Xinjiang e-commerce lets you watch 'baby melons' grow

URUMQI- On a vast honey melon farm in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, high-tech camera surveillance has been installed, but the cameras are not to prevent thieves -- they are for customers thousands of miles away to watch their melons slowly grow.

Having watched them grow for almost four months, customers will finally have the honey melons delivered to them from China's remote northwest.

Ordering from an online shop in May, a customer simply inputs a melon number into a smartphone and will have direct access to the planting, fertilizing, watering, and harvesting of the melons in early September.

"Like your very own child, the melon is born to be yours," said Jing Zhaohong, chief agronomist of Naomaohu Lake Farm, a renowned honey melon farm under the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).

Founded in October 1954, the XPCC has responsibilities for reclaiming wasteland and guarding border areas, and operates a unique administrative system that combines the functions of the Communist Party of China, government, the military and business.

While e-commerce is striving in China and people are paying increasing attention to food quality, the XPCC has created a new online business-to-consumer model, where customers can order melons before they are even planted.

Rather than selling honey melons that are prematurely harvested, the pre-ordered melons are reaped at exactly the right time and delivered directly to customer homes.

"Without having to step outside, our online clients can enjoy the country's best melons at home, as well as satisfying their curiosity to observe a melon growing," said Jing.

More than 1,000 customers from coastal cities, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, have made orders, with many checking the melons every day.

Gao Pengfei, a farm manager in charge of the camera surveillance, said the farm uses manure and biological pest control to ensure melon quality.

"By watching themselves, netizens are assured the process is green," he said, adding that because of limited camera numbers, each customer can only watch his or her melon for 15 seconds each viewing.

The innovation not only offers customers safe and delicious honey melons, but also brings more profit to the farm. The unit price, 68 yuan ($10.2) for a two to three kilo melon, is five times the traditional wholesale price. Customers need to pay another 30 yuan for delivery.

The pre-order service started this year, and Gao is confident it will work.

"With our current customers sharing their 'baby melon' photos online, more potential buyers are attracted," he says.

In case of natural disasters, which is unlikely due to the dry weather favored by the melons, the farm and online shop will share the losses and return the fee to customers, according to Jing.

Similar online orders are becoming popular on Taobao.com, where at least a dozen farms offer produce in the same vein, including vegetables, fruits, and even grain, depending on customer request.

Customers can either farm themselves or pay farmers to grow produce by leasing land at prices between 888 yuan and 1,680 yuan for 20 square meters per year. Some farms also offer services in raising chicken, pigs and cattle for online customers, charging a management fee of up to 800 yuan in addition to the land leasing fee.

Jing says the "Internet Plus" concept has broadened horizons of their farm and helped expand the market. The farm is also considering online pre-ordering of dates and grapes, and perhaps customized products, such as less-sweet melons for diabetics.

"After delivering all the melons this year, we will try to optimize our online platform and improve camera surveillance to attract more orders," he says.