More policy support is the common wish of large-scale grain farmers
As the footsteps of the Year of the Sheep drew nearer, Xu Jiaxiang, a large-scale grain farmer from across the country, grew more and more excited, as one piece of good news after another filled him with expectations for the new year.
Born in 1963, Xu Jiaxiang is a farmer from Group 5, Maoling Village, Anshan Street, Jiangxia District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province. More than 10 years ago, he began leasing nearby fields that no one was cultivating to grow grain. At present, he has 1045 mu of transferred land, where he grows rice, lotus roots and other crops, achieving an annual total grain output of 1 million jin, 1.7 million jin of lotus roots, and an annual output of 30,000 jin of fish raised through companion and rotational stocking, with a total output value of 3 million yuan. He has driven 500 farming households in nearby Qingchun Village and Maoling Village of Anshan Street and Tianpu Village of Fasi Street to switch to growing 3000 mu of high-quality rice and 1500 mu of high-quality lotus roots, increasing each household's income by more than 1000 yuan. In 2011, he was named a “National Large-Scale Grain-Growing and Grain-Selling Household” and a model worker of the 15th session of Wuhan City, and in 2012 he was one of Wuhan's Top Ten Agricultural Science and Technology Demonstration Households.
Half a month ago, the Anshan Street Office where Xu Jiaxiang is located held a special meeting on the construction of road facilities for his grain production base, making it clear that in 2015 it would provide supporting facilities for the base's tractor roads, ditches and agricultural electricity, which for Xu Jiaxiang was tantamount to taking a “reassurance pill”.
“Not only is there no worry about selling more than 100 mu of wild lotus roots, but the price per jin has also risen by more than 1 yuan, which by my calculations means more than 100,000 yuan in extra earnings.” After several years of experimentation, Xu Jiaxiang's diversified planting is beginning to pay off, which has also filled Old Xu with confidence for 2015. “This year I'll do three things well, increase output value by 30 percent, and increase net profit by 300,000 yuan.” On January 3, facing a reporter's questions, Xu Jiaxiang's tone was full of confidence.
“The first thing is to expand the grain planting area by 400 mu.” Xu Jiaxiang told the reporter that although the returns on rice are not high, it is relatively secure. He had always wanted to expand his rice area, but suffered from the lack of tractor roads, so machinery could not get into some rice fields. In 2015, the street office will focus on supporting the base's infrastructure construction, and the biggest “roadblock” to expanding the area will be completely removed. “With 2 more machines, the grain area will expand to 1500 mu, and earning more than 100,000 yuan extra will be no problem.”
“The second thing is to try raising soft-shelled turtles in the rice fields.” Xu Jiaxiang, who likes to “tinker” with “new tricks”, has been trying to broaden his income channels while growing grain in recent years. Now, the wild lotus roots have begun to generate returns, and raising crayfish in the rice fields is also gradually getting on track. “In the new year, I will try raising soft-shelled turtles in 100 mu of rice fields, hoping it will succeed; if not, I hope to lose as little as possible.” he said.
“The third thing is to get the cooperative going.” Xu Jiaxiang said that last year he joined with more than 20 nearby farmers to establish a rice cooperative, and plans to build a new rice processing plant this year and then apply for a brand, so as to achieve full linkage from production to market. At present, a site for the processing plant has already been chosen and funding arrangements are beginning to take shape. “It would be even better if there were project funding support.”
“The state should raise subsidies for large-scale grain households, so that there is enthusiasm for growing grain.” Xu Jiaxiang said frankly that compared with other cash crops, the returns on growing rice are basically “at the bottom”. In addition, large-scale households mostly transfer land, and some policy subsidies are paid directly to the households that contracted the land, making it hard for large-scale households to benefit, which keeps planting returns from rising. “More policy support is the common wish of large-scale grain farmers.” Xu Jiaxiang told the reporter.