How to break the monopoly of a single crop in the planting structure
From growing grain as the main crop to growing high-value fruit-
Planting raspberries multiplied income several times over
"If you are not afraid of thorns, you can also pick raspberries, like small coral beads gathered into small balls, both sour and sweet, better in color and taste than mulberries by far." In Lu Xun's essay "From the Hundred Plants Garden to the Three Flavors Study," there is such a passage describing raspberries.
Raspberry, also known as tree raspberry, is hailed as the "golden fruit" on the international market. Recently, the reporter came to the China Raspberry Valley Industrial Park located in Jiasong Town, Nanhe County, Hebei Province, and saw with their own eyes the raspberries described by Lu Xun. Here it is not only a fun memory of childhood, but also a successful case of local planting industry transformation.
Nanhe is a traditional agricultural county, which has always mainly grown grain crops such as wheat and corn, and farmers have narrow channels for increasing income. Taking Shaotun Village as an example, the per capita land holding is 3 mu, grain output is relatively low, and many families' young and middle-aged adults work elsewhere. Every year when it is time to harvest crops, they still have to pay to hire people, with large input and little profit. In response to this problem, in the past two years, the county has taken land transfer as an important measure to adjust the industrial structure, broaden farmers' income-increasing channels, and promote modern agricultural development, adopting various measures such as guidance, stimulation, and platform building to support transfer, developing high-efficiency industries such as greenhouse vegetables, seedlings and flowers, and Chinese medicinal materials, so as to achieve agricultural efficiency improvement and farmers' income increase.
In 2014, relying on land transfer and adopting the "company + base + farmer" model, with investment from Hebei Zhigaodian Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd., the China Raspberry Valley Industrial Park was completed. In 5 villages including Shaotun and Nanshi in Jiasong Town, 2700 mu of raspberries were developed, and more than 300 farming households embarked on the road to prosperity by growing raspberries.
"The raspberry seedlings here are all bred by ourselves." Company head Zhou Daiyan told the reporter that the base has a standardized tissue culture room of more than 4000 sq m, with an annual seedling capacity of 15 million plants, and has become the largest professional red raspberry tissue culture factory in the country. At present, the company has not only conducted large-scale trial planting in Xingtai County, Ningjin County, Guangzong County, Ren County and other places, but also signed cooperation intentions of more than 50000 mu with Cangzhou City and other places. Zhou Daiyan said that in order to ensure farmers' planting benefits, the base also signs minimum purchase price agreements with farmers. If the market price is lower than the minimum price, it purchases all at the minimum price; if the market price is higher than the minimum price, it purchases farmers' products at the market price.
At the planting base in Nanshi Village, the reporter saw dozens of hired workers from surrounding villages picking ripe red raspberries. Worker Li Qiaozhi told the reporter that in addition to more than 1100 yuan in land transfer fees each month, she can also receive a salary of 1200 yuan. It is reported that there are more than 80 farmers like Li Qiaozhi who work year-round at the base, and at the peak picking season there are more than 200.
"One mu of land yields two seasons a year. Wheat yields 1000 jin per mu, corn yields 1000 jin per mu. After deducting costs for fertilizer, seeds, plowing, and harvesting, the net income per mu per year is about 1000 yuan. But now the rent per mu is more than 1000 yuan a year, and an ordinary family with two people working can earn more than 3000 yuan a month in wages, with income multiplied several times over." Shaotun Village Party branch secretary Li Zhimin calculated an account for the reporter. In Shaotun Village, there are more than 300 "double-salary farmers" like this who receive both rent and wages. "Now I work busily on my own land and earn double income, and the unit also enrolls us in accident injury and other insurance according to regulations. I have benefited from land transfer." At the raspberry industrial park, villager Li Xiaoqing said happily while working.
"Raspberry planting and processing is a successful case in the development of modern agriculture in Nanhe County. Next, we will focus on supporting this project to develop in directions such as raspberry beverages, raspberry wine, and raspberry health products, and gradually build it into an amusement park integrating picking, sightseeing, leisure vacations, and citizen experiences, radiating and driving more farmers to increase income and become prosperous." introduced Zhao Xianke, deputy county magistrate of Nanhe County.
From growing rice to a win-win of planting and breeding-
Raising "grass carp" in rice paddies
"This year, in my seven-fen rice paddy, while doing a good job sowing early spring rice, I also released 150 jin of 'grass carp' fry in the field. According to the market price in the same period last year, without leaving home, the rice and fish can sell for 7500 yuan." Recently, farmer Wu Yingmin from Chashan Village, Youmu Township, Chaodong Town, Fuchuan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, said happily.
Now, in Fuchuan Yao Township, there are more than 400 farming households like Wu Yingmin who, by releasing fish fry in rice paddies, realize rice-fish symbiosis and a win-win of planting and breeding, with a rice-fish farming area of more than 5000 mu.
Farmers in Fuchuan County have long had the habit of growing rice and raising fish, and have accumulated much planting and breeding experience. In order to achieve agricultural efficiency improvement, farmers' income increase, and fiscal growth, in recent years the county has adapted measures to local conditions, guided farmers to be market-oriented, rely on science and technology, and focus on efficiency, implemented the ten-thousand-yuan field prosperity project, formulated implementation plans, and established and improved county, township, and village scientific planting and breeding service management networks.
Relying on local advantages in natural resources such as soil, climate, and water quality, the county actively guides mountain-area farmers to adjust the planting structure, reform cultivation models, release "grass carp" in rice paddies, and vigorously develop characteristic industries combining planting and breeding.
Through implementing scientific planting and breeding, with Party members and cadres taking the lead in demonstrations, a demonstration base of more than 5000 mu of rice-fish farming centered on Huangshaling and Chashan villages in Youmu Township has initially been established, effectively improving the comprehensive benefits of farmers growing rice and driving agricultural structural adjustment.
In order to better help farmers increase income through rice-fish farming, the Fuchuan County Agriculture Bureau actively provides technical services. It helps farmers select high-quality rice of the "Zhongyou" and "Jinyou" series with short growth periods, high yield, good quality, and market competitiveness, promotes and applies new rice planting technologies such as dry seedling raising and sparse planting and seedling throwing, and provides a guarantee for achieving high-quality, high-yield, and high-efficiency rice production.
The county's industry and commerce, animal husbandry and fisheries departments offer suggestions and actively introduce for farmers high-quality fry with tender, smooth meat, good taste, and high market price - "grass carp" - and provide all-round technical guidance services for farmers engaged in rice-fish farming.
At the same time, the county has increased support for rice-fish farming and scientific and technological training, issued preferential policies, and the county poverty alleviation, credit and other departments and local township governments cooperate and support each other, using multiple approaches at once, giving strong support to farmers who release "grass carp" in rice paddies, encouraging them through developing rice-fish farming to both ensure grain output and increase income through fish farming, achieving poverty alleviation and prosperity.
According to incomplete statistics, the county's rice-fish farming area has grown from the initial dozens of mu to the current more than 5000 mu, with more than 1 million high-quality fry and fingerlings of various types released, and it is expected that this alone will increase farmers' per capita income by 50 yuan this year.