Small grains also have a big future: why are farmers unwilling to grow them?
When people talk about miscellaneous grains, they habitually attach the word “small” to them. Compared with field crops, miscellaneous grains are mainly intercropped along ditch edges and embankments and on dry slopes in mountainous areas, with small planting areas, and they are not staple foods, so they are called “small miscellaneous grains.” In the past, Gaoqing County, Shandong Province, once widely grew small miscellaneous grains, especially intercropping miscellaneous grains in cotton fields. But now, cotton fields in Gaoqing County have shrunk sharply, and the area of miscellaneous grains has plummeted accordingly. The once-flourishing scene of every household growing cotton and every household enjoying the fragrance of miscellaneous grains is hard to see again.
The once “popular” fragrance of the five grains
Guo Xiaobao, 55 years old this year, is the person in charge of the Wugu Xiang Miscellaneous Grain Supply and Marketing Company in Dongduan Village, Heili Zhai Town. He has been “working” in buying and selling small miscellaneous grains for more than 30 years.
“In the early years, I had two channels for purchasing miscellaneous grains: one was farmers selling door to door, and the other was buying at markets.” Guo Xiaobao said that at that time, whenever the miscellaneous grain harvest season came, the farmers who came to his company to sell miscellaneous grains often packed the place. At the peak, the daily purchase volume reached as much as over a hundred tons.
“Every household grew cotton and intercropped miscellaneous grains in the cotton fields. Apart from keeping a portion of the harvested miscellaneous grains for their own consumption, most were turned into cash.” He said that because of the large stock of miscellaneous grains, quite a few miscellaneous grain traders emerged locally. “Twenty years ago, there were seven or eight people in our village alone doing this trade; now only two of us are left.” Guo Xiaobao said that in the past, rural markets, large or small, all had a miscellaneous grain market, with mung beans, small beans, red adzuki beans, climbing beans, sesame, and even dried sweet potato slices, everything available. “The miscellaneous grain market at Tianzhen Grand Market stretched more than two li from south to north, with shouting buyers and sellers and a noisy hubbub; it was very bustling. Now if you go and look again, there is not a single grain seller! The grain market has ‘collectively disappeared’ from rural fairs. Although a few markets still have a small number of small miscellaneous grain vendors, they simply cannot be called a ‘market.’” Guo Xiaobao said that his current marketing direction has also changed, from the earlier village-to-city model to city-to-village —— wholesaling from large miscellaneous grain wholesale markets and then wholesaling again to local distributors. Annual sales have also dropped from a peak of over a thousand tons in the past to the current two or three hundred tons.
Why are farmers unwilling to grow them?
Why have small miscellaneous grains become so “small”? A considerable part of the reason must be attributed to cotton. In the past, miscellaneous grains were mainly intercropped in cotton fields —— cotton was sown in April, and after being covered with plastic film, mung beans and the like were intercropped between the ridges. The growing period of mung beans is more than 2 months. By the time the cotton grew to knee height, the mung beans had also matured, basically without affecting cotton growth. “Cotton did not decrease in yield, and one more season of income could be gained. Cotton farmers basically all practiced intercropping.” Guo Xiaobao said that intercropping was mostly in cotton fields and corn fields, mainly cotton fields. In the past, every household grew cotton; now fewer people grow cotton, so small miscellaneous grains have lost the basis for intercropping. Even those who still grow cotton are unwilling to practice intercropping because it is too troublesome.
During interviews, the author learned that the difficulty of mechanized operation has also forced small miscellaneous grains to become even smaller. Now, some miscellaneous grain crops still use the most primitive working methods from management to harvest. For example, mung beans are harvested by hand-picking, sesame is harvested by beating, and soybeans are rolled with a wheel. “The rural economy now is a wage-earning economy; a day of work earns about 200 yuan. Ordinary people grow whatever saves trouble.” Guo Xiaobao said.
Taking mung beans as an example, based on the normal annual yield per mu and market price in Gaoqing County at present, the income from one mu of land is about more than 1,000 yuan, slightly higher than field crops. But because growing miscellaneous grains is too “complicated,” farmers still do not want to grow them. “The characteristic of leguminous crops is that the fruits do not mature at the same time. Take the same plant: the early-maturing and late-maturing ones differ by five or six days. If the early-maturing ones are not picked in time, they will burst in the field and cause losses.” Guo Xiaobao said that mung bean harvesting is picking one as soon as it ripens. If unripe ones are picked early, drying them at home will affect their color and reduce quality; if ripe ones are not picked in time, they will burst in the field; and they must be picked at least twice, with some reaching five or six times.”
By comparison, field crops have it much easier. Because field crops have large areas and broad markets, mechanical production manufacturers are willing to invest more in field crop machinery. Field crops have fully achieved mechanization, and mechanical operations have mature technical services from manufacturers.
Where is the development bottleneck?
Field crops are related to national food security. As a supplement to staple grains, are small miscellaneous grains dispensable? Du Zuozhong, deputy director of the Gaoqing Agriculture Bureau, holds a negative attitude toward this view. He said that as people gradually establish concepts of dietary nutrition, small miscellaneous grains that are nutritionally comprehensive and tasty will become increasingly popular with urban residents. As for techniques for eating miscellaneous grains, Guo Xiaobao suggested: before cooking, hard miscellaneous grains can first be soaked in water for a period, then simmered over gentle heat. “Before long, the porridge made is complete in color, aroma, and taste.”
Compared with the yields of wheat, corn, and rice, which easily exceed a thousand jin per mu, the yields of miscellaneous grain crops are obviously low. “Field crops have achieved full coverage of improved varieties, improving quality and increasing yield, while the yield of miscellaneous grains still remains at a relatively low level. In a normal year, the yield of mung beans is more than 200 jin/mu; for soybeans, 400 jin/mu counts as high yield.” Guo Xiaobao called on seed companies to work on improved variety breeding and to breed high-yield, high-quality small miscellaneous grain crop varieties as soon as possible.
Compared with field crops, which have mature and complete mechanization services, miscellaneous grain crops currently remain at a relatively low level of mechanization. “There are few agricultural machines on the market specifically for a certain miscellaneous grain crop. The area of miscellaneous grains is too small, which restricts the research, development, and promotion of machinery. The lag in mechanization development in turn restricts the development of miscellaneous grains.
Miscellaneous grains also need to become “field-scale.” Scattered corner plots are not the place for miscellaneous grains to survive. Du Zuozhong said that miscellaneous grains are also suitable for field-scale planting. Last year, the Fengrao Grain Cooperative in Taili Village, Changjia Town, in the county successfully trial-planted Zhangza Gu No. 8 millet. This year they expanded the area to 200 mu and signed a purchase agreement with a large supermarket at 6 yuan per jin. Calculated at a millet yield of 700 jin per mu, the Fengrao Cooperative's millet income per mu will reach 3,500 yuan. After deducting input costs, the net income can reach 2,500 yuan, and the effect is considerably higher than that of field crops.