**Interviewer:** Can you describe the current state of sweet potato harvesting in Gao Ping?
**Farmer:** Absolutely! Right now, it’s the prime season for harvesting sweet potatoes here in Gao Ping, Shanxi. When you walk through the fields, you’ll see rows and rows of sweet potatoes breaking through the soil, plump and vibrant. It’s a truly rewarding sight for us farmers.
**Interviewer:** What is it like for you and your fellow farmers during this busy season?
**Farmer:** It’s a bustling time! In the sweet potato fields of Tangjia Mountain Village, we’re all quite busy. My fellow farmers and I work diligently, digging out the sweet potatoes from the earth and placing them carefully in neat rows. These sweet potatoes represent not only our hard work but also a critical source of income for our families.
**Interviewer:** Can you share some insights on the planting process and the expected yields?
**Farmer:** Certainly! We sourced premium sweet potato seedlings from areas like Hexi and Dingbi. With these seedlings, we can achieve a yield of up to 3,500 pounds per acre. Given the market price is around two dollars per pound, that’s over 7,000 dollars! After covering costs and rent, we can earn about 2,000 dollars per acre, which is significant for us.
**Interviewer:** When did you start cultivating sweet potatoes?
**Farmer:** We began cultivating sweet potatoes in Tangjia Mountain Village in 2021. This year, we focused on the Zifeng red variety. Our harvesting starts in early September and wraps up around mid-October, after which we package them for distribution.
**Interviewer:** What are your plans for the future of sweet potato farming in your village?
**Official:** Moving forward, we are committed to leading with party-building efforts and actively restructuring our agricultural industry. We plan to continue promoting sweet potato cultivation by introducing high-quality varieties and advanced agricultural techniques. Our goal is to enhance both the yield and quality of the sweet potatoes. This strategy will help increase farmers’ income and achieve sustainable development in our sweet potato industry, setting us on a prosperous path here in Tangjia Mountain Village.
