Baby-Buddha-shaped pears?

I'm amused - and impressed - to read of the entrepeneurial flair of a Chinese farmer.

A Chinese farmer is cashing in after managing to grow pears in the shape of babies.




Gao Xianzhang, of Hexia village in northern China's Hebei province, puts moulds on the fruit growing on the tree.

And he says that after six years he has perfected his technique, reports People's Daily.

This year, he harvested more than 10,000 baby-shaped pears and sold them for the equivalent of £5 each.




Gao said: "I noticed people were selling shaped water melons for a good price, so I thought of doing something similar with my pears.

"It was more difficult than I expected. You have to test when the best time is to put the moulds on the pears is, and when to take them off again.

"If you leave the moulds on for too long, the pears start to rot inside. But I managed to work out the best way through trial and error."

Congratulations to Mr. Gao on an original and money-making idea! He's already earning a fortune by Chinese farming standards, and there's talk that his pears will soon be exported to Europe and elsewhere. I'm sure others will copy his idea, but he's bound to do well out of it too. I'm always glad to see a small businessman come up with something to set his products apart, and show the 'big boys' how it should be done.

Now, if I can just figure out how to grow pears in the shape of those President Obama action figures . . .



Peter