Decoding the Pinggui Modern Agriculture Development Formula
Currently, more and more rural residents are leaving home to work elsewhere, and fewer and fewer people are farming the land. How can the problem of “who will farm the land” be solved? Recently, the author sought answers in the Pinggui Management District of Hezhou, Guangxi.
In early summer, the land of Pinggui presents a scene of flourishing prosperity: in the solar greenhouses, all kinds of vegetables and fruits are blooming and lush; in the livestock and poultry farming communities, cattle and sheep are fat and strong. Standardized farming communities are rising one after another; concentrated and contiguous agricultural production bases and leading enterprises are emerging competitively, and agricultural cooperatives and agricultural brokers are found throughout the countryside, sounding the charge for Pinggui to stride toward modern characteristic agriculture.
In recent years, the Pinggui Management District has focused on the goals of “strong agriculture, prosperous farmers, beautiful countryside” and the general requirement of “scientific development and green rise,” exploring a new path for modern agricultural development featuring “ecology first, characteristic leadership, park-driven development, brand guidance, and technological support,” and making every effort to build an upgraded version of modern agriculture. Ecological circular agriculture, leisure agriculture, and characteristic modern agricultural parks have become the “Pinggui formula” for the development of characteristic modern agriculture. In the first quarter of this year, the per capita cash income of farmers in the management district during the period reached 3,198 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%.
Developing Ecological Circular Agriculture
⟦NL> On May 13, at the ecological circular agriculture base in Leishi Village, Yangtou Town, bright red bayberries hung all over the branches, and although broiler chickens were raised in the farm, no smell of chicken manure could be detected.
According to Boss Li of the base, the base has transferred more than 100 mu of land and adopts the “chicken + biogas + fruit” ecological circular agriculture model, with emphasis on the characteristics of science and technology, ecology, greenness, and income growth. Brother Li, who returned from Guangdong to work at the base, told the author that he works 8 hours a day and receives a monthly salary of about 2,000 yuan, and that he can earn money by working without leaving the village. In the Pinggui Management District, there are many other capable people like Boss Li who develop ecological circular agriculture through land transfer.
In recent years, the Pinggui Management District has implemented relevant national industrial policies and vigorously promoted ecological circular agriculture development models such as “livestock (poultry) — biogas — vegetables (fruit)” with applications for fertilizer and pesticide reduction and control, industrial circulation, and biogas treatment, promoting the rapid development of modern agriculture. At present, through models such as “leading enterprise + cooperative + farmer household + base” and “enterprise + farmer household,” the management district has transferred more than 50,000 mu of land, established 159 farmers' professional cooperative organizations, built more than 10 ecological circular agriculture demonstration projects, and has 8 agricultural industrialization leading enterprises at or above the municipal level, with the annual comprehensive utilization rate of agricultural waste reaching 95.2%.
A number of premium agricultural brands in the management district, such as “Fanglin water chestnut,” “Daping yuba,” “Limu lotus root,” and “Wanggao Wang brand edible oil,” enjoy high reputation within and outside Guangxi, and the “Jiabao brand” water chestnut series products produced by Hezhou Jiabao Food Co., Ltd. were rated as a “China Famous Brand.” The management district has for many consecutive years won honorary titles such as “Autonomous Region Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Supervision Project Demonstration County” and “National Export Food and Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Demonstration Zone.”
Developing Ecological Leisure Agriculture
A few days ago, at the 100-mu high-quality tea planting base in Pangu Village, Etang Town, village party secretary Huang Tuxin told the author that the tea garden can not only bring income from tea leaves, but can also become a beautiful landscape for rural ecological tourism.
In order to fully implement the “tourism revitalizes the district” strategy, the management district formulated and issued the “Measures for Rewarding Characteristic Agriculture,” encouraging large-scale growers and breeders, self-employed individuals, and enterprises to develop ecological leisure agriculture through land transfer. At present, more than 1,500 returning migrant workers and nearly 100 cadres in the management district have invested nearly 200 million yuan to develop ecological leisure agriculture.
After development in recent years, ecological leisure agriculture in the management district has begun to take shape, forming six major characteristic agricultural industrial belts: 100,000 mu of super rice, 50,000 mu of export water chestnut, 30,000 mu of pollution-free vegetables, 30,000 mu of sun-cured tobacco, 10,000 mu of high-quality tea, and the Bagui Road tourism agriculture industry belt, including special aquaculture, facility vegetables, colored agriculture, forest and fruit demonstration, flowers and seedlings, and wetland agriculture. During this year's “May Day” short holiday, the management district received about 50,600 ecological tourism visitors and achieved comprehensive income such as tourism tickets of more than 2 million yuan; drove comprehensive income of about 300,000 yuan for surrounding farmer households and townships; and stimulated more than 3.5 million yuan in comprehensive income from urban transportation, catering, and other sectors.
Building Characteristic Agricultural Parks
“Creating a modern characteristic agriculture (core) demonstration zone is the implementation by the management district party working committee and management committee of the work proposed by the autonomous region for taking the path of characteristic agricultural development. Tangmian Village and four other villages in Etang Town were selected as the core zone because there is already a foundation for modern agricultural development here.” Relevant leaders of the management district said.
At present, the modern characteristic agriculture (core) demonstration zone includes a newly built 500-mu grape planting base in Zhonghong and Leishi villages of Yangtou Town, a newly built 1,000-mu rice-vegetable-flower rotation grain and economy composite modern agricultural industrial base in Mafeng Village of Shatian Town, and a newly built 2,000-mu lotus root planting base in Shita Village and other villages of Gonghui Town. After the demonstration zone is completed, the per capita net income of farmers in the core zone will be 10% and 15% higher than that in the expansion zone and radiation zone respectively, and 20% higher than the per capita net income of farmers in the entire management district.
“The people's yearning for a better life is our goal of struggle.” Wei Sheng'an, member of the standing committee of the municipal party committee, secretary of the political and legal affairs commission, and secretary of the Pinggui Management District party working committee, said that it is necessary to take the construction of the modern characteristic agriculture (core) demonstration zone as the starting point, focus on building a beautiful countryside, and make every effort to advance the process of agricultural modernization, so that agriculture becomes more efficient, farmers become more prosperous, and rural areas become more beautiful.