A farmer in Yueyang, Hunnan province, sold two tons of sweet potato — his entire crop — within a single day after turning to local media for help.

The farmer, a 74-year-old man surnamed Gan and his wife, from Xiangyin county in Yueyang, make their living from growing sweet potatoes. Although the sweet potatoes harvested well this year, selling became difficult, the Hunan-based Sanxiang City Express reported.

Gan harvested four tons of sweet potatoes from his field and he was only able to sell about two tons after using all his market channels.

He decided to turn to the newspaper for help, which wrote a story about his plight and posted it on its micro blog.

The news story later attracted a lot of local attention and Gan was able to sell all his sweet potatoes in a single day.