Chinese Farmers Dodge Coronavirus And Go Online For Spring Seeds And Supplies

Many Chinese farmers are shopping online for vital supplies as the spring planting season gets under way and the coronavirus outbreak disrupts traditional supply chains, providing a huge boost to business for e-commerce platforms.

Fertilisers, chemicals, seeds and machinery are traditionally distributed to China’s hundreds of millions of farmers via a network of traders and local distributors.

But the virus, which originated in the central province of Hubei, jammed supply chains across the country through factory closures, residential quarantines and roadblocks.

Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo saw a near 1,000% jump in sales of farming products including seeds, fertiliser and sprinklers in February versus last year.

ESM