Agriculture catches the "Internet Plus" wave and welcomes new opportunities

Standing at the wave of “Internet Plus”, let some traditional industries feel cold. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. The “+” in “Internet Plus” pursues cross-border integration, developing new forms and new business models; it is not “-”, and even less is it about squeezing out or zero-sum games. From this perspective, “Internet Plus agriculture” is about creating new value in the combination of the Internet and agriculture, letting this old tree of agriculture sprout new buds, grow strong branches, and maintain vigorous vitality.

“Internet Plus” is also not a gust of wind; it is more like a tide. When this great tide of “Internet Plus” floods traditional industries, wherever efficiency is low-lying, more tide will remain. Although traditional agriculture has a huge market, its users are scattered, transaction costs are high, and information asymmetry is serious, making it a typical efficiency “lowland.” As long as the expected returns from the inflow of the “Internet Plus” tide are high, it will attract more social capital to pour in.

With the help of the Internet, agriculture extensively collects and professionally analyzes information on markets, products, technology, resources, and more, reshaping the entire agricultural industry chain and providing society with better-quality agricultural products, cheaper sales channels, and more complete after-sales service. Its key links include the following aspects.

Be customer-centered and promote the upgrading of agricultural product sales models. The purpose and significance of an enterprise's existence is to create customers. “Internet Plus agricultural product sales” enables agricultural products to achieve full transparency from field to table, changes the agricultural product consumer market, and attracts and gathers large numbers of consumers. For example, on the “Dashanding” high-mountain vegetable website in Enshi City, organic vegetables are often in short supply. After large numbers of farmers and cooperatives become online sellers, they sell their own or purchased agricultural products online, facing a larger market and having stronger bargaining power. “Internet Plus agricultural product sales” can also reduce sales links, lower sales costs, and gradually eliminate the gap between production and consumption. China's agricultural product circulation industry scale is about 10 trillion yuan. If “Internet Plus agricultural product sales” can be widely applied, it will greatly save social resources.

Promote the intelligentization of agricultural production. “Internet Plus agricultural production” is transforming traditional agricultural production methods, making agricultural production more automated, precise, and traceable, reducing manpower and lowering costs, and thereby achieving standardization of agricultural production. The “mobile phone navigation farming system” developed in Changyang County, Hubei Province integrates technologies such as soil testing and formula fertilization, crop cultivation, and pest and disease diagnosis, providing real-time guidance for agricultural production and benefiting 10% of the county's farming households.

Promote the transformation of agricultural materials e-commerce. Agricultural materials include agricultural machinery, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, veterinary drugs, seeds, and more. Most of these varieties can be standardized, fit the characteristics of repeated purchases, and are suitable for e-commerce sales. “Internet Plus agricultural materials market” can improve the supply of agricultural materials in all aspects, including production, circulation, marketing, and services.

⟦NL> Improve rural financial services. “Internet Plus rural finance” has broad coverage and has achieved great results, especially in the areas of microcredit and agricultural insurance. In the past year, newly added rural Yu'ebao users exceeded 20 million, increasing income by 700 million yuan. In agricultural insurance, through the Internet's information collection capability and big data analysis capability, the agricultural insurance payout ratio can be significantly reduced.

In the above “Internet Plus agriculture” models, huge business opportunities are hidden. The combination of the Internet and agriculture looks like a very well-matched marriage, but how to live happily after marriage and obtain tangible returns still requires handling various relationships well. Only when the family is harmonious can everything prosper.

First, respect the laws of agricultural production. For the Internet to enter agriculture, it must be prepared for long-term investment and must not rush for quick success by pursuing a “flash marriage.” NetEase's pig farming once became a joke, and “Qiangdong rice” also fizzled out. The reason some high-tech tycoons hit a wall after entering agriculture is mainly that they did not grasp the laws of agricultural production and, moreover, lacked the determination to persist.

Second, strengthen management and reduce costs. In the competition of “Internet Plus agriculture,” the final winner will be efficient management, thereby ensuring high-quality products and low-cost enterprise operations. At present, most agricultural product e-commerce platforms focus on high-end agricultural product customization services such as ecological, organic, and traceable to the place of origin, but their prices are instead higher than physical stores, damaging the competitiveness of e-commerce. Because competition in the agricultural product market is relatively full and profit rates tend to equalize quickly, it is not easy to make big money.

Third, actively innovate and ensure quality. Product quality is the cornerstone. Only by continuously developing new products and building brands can “Internet Plus agriculture” have lasting vitality. However, the quality of agricultural products on some e-commerce platforms is uneven, and compensation is difficult, harming consumers' interests, so they will certainly be eliminated.

Fourth, respect farmers and give play to farmers' principal position. Only by treating farmers well and achieving win-win outcomes with farmers can the long-term stable operation of “Internet Plus agriculture” be guaranteed. “Internet Plus agriculture” needs to be down-to-earth, promoting practical operational skills that farmers can easily master, so that new technologies take root in the fields. Of course, farmers also need to actively embrace the Internet and master and use Internet technology.

In short, “Internet Plus agriculture” is a great transformation of traditional agriculture. While liberating agricultural productive forces, agricultural production relations also need to adapt and make corresponding adjustments. This is a “double-edged sword”; there will be successes and also failures. How the vast number of farmers and agriculture-related enterprises choose the best access point to “Internet Plus” according to their own characteristics requires careful thought.