The first crop of sweet sorghum in Chongming has gradually matured and hit the market.

A few days ago, a reporter visited the sweet sorghum processing workshop at the Shanghai Jienong Fruit and Vegetables Cooperative located in Shuxin Town. The staff of the cooperative were seen selling online while busily peeling and segmenting bundles of freshly harvested sweet sorghum, then packing them into boxes after a round of screening. The fresh sweet sorghum was uniformly thick and lush green, looking very tempting.

According to Gong Jianfei, the head of the cooperative, this year's first crop of sweet sorghum started selling in June and will continue until the end of July or early August. The second crop will gradually come to market soon after.

Good reputation and sales come from high quality. Inside the cooperative's greenhouse, nearly 10,000 pieces of sweet sorghum stand tall and straight with lush green leaves. During the peak season of sweet sorghum, Gong checks on them multiple times daily to ensure timely harvesting. Compared to the sweet sorghum grown by farmers for personal consumption, those cultivated by the cooperative mature several months earlier.

Gong told the reporter that the greenhouse is full of "tricks." Due to the higher temperatures inside the greenhouse, the sweet sorghum matures earlier; additionally, the use of plastic mulch and drip irrigation ensures that the sweet sorghum is well-watered. Moreover, Gong is continuously exploring methods of organic cultivation for sweet sorghum.

Gong , also known as the Chongming "Sweet Sorghum Man" on the internet, has been selling over 100,000 pieces of sweet sorghum annually through e-commerce in recent years. To increase supply, starting last year, he began providing sweet sorghum seedlings to nearby farmers and guided them throughout the cultivation process. After the sweet sorghum matures, he purchases them for unified sales.

This year, the cooperative has planted sweet sorghum over an area exceeding 100 mu, with sales expected to continue until November. The quality of the sweet sorghum is stable and the prices remain consistent with previous years.