City residents go to the countryside for spring plowing: how can happy farms achieve a win-win for both urban and rural areas?
The online version of Happy Farm was once all the rage, and now a real-life version of Happy Farm is quietly emerging on the outskirts of Beijing. As city residents yearn to return to rural life, many people on the Beijing outskirts have spotted this market and are rolling out leisure agriculture projects that let city dwellers go to the countryside and cultivate a “one-fen plot.” However, with the real-life version of Happy Farm, how can city residents find the joy of leisure and labor in the countryside fields while also giving operators a sense of satisfaction in their income? This is a major issue encountered in the process of developing leisure agriculture in this city.
City residents go to the countryside for spring plowing
Striving to be urban farmers
The spring light is warm, and April is the busy spring season. However, in the fields on the outskirts of Beijing today, it is not only local farmers busy with spring plowing, but also city residents who have gone to the countryside. That is because they have rented a plot of land in the countryside.
Early yesterday morning (the 16th), Zhao Lanting, who lives in the Yongdingmenwai community in Dongcheng District, began another year of spring sowing. She took a bus for more than 3 hours to reach the “one-fen plot” park in Dongxiaohetun Village, Yanqing Town, Yanqing County. “Look, in just a moment, I finished sowing radish seeds on this plot of more than ten square meters.” After a morning of turning the soil, making furrows, sowing, and watering, she was drenched in sweat but very satisfied. “Last year the seeds were sown too early, and after a ‘late spring cold snap,’ the seedlings were frozen. This year I listened to the local farmers and had to sow at the right time.”
Dongxiaohetun Village is adjacent to scenic areas such as Longqing Gorge in Yanqing. Since 2003, the village has used 20 mu of collective land to carry out the “one-fen plot” project, dividing the land into 200 small plots and renting them to city residents who come to the countryside. “At the end of March each year, city residents come to experience farming.” Zhao Tieshan, who is in charge of managing the “one-fen plots” in the village, said that because the land is highly cost-effective, and as supporting facilities for folk tourism have continued to improve in recent years, more and more city residents have come looking to rent land for cultivation. Now, all 200 “one-fen plots” have been rented out.
“There is a lot of knowledge in farming this land! You have to sow according to the farming season, and the most important thing is to watch the solar terms.” Zhao Lanting, slightly dark-skinned, wearing a straw hat and with her sleeves rolled up, spoke about farming with great fluency, just like a “farming expert.” Now, she is completely clear on how to select seeds, sow, fertilize, and remove pests.
It is not only Dongxiaohetun Village. Nowadays, from as little as more than ten square meters to as much as several hundred square meters, batches of city residents go to the countryside to cultivate rented land and compete to be urban farmers. This is no longer anything new. Aokennike Farm, located in Huangcun Town, Daxing District, has set aside more than 20 of its 200 facility greenhouses to supply city residents for four-season rental cultivation. If city residents rent more than 30 square meters of land for a year, they can choose their favorite varieties from the several hundred kinds of vegetables provided by the farm to plant themselves, or entrust them to the farm for management.
Many village collectives, cooperatives, and agricultural enterprises have now taken a fancy to the business opportunity of city residents renting land in the countryside, renting “one-fen plots” to city residents in order to earn income from them. According to surveys, based on the size of the plots, there are mainly three rental models for city residents: farms specializing in “one-fen plot” projects, agricultural enterprises that open up a small portion of land for rent, and cooperatives that concentrate land transferred from villagers.
Renting land in the countryside to grow vegetables
Experiencing the joy of harvest
“Actually, it is just that after retiring, I want something to do, to get out and move around, and my body can also become much stronger.” Zhao Lanting, 64 years old, was sent to the countryside as a young person. Compared with other city residents, she has a special feeling for the land. Before retiring, she was a doctor, enjoyed outings, and especially valued health, so going to the countryside to farm became her first choice for life after retirement.
Zhao Lanting has rented a plot in Dongxiaohetun Village for four years already. “At that time, I learned online about this village’s ‘You Have a One-Fen Plot in the Countryside’ project. I came because of its reputation. In the first year, I rented two fen of land. This farm work looks fun, but there is deep knowledge in it.” She said that when she rents land, she always comes to do the work herself. The village provides simple means of production, and renting for a year costs only 300 yuan. Unexpectedly, once she rented, it was for four years. Not only does she go to the countryside every week to farm, she also calls friends and brings several sisters to help, and together they have become “farm friends” farming in Yanqing.
For some parents of children, what they value in renting a plot is that it allows their children to come into contact with farming education, while they themselves can also enjoy parent-child fun on holidays. Ms. Su, who lives in Jinsong, Chaoyang District, has a 9-year-old son, Qiqi. The couple is usually busy with work, so they use weekends to accompany their child in renting land and planting in Tongzhou. “Last year, after my son harvested the vegetables he planted himself, he no longer leaves food on his plate at meals and has learned to cherish food.” The child’s change made Ms. Su feel that even if renting a plot is a bit expensive, it is very worthwhile. She does not want her child to become someone who “cannot tell the five grains apart and does not use his four limbs.”
For many young white-collar workers, what they mainly pursue in renting a plot is food safety. “I have never done much farm work since childhood and want to find a place to experience the joy of farming.” Mr. Kong, who lives in Panjiayuan, Chaoyang District, said that 10 years ago, after graduating from university, he settled in Beijing and belongs to the new Beijingers. Last year, he attended many wedding banquets and social engagements. Once, he and his wife actually suffered food poisoning, and even now it is frightening to think about. At the beginning of this year, he rented one fen of land at Aokennike Farm, planning mainly to eat vegetables he grows himself and become a new farmer. “What you grow yourself is reassuring to eat!” He said that now, when he has time, he drives to “his own” plot to look around. Seeing the vegetables he planted change day by day makes him feel wonderful and secure.
Operating a happy farm
Not everyone is happy
A “happy farm” that can provide city residents with green vegetables is hard put to make operators happy. Some plots are in hot demand for rent, but profits are thin; others are struggling and already facing closure.
In 2012, in response to city residents’ demand for renting land in the countryside, Aokennike Farm in Daxing District opened up 20 mu of land and launched the “private organic garden” project. “In the first year or two, the market was neither hot nor cold. Only three to five mu were rented out, and people occasionally withdrew from their leases.” Staff member Zhang Zhongrui admitted frankly that it was not until the beginning of this year, when the farm changed its operating approach, that more than 10 mu of land were rented out in the three months before the start of cultivation. “And even this was all introduced through word of mouth by old customers.” He said, “For large picking gardens like ours, projects that rent land outward basically only break even. The main point is still to use this to draw some foot traffic.” At present, in the greenhouses at this farm that have not been rented out, vegetables have already been planted for visitors to pick.
If even large farms with strong economic strength are like this, then the situation for relatively weakly based village collective operations is even more bleak. A few years ago, Duzhuangtun Village in Anding Town, Daxing District, transferred 85 mu of land from villagers and established a cooperative specializing in the “one-fen plot self-cultivation paradise.” They divided the land into two types of plots for rent: 888 yuan per year to claim 40 square meters, or 1,288 yuan to claim 60 square meters. “Each mu of land gives villagers a transfer fee of 2,000 yuan per year, so 85 mu is 170,000 yuan. In the first 3 years, in the best year only a bit more than 7 mu were rented out, and annual gross income was only about 100,000 yuan, not at all enough to cover costs.” Village Party branch secretary Gao Ruihai said that with spring plowing about to begin, the number of people booking has not increased, and he is somewhat hesitant about whether this “one-fen plot” project should continue.
“Our prices here are set low, only 300 yuan per fen, and after deducting costs, annual net income is only a bit more than 20,000 yuan.” Zhao Tieshan, a villager of Dongxiaohetun and head of the “one-fen plot” project, said that although it appears that the 20 mu of land have basically all been rented out, in fact it is also just for show, if only to cultivate some regular customers for folk tourism households and add a bit of foot traffic.
Do a good job with supporting services
Only then will operations last
Many city residents who rent land to play at “happy farms” withdraw after the novelty wears off because of transportation, time costs, and other reasons. “The vegetables picked on a trip to the farm are not even worth the gas money, and I did not go many times in a year. Besides, others say the vegetables they grow are organic and green, but if you have not seen it yourself, you still cannot feel at ease eating them.” With spring plowing approaching, quite a few city residents hold this attitude.
To reassure entrusted growers about vegetable safety, Aokennike Farm invested more than 100,000 yuan specifically to install panoramic cameras in the private gardens for city residents to monitor. “Having a certification alone is not enough. All members who subscribe to a vegetable garden can watch and monitor their own ‘one-fen plot’ 24 hours a day through mobile phones and computers, including the real-time growth of crops and the situation of irrigation and fertilization.” Zhang Zhongrui said.
Before cultivation began this year, in order to reassure city residents coming to the village to rent land for planting, Ma Jianyang, Party branch secretary of Qian’anding Village, specially invited a vegetable research expert from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences to plow the soil and monitor data, and to guide villagers throughout the process on green prevention and control and scientific farming.
“To truly make a ‘happy farm’ make city residents happy and operators comfortable, in addition to tending the land well, one-stop surrounding supporting facilities for food, drink, and entertainment are also very necessary.” Zhang Zhongrui said that in the future the farm will also develop software service projects specially supporting land-renting members, so that city residents can come, have things to see, and be willing to stay. “For example, members who introduce friends to rent land will be given one extra month of land rental each year upon renewal, can ski for free in winter, and can also enjoy the lowest discounted prices for meals and lodging.”
Regarding the market prospects for “happy farm”-style leisure agriculture operations, some optimistic industry insiders said, “More operators still need to flow into this market and introduce more advanced business concepts to explore it.”
“In recent years, happy farms, as a form of leisure agriculture, have flourished on the outskirts of Beijing, but many development bottlenecks have also appeared.” Yu Lizhi, a professor at an agricultural university who has long studied leisure and sightseeing agriculture, said that in response, not only should the government issue relevant policies to support the industry, but farm operators should also, according to their own circumstances, precisely position their target customers and groups and launch distinctive brands and projects. Some farms on the outskirts of Beijing with inconvenient transportation can appropriately provide shuttle buses to pick up and drop off customers in urban districts in a concentrated way, and improve systems for dining, rest, and vegetable delivery; in addition, different farming courses can be arranged for different groups, with agricultural technicians allocated by level, to meet the different vegetable-growing needs of urban residents.