E-commerce Reaches Villages and Households, Helping Farm Produce Head to the City by the Truckload

In Nong'an County of Jilin Province, a major national grain-producing county, the "Internet Plus rural" model is stirring up ripples, and more and more farmers are sharing in the "dividends" brought by the added value of agricultural products through a mouse and a mobile phone.

E-commerce platforms reach villages and households

Ingeniously solving the rural dilemma of buying and selling

Not long ago, farmer Wei Zhiguo ran into a vexing problem: tens of thousands of jin of potatoes he had stored would not sell. The Nong'an station of "Yimutian" visited the village to conduct a survey, and after learning of Old Wei's difficulty, posted the sales information online.

"After the information was posted, four or five dealers contacted me, and more than 30,000 jin of potatoes sold in no time." Wei Zhiguo said, "In September this year, when the potatoes and vegetables are harvested, I'll work with 'Yimutian' again."

The "Yimutian" Old Wei mentioned is a leading domestic integrity platform for agricultural product trading and a big data platform, and also an innovative "Internet Plus rural" model: one end links wholesalers and buyers, the other connects farmers and places of origin, and through the mobile Internet, big data analysis and online and offline matchmaking services, it connects production with sales and eases difficulties such as the hard-to-sell and low-price problems of agricultural products.

Over the past six months, "Yimutian" has sold 400 tons of peanuts, 60 tons of shelled peanuts, 150,000 jin of potatoes, and 20,000 jin of leafy vegetables and shiitake mushrooms, with a transaction value of nearly ten million yuan.

Han Yu, manager of the Nong'an station of "Yimutian", explained that "Yimutian" addresses the problem of information asymmetry online, and offline organizes buyers to inspect goods in other places as well as quality control, traceability, and the security of transaction funds. At the same time, relying on stores in 36 central cities across the country, it brings offline purchasing demand to local farmers. Agricultural products traded are all shipped by the truckload, effectively avoiding the "last mile" problem.

Government builds the stage, e-commerce puts on the show

Reweaving the rural sales network

Nong'an is one of the country's top ten grain-producing counties, and its grain crop output accounts for one tenth of Jilin Province's. The county's annual output of potatoes, the "three hot crops" (chili peppers, garlic and onions), carrots, yellow tobacco and others reaches 1.5 million tons.

"E-commerce is a new engine driving county-level economic and social development. By advancing the development of the e-commerce industry, we let the outside world learn about Nong'an, provide young people with entrepreneurial opportunities, thereby driving the development of modern agriculture, spurring the adjustment of crop planting structure, and letting consumers obtain quality agricultural products more conveniently." said Zhou He, secretary of the Nong'an County Party Committee.

In 2014, Nong'an was listed as one of Jilin's first pilot counties for advancing rural e-commerce, and e-commerce began to enter villages and households: on one hand, third-party platforms were introduced to promote specialty agricultural products, rural young people were organized to start businesses online, and sales channels for agricultural products were broadened; on the other hand, relying on its self-built platform "Nong'an Yipin Network", it focused on building village-level e-commerce service stations, so that e-commerce truly reaches deep into the countryside.

At the Nong'an Youth E-commerce Promotion Service Center, the reporter saw that the two-story office area houses 12 online startup teams and small and micro companies, all exempt from rent, utilities and other fees, and provided with a certain amount of startup funds.

"The e-commerce businesses settled in the center have created a Nong'an Hall on Tmall and Yihaodian, mainly featuring specialty agricultural products and food. In just over a month, the settled enterprises achieved a transaction value of more than 300,000 yuan." said Jia Yuanqi, deputy secretary of the County Youth League Committee.

"Nong'an Yipin Network" is an "agriculture"-branded e-commerce service platform centered on the county, combining agricultural product sales, home and living goods, general merchandise, and purchasing agency services. To improve Nong'an's "express delivery" and "logistics" service systems, the network cooperates with China Post, with more than 400 postal village outlets as offline service stations, achieving rapid collection and distribution of goods.

Wu Dashuang, who runs an oil press at the Binhe service station in Nong'an Township, has tasted the sweetness of "getting online" thanks to Yipin Network: "One service station can serve several thousand people. Not only can it help everyone buy things, but the oil at home also sells faster than before. Earning money while sitting at home is something I never dared to imagine before!"

Both hardware and software need upgrading

E-commerce entering villages still has hurdles to clear

Increased sales, expanded influence, guiding farmers to build brands to improve quality and efficiency, and reshaping a new pattern of rural circulation... Jia Yuanqi recounted to the reporter the changes brought by e-commerce.

However, after visiting farmers and e-commerce enterprises, the reporter felt that e-commerce entering villages still needs to clear several hurdles: the lack of e-commerce networks, farmers' poor ability to use online channels, and product quality assurance are among the many problems still troubling farmers' "getting online" and e-commerce's entry into villages.

"Joining Yipin Network not only helps villagers sell eggs online and make online purchases on their behalf, but also draws foot traffic to the grocery store." At the Honghe food store in Binhe Village, Nong'an Township, shopkeeper Wang Li told the reporter about her experience of "getting online". But villagers' understanding of online shopping is not deep enough, and so far Wang Li has only made purchases on behalf of others for rice cookers and clothing: "Everyone is still used to going to the stores in town to buy things."

In addition, inadequate hardware equipment for e-commerce applications restricts the development of rural e-commerce. "Computers and smartphones, these 'getting online' devices, are not yet widely used in the countryside; broadband fees of over a thousand yuan are a burden for farmers, and the small coverage of 3G and 4G signals is also not conducive to the spread of smartphones." said Han Yu, manager of the Nong'an station of "Yimutian".

The reporter learned during interviews that most farmers still use credit union passbooks to deposit and withdraw money, which is also a limitation for e-commerce platforms that need electronic payment. At the same time, the long cycle for transfers to arrive, the low rate of mobile banking activation, and the scattered layout of bank outlets have deterred some farmers who are inclined to "get online".