How exactly does the sixth industry add value to agriculture?

“1+2+3” addition: how is it done?

Shifting from production-oriented to consumption-oriented, bringing the industrial chain and value chain into agriculture

How much benefit can one duck bring?

In the eyes of Zhang Hongwei, a farmer in Luoshe Village, Nanchang County, a duck weighs about 6.5 jin when ready for market and can sell for 25—26 yuan.

But on the production line of Jiangxi Huangshanghuang Group Food Company, duck meat is made into braised duck, duck blood is used to extract blood peptide, and duck bones are made into ultrafine bone paste…… one duck increases in value several times, or even more than ten times.

Nanchang County is a traditional major agricultural county in Jiangxi Province, with rich agricultural resources. However, a major agricultural county is not a strong agricultural county: leading enterprises are not large, the agricultural industrial chain is not long, and farmers' income growth is not fast.

Guo Yi, secretary of the Nanchang County Party Committee, said that only by developing the “sixth industry,” advancing agriculture's extension into the secondary and tertiary industries, and forming a complete industrial chain integrating production, processing, sales, and services, can a major agricultural county achieve transformation and upgrading, allowing farmers to share more value-added returns from “1+2+3” and “1×2×3.”

Policy support. Nanchang County manages agricultural enterprises by category, and the county finance department has allocated 18 million yuan to support agricultural industrialization, leaning toward leading enterprises, processing and circulation links, and industrial integration development, and guiding listed enterprises and large leading enterprises to invest in modern agriculture.

After Huangshanghuang Group settled in Xiaolan Economic Development Zone, it turned small ducks into a big industry. Through company + cooperative + farmers, 13 meat duck cooperatives have driven more than 2,500 farming households and created 189 million yuan in agricultural output value. Chu Jiangeng, president of the group, said: “The development of the enterprise cannot be separated from government support or from the support of farmers. At present, the group has built 30 meat duck breeding bases, forming an industrial chain integrating production, supply, and sales. In the first year after the company was listed, its market value reached 38.8 billion yuan.”

Enterprises drive farmers' income growth. Farmer Wang Shuangxi said: “With a signed order, the price is guaranteed. Each jin of duck meat is 2 mao higher than the market price.” Preliminary statistics show that Huangshanghuang increases farmers' income by 28 million yuan each year.

How does agriculture “connect with the second and third industries”?

Nanchang County promotes agriculture's transformation from “production-oriented” to “consumption-oriented,” gradually introducing modern concepts such as the industrial chain and value chain into agriculture.

Water chestnut is a specialty of Sanjiang Town and is famous nationwide. However, water chestnuts can only be stored for 2 to 3 months, and how to sell them as quickly as possible has long been a headache for local farmers.

Liu Weiwei, a young man born in the 1990s, rode the spring breeze of “Internet+” and found a market through the internet for his family's 400 mu of water chestnuts. “By the beginning of this year, more than 600,000 jin of water chestnuts had been sold online, with sales of more than 1.2 million yuan, accounting for 40% of total water chestnut output.” Liu Weiwei said that under policy guidance he established a company, and with just a mobile phone app and a set of online accounts, he can earn a good price.

Guangsan Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., by contrast, raises added value through “deep processing.” “The key is still to aim at the market.” Liu Jianping, the company's person in charge, explained that when water chestnuts are dug by hand, the large ones can be sold in the market as fruit, while the smaller ones and those damaged during handling are often discarded, causing great waste. Through deep processing, the company dices and cans the water chestnuts, not only maximizing the use of resources but also obtaining added value from the brand.

Rice, rice noodles, flavored eggs…… in Nanchang County, there are many agricultural products like Sanjiang water chestnuts. The whole industrial chain continues to extend, local specialties reach urban dining tables, and multiplying benefits are constantly being released.

What changes are happening within agriculture?

Support socialized services, develop brand agriculture, and promote a thorough transformation of agriculture

To develop the sixth industry, agriculture itself also needs a thorough transformation.

The first question is how decentralized production can connect with industrialization.

Nanchang County has increased support for the agricultural socialized service system. Tao Chengbiao, a major grain grower in Xiaolian Village, Jingkou Township, farms more than 1,000 mu of land himself, and he is also the head of Biaoxing Agricultural Technology and Machinery Service Cooperative. The cooperative has more than 160 pieces of agricultural machinery of various types, and during busy farming seasons it goes out to “take orders.”

“Take rice transplanting, for example. One high-speed rice transplanter can finish 50 mu of field in a day. If relying on manual labor, it would take more than 60 people. In the ‘double rush’ season, time is tight and manpower is insufficient, so mechanical operation is very necessary.” Tao Chengbiao said.

His machinery can not only speed across the fields, but also soar into the clouds. He once used an agricultural aircraft to spray pesticides, pioneering local “airplane farming.” In recent years, to save costs, he has also taken a liking to a remote-controlled small aircraft. “Whatever new-style agricultural machinery there is, my cooperative will buy some, advancing with the times to provide farmers with better services.” Tao Chengbiao said.

Tao Chengbiao is not an isolated case. This year, Youlan Town is piloting an agricultural technology supermarket, inviting agricultural socialized service organizations to settle in. From rice transplanting and pesticide spraying to harvesting, full-process services for agricultural production are available for farmers to choose from, and services such as contracted farm work and professional proxy planting are increasingly emerging.

The second question is how to build agricultural brands.

In advancing agricultural industrialization, Nanchang County has realized the importance of brand building. A relevant person in charge said that Nanchang County currently has more than ten agricultural brands, but only two or three truly influential ones. The process of building a brand is the process of realizing the value-added of agricultural products.

Cultivate farmers' cooperatives. Wan Jinxiu of Jianxia Village, Xiangtang Town, has experienced the benefits: “With the brand built by the cooperative, our melons and fruits are very much in demand. They sell out as soon as they are picked!”

Improve the agricultural product quality standard system, and use processing standardization to drive the development of green agriculture. Leading enterprise Changbi Rice Industry Group, with the “company + farmers + base” model, ensures standardized rice production, and its leading product “Changbi” rice has been certified as Grade A green food.

“Company + trademark + farmers” drives thousands upon thousands of farmers to increase production and income. Relying on the “Daoxiangyuan” trademark, Daoxiangyuan Food Company's products are also sold to markets such as Beijing and Shanghai, making it a well-known fermented soybean enterprise in the province.

How is the “1×2×3” effect brought into play?

March into the depth and breadth of agriculture, and build “sixth industry” complexes

Blue sky and white clouds, rippling clear water: Shuilanzhou in Tacheng Township is like a moving painting. The Yuming Ecological Technology Weijia Mountain Villa located here, through the radiating role of a modern agriculture demonstration park, leads local farmers toward prosperity.

Wei Yuhua, the person in charge of the villa, said that by developing the park with an industrialized concept, operating the park with market-based methods, and upgrading the park with modern science and technology, it deeply integrates the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries to form a clearly structured industrial chain: the villa has 1,100 mu of water surface, a 350-mu pollution-free vegetable and fruit base, and a 200-mu special poultry and livestock breeding base. At present, it has formed seven characteristic industries: an ecological agriculture area, a grape area, an aquaculture area, a special breeding area (alpacas), a water sports area, and leisure, entertainment and rural tourism. Wei Yuhua introduced:

In the primary industry, relying on the “Weijia Mountain Villa” trademark, the company has set up direct-sales stores in urban areas. Citizens can order directly and taste green agricultural products from “field” to “table.”

In the secondary industry, in addition to processing, packaging, and production of agricultural products, the mutton of the alpacas raised on the farm is deep-processed with a separator, and alpaca blood is used for product research and development by a biotechnology company.

In the tertiary industry, leisure agriculture activities are carried out, with mulberries, grapes, lotus seed pods and other fruits available for picking, and a “coastline” landscape will also be built around Shuilanzhou, providing a place for urban residents' leisure and entertainment.

Wei Yuhua introduced that last year the farm's total income was more than 3 million yuan. This year, with alpacas being sold for market and the expansion of breeding and planting scale, income is expected to be more than 10 million.

Diversified industries provide many jobs for local farmers. Zhang Huiliang, a villager from Hupi Village, Tacheng Township, said: “In the past, farming income was not high. Now I grow grapes in the farm. My skills are good, and last year my income was more than 100,000 yuan.”

“Bringing family here on weekends, you can not only eat farm dishes, but also enjoy many leisure and entertainment activities. There are also entertainment facilities for children to play with. It can be considered Nanchang's back garden.” said Ms. Liu Jie, who lives in Mengli Shuixiang, Nanchang County.

Yuming Ecological Technology Weijia Mountain Villa can be called a rising star among “sixth industry” complexes. In Nanchang County, places such as Guohong Ecological Park and the Huangma Fenghuanggou Sericulture and Tea Research Institute are already familiar to citizens.

According to the plan, Nanchang County is striving to build a group of high-quality agricultural product production bases, cultivate and strengthen a group of agricultural industrialization leading enterprises with strong radiating and driving capacity, and establish a group of “farmhouse fun” business entities with different characteristics. The sixth industry will push agricultural modernization to a new level.