo Yang kept a close eye on the test results.

The results lived up to expectations.

Although there are growers and companies in Hainan who use excessive amounts of pesticides for bananas, the vast majority of them still maintain excellent quality and all meet commercial standards.

NetEase Ding and Penguin Ma also acted quickly.

The food testing results were announced as soon as possible on the food testing columns of the portal websites of Huinong, NetEase and Tencent.

The food column has been opened for a few days and has attracted the attention of some people who are concerned about food safety.

Even Ding Lei has developed a habit of taking a look at the test results from time to time.

Today's occasion will not be missed.

When the banana test report appeared on several websites, people who were concerned about banana cancer were immediately attracted to its attention.

In particular, the website withdrew its report on banana cancer and posted a clarification announcement about banana cancer at the top of its page: "Banana cancer does not bear fruit, and bananas are harmless to the human body."

"The banana Panama virus has no harmful effects on the human body and consumers can use it with confidence."

"Panama virus, also known as 'banana cancer', was first discovered in Australia in 1874, found in Formosa in the 20s, and began to appear in parts of Guangdong in the mid-60s."

"Panama disease of bananas has been found in many countries around the world. It is a wilt disease caused by Fusarium wilt. The vascular bundles of diseased plants turn black and cannot absorb water and nutrients, causing the banana plants to gradually wither."

"Professor Zheng, a doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Tropical Science and South China Agricultural University, said: Banana plants infected with the disease generally do not bear fruit, and even if they do, the fruit will not meet the standards of commercial bananas."

"Just like many plants can be infected with diseases, rice has rice blast, betel nut has yellowing disease, and citrus has Huanglongbing disease. These diseases can cause reduced production or devastating losses, but there is currently no scientific basis for the claim that they are harmful to humans..."

"After an emergency test by a team of experts, it was found that the rumor that banana cancer is harmful to the human body is true. The following are the test records and data..."
-
The "Test Report" is provided by Huinong.com, NetEase, Tencent, and the joint laboratory of South China Agricultural University.

……

Among domestic websites at this time, Sina is still the leader, but Tencent and NetEase should not be underestimated.

After the test report and clarification announcement were released, many netizens suddenly realized the truth.

“So this is what banana cancer is all about!”

"I was terrified when I saw the news a few days ago. We eat a lot of bananas at home."

"As I said before, it's better to believe it than not to believe it. The official has not come out to explain yet!"

"The reports from NetEase and Tencent are still trustworthy, right? After all, they are big platforms. There is also South China Agricultural University and Huinong.com?"

“What does Huinong.com do?”

Most ordinary netizens don’t know much about this B2B website, but that doesn’t stop people from checking it out.

More and more people have flocked to the Huinong.com website in this way and learned about this emerging e-commerce platform.

The same test results and test reports were made public, and the discussion about banana cancer in the Q&A section had already been pinned to the top.

"Oh, so there's already an explanation here!"

“This website looks great! It also has Farmville.”

“Are bananas no longer in sale?”

"The price of bananas is really cheap these days."

Some people who were affected by the 'banana cancer' reports still have doubts, but there are also many people who agree with the three companies' tests.

The test results and announcements were also circulated on the Internet.

Especially under the reports about "banana cancer" reprinted by Sina and Sohu, many comments were left by the public.

"Experts have confirmed that this is a rumor."

"Still hanging?"

"You're out of date, brother. Learn from the guy next door."

"My family has been growing bananas for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I've heard that bananas can cause cancer. My grandmother is almost depressed because of this."

This is destined to be a restless night.

Many netizens may have just come across the term banana cancer and were panicking, but they received a relatively authoritative answer.

Through timely guidance, the public has a more comprehensive understanding of 'banana cancer' and has increased their confidence in consuming fruits.

Ding Lei, who was following the situation at home, was still thinking about raising pigs.

After the food testing laboratory was established, some pork products were sampled and basically all of them were qualified, but the ingredients were not green enough.

This does not conform to Lao Ding's philosophy.

At this time, the phone rang.

It’s Zhang Chaoyang from Sohu.

"Boss Ding, what about the food sampling laboratory and the clarification announcement?"

"It's all true." Ding Lei curled his lips, "You should quickly withdraw the report. It's annoying to me to read it."

"..."

"Why are you working with Penguin?"

Without waiting for Ding Lei to answer, Zhang Chaoyang asked again: "Why don't you take me with you?"

"Because this bureau was organized by Mr. Guo," Ding Lei said, "Xiao Ma and I were only responsible for the money. The laboratory and the connections were all found by Huinong.com."

"Which Mr. Guo?"

"He's the boss of Jiahe Group, who's in the agricultural business." Ding Lei recalled the food he had tasted over the past two days and said, "Their products are good."

"..." Zhang Chaoyang said slowly: "Take me with you!"

"Ok?"

"Since Tencent and Penguin have joined, wouldn't it be better to have Sohu?"

"That requires Mr. Guo's approval." Ding Lei thought for a moment and said, "It shouldn't be a big problem."

In his opinion, this practice of publicizing food random inspections has indeed brought some profits to the website, but it will also offend a lot of people.

It is naturally a good thing that Sohu is willing to join.

……

The news that spread overnight did not completely reverse the situation.

Because there were related reports in Guangdong and Guangxi regions a week ago, and bananas have to go through harvesting, cleaning, preservation, testing, and transportation before they can finally reach the market sales stage.

Once the product is unsalable, it means that there is a problem in the entire process.

In just one week, the price of bananas, which was originally 3 yuan per kilogram, plummeted. In some areas, no one was buying them even at or cents per kilogram.

Hainan's banana industry has been hit hard, with not only consumers suffering from a banana cancer panic, but growers are even more terrified.

2006年海南种植香蕉扩大到了69万亩，产量预计120万吨左右，2007年3月、4月、5月是上市高峰期。

Currently, less than one-third of the bananas have been put on the market, and the remaining two-thirds will gradually mature and be put on the market.

The Fushan Banana Cooperative in northern Hainan has seen its daily shipments drop to 10 trucks, with losses rising to more than 400 million yuan a day.

In the entire northern Hainan region, the daily loss was at least over 1700 million yuan.

The farmers were as anxious as ants on a hot pan as they watched the bananas ripen day by day.

Zhuang Shuling from Ledong became more and more impatient. He spent all his family property and borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars. The family's hard work of more than a year was about to be burned to ashes.

Even if it was sold, based on the current average price in Ledong, the maximum return per mu would be 600 to 700 yuan, which would still be a huge loss.

In Xishuangbanna, the land rent for growing bananas has increased from 350 yuan per mu to 1100 yuan per mu in the past two years. However, affected by "banana cancer", the price of bananas has dropped to a historical low of only 0.3 yuan per kilogram. Selling 100 kilograms of bananas is not enough to pay the wages of banana pickers.

In Tianbao Town, Zhangzhou, Fujian, an old banana farmer in his sixties was at a loss. The bananas he had been dealing with for decades suddenly became inexplicably linked to cancer, and Tianbao bananas were also caught in the shadow of banana cancer...

Many farmers in China have fallen into despair.

Banana cancer?

How could the rumor spread so far?

What a disaster!

Many people realized that if the facts were not clarified to consumers as soon as possible, the losses of banana farmers would become increasingly greater.

More and more large growers, cooperatives, enterprises, and distributors have called the Agricultural Bureau, townships, familiar agronomists, and the media...

I hope the government can step up and dispel the rumors as soon as possible.

Stop loss!

Just hope to stop the loss!

(End of this chapter)