Why can growing good grain still earn you more money?
In early September in Xichong County, Sichuan, the weather was fine and sunny, and most rice farmers were already immersed in the busyness and joy of the harvest.
That day, walking into Guanfeng Township in the county, we met the large-scale grain grower Huang Yongxi. The locals all knew that he alone had planted ten thousand mu of rice. He was seen striding confidently through the fields, watching over a vast expanse of high-quality rice growing well, looking forward to the harvest in a little over a week.
Huang Yongxi said, my approach is to grow organic high-quality rice, build a brand, achieve brand-name effect, and make money through a complete industrial chain.
Although yields are lower, the returns are even more impressive
⟦NL> Organic farming gives rice farmers more profit
Under the blazing sun, with the field paths crisscrossing, I chatted with Huang Yongxi while wandering through the rice paddies.
Why choose to grow organic rice instead of the conventional rice of the past? Huang Yongxi said, food safety is what people care about most now, and organic rice gives consumers more peace of mind.
According to Huang Yongxi, in the process of growing organic rice, no chemically synthesized pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth regulators, etc. are used, and crop growth completely follows natural laws and ecological principles. Because the amount of organic fertilizer used is about 2 times that of ordinary fertilizer, the cost of growing organic rice is relatively high, and the yield is relatively low, but the returns are still considerable. Huang Yongxi did the math: conventional rice yields about 450 kg per mu, and the company buys back dry grain at 3.26 yuan per kg, giving an output value of about 1,467 yuan per mu; organic rice yields about 300 kg per mu, and the company buys it back at 8 yuan per kg, giving an output value of about 2,400 yuan per mu, nearly 1,000 yuan higher than conventional rice. Six years ago, Huang Yongxi invested all the money he had earned from selling baijiu, rented 400 mu of paddy fields in Gulou Town, and engaged in large-scale planting, subsequently founding Hanglixiang Rice Industry Company.
“What we grow is high-quality rice produced to the unified standards of Hanglixiang Company, with a growing period about 10 days longer than ordinary rice.” Su Guiji, who served as a village cadre for more than 10 years, is 57 this year and an expert in agricultural production. The 466 mu of paddy fields he rented passed organic conversion certification in July this year, and all are grown according to organic standards. “This year the net income from this rice can be around 100,000 yuan.” Su Guiji said in a loud voice.
The reporter's investigation found that Xichong is in a hilly area, surrounded by cypress forests, with a good ecology and no pollution, very suitable for the growth of organic rice.
Without mechanization, there is no large-scale farming
Iron oxen replace plowing oxen with higher efficiency
In the agricultural machinery warehouse of Hanglixiang Company, seedling-raising machines, tillage machines, rice transplanters and other farm implements were all available. “Usually, these iron oxen stay obediently here, with no need to feed them water or grass; when it's time for them to work, just drive them out.” The manager Zhu Jiaying is a humorous person, and at this moment he was overhauling the harvester that would soon be put to use.
“Without mechanization, there is no large-scale farming. To say that I alone grew ten thousand mu of rice, what I relied on was these iron fellows.” Huang Yongxi said.
“This is a tillage machine; it can level 30 mu of fields a day, equal to 10 plowing oxen; this is a four-row rice transplanter, which can plant 15 mu of rice a day; this is a six-row ride-on rice transplanter, which can transplant 40 to 50 mu a day, more than ten times more efficient than manual labor……” Zhu Jiaying introduced the “treasures” in the warehouse one by one as if counting his family's valuables. He told the reporter that the state subsidizes 60% of the purchase of agricultural machinery. Hanglixiang Company invested a total of 11.7 million yuan and purchased 127 units/sets of agricultural machinery in six major categories, including seedling-raising machines, tillage machines, harvesters and dryers. From seedling raising, transplanting to harvesting, drying and fine processing, rice has achieved full mechanization throughout the entire process.
“Manual harvesting costs as much as 200 yuan per mu, and it is still very hard to hire workers in the busy farming season. A harvester can harvest 20 mu of rice a day, at a cost of only 50 yuan per mu. Efficiency is higher, and labor costs are saved too.”
In another 10 days, the more than 500 mu of rice of Kang Qin, a large contracting grower in the ten-thousand-mu core area, will be harvested. Before the rice harvest, ordinary farmers usually prepare drying tools and storage warehouses, but Kang Qin just strolls leisurely in the fields. “The company will send harvesters to help us harvest and arrange vehicles to transport it for drying and storage. I just need to wait for the rice to be dried, weigh it and collect the money. With the company's agricultural machinery as backing, every step can save expenses, and whatever is saved is pure profit.”
Villagers have opportunities for nearby employment
Modern large-scale planting drives farmers' income growth
“Secretary He, the rice will be harvested in a few days. Just call out if you need hands.” He Cunzhi, village party secretary of Dayuhuangong Village in Guanfeng Township, was inspecting the rice growth in the fields, and several villagers passing by had already greeted him asking to be assigned work. Since 2012, he has rented four to five hundred mu of rice fields every year for large-scale planting of high-quality rice, while also driving more than 40 villagers in the whole village into nearby employment. Most of those left behind in rural areas are elderly people, and among the hired farmers, those over 60 account for 80%.
“Now farmers are all actively asking to take part in labor.” He Cunzhi said that what struck him deeply was that in the past, when the village arranged people to work, opinions were not unified and it was hard to mobilize them, but now everyone competes to work in the fields. “I, as party secretary, am easier to be than before.” Because villagers transfer their land and rent it to the company, they can get 675 yuan per mu in land transfer fees and about 140 yuan in direct grain subsidies, and they also come to work for the company or large grain growers, earning two incomes.
According to He Cunzhi, an ordinary farmer who comes to work, if he does well, can earn 1.2 million yuan in wages for each rice season. In terms of work intensity, it is far easier than traditional farming. There is no need to carry things on the shoulders or back, most operations are completed by machinery, and the only manual work is field management, manual weeding, loading and unloading vehicles, and so on.
Wang Shuzhen, 66, is an empty-nest elderly person. Her husband died many years ago, and her children all work away from home. The elderly woman used to grow grain herself, and the annual output value of three mu of fields was only about 4,000 yuan. In drought or flood, the yield would drop or even fail completely. Now, just by working for this one rice season for 3 months, her wage income is more than 7,000 yuan, and together with the land transfer fee for three mu of fields and the direct grain subsidy, her income can reach about 10,000 yuan.