Agricultural Mechanization Boosts Modern Agriculture, Reviving the Vitality of Traditional Farming
As a support policy for farmers, farm workers, specialized agricultural machinery households and organizations directly engaged in agricultural production services to purchase and upgrade agricultural machinery, the agricultural machinery purchase subsidy has always been an important part of the national “three subsidies” policy for strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers, and is also an important measure for implementing the No. 1 Central Document. How exactly has this policy been implemented in our city and what results has it achieved? Recently, reporters interviewed some farmers, specialized agricultural machinery cooperatives and heads of agricultural machinery departments.
Traditional Agriculture Regains New Vitality
“A 130,000 yuan harvester, I only paid 70,000 yuan for it. Would you say that's a good deal or not? In 2009, I was the only one doing this. Later, when everyone saw I was making money fast, they all came to ask about it and started working with me.” In Chuankou Village, Chuankou Township, Lingbao City, 47-year-old Shao Qingwang said happily that he used to be a farmer who genuinely depended on the weather for his livelihood, and every year he had to carefully calculate his spending. But since 2009, when he got a taste of the benefits of the agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, by continuously expanding his scale, he is now the chairman of Lingbao City Qingwang Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative, with more than 20 specialized agricultural machinery tools of different types and functions under his name. During busy farming seasons such as the "three summers" and "three autumns," he leads cooperative members not only to help nearby villagers harvest wheat and corn, but also to "make the rounds" in places like Nanyang and Weinan.
In recent years, Sanmenxia City has vigorously promoted various types of agricultural machinery through the agricultural machinery subsidy policy, reviving the vitality of our city's traditional agriculture and setting modern agriculture on a new journey. In 2013, the city allocated 31.654 million yuan in agricultural machinery subsidies and reward funds, total power reached 1.752 million kilowatts, professional cooperatives reached 88, 9 characteristic agricultural machinery demonstration sites were built, conservation tillage technology was promoted over an area of 370,000 mu, and mechanized corn harvesting covered an area of 320,000 mu.
According to staff from the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Office, since the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly launched the agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, our city has strictly followed procedures, carried out extensive publicity, carefully organized efforts, clarified responsibilities and standardized operations. In the first half of 2014 alone, 16,666,420 yuan in agricultural machinery purchase subsidy funds were distributed, covering 7,682 machines of types including tillage and land preparation, planting and fertilization, field management, and livestock and aquaculture machinery, benefiting 6,041 farming households.
“I can't even keep up with all the work now. I need to quickly buy a few more machines. Anyway, for full-price machine purchases, Postal Savings provides loans, so it's very convenient!” Shao Qingwang said that during annual maintenance, the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Bureau provides door-to-door service, so everyone doesn't need to travel.
Characteristic Agriculture Embarks on Modernization
Lush and dense, with cicadas chirping loudly. At the grape base of Shangpin Landscape Flowers and Trees Co., Ltd. in Hubin District, employees are busy loading trucks, answering phones, preparing delivery orders and sealing boxes. “‘Shangpin's grapes can speak for themselves.’ This is the genuine evaluation consumers have given us.” Chairman Zhang Hongbo said that top-tier shopping malls such as Carrefour, Dennis and RT-Mart place continuous orders with us, and this is inseparable from the grapes' excellent taste, while the sweet, mild flavor is closely linked to the soil environment.
Speaking about the application of agricultural machinery and equipment in large-scale planting, Zhang Hongbo spoke with great familiarity: “The traditional weeding method uses pesticides. The weeds die, but pesticide residue endangers food safety. Now, through the agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, we have introduced backpack brush cutters. Not only are they lightweight and fast, but they can also achieve secondary utilization of plants through ‘passing through the belly and returning to the field,’ effectively preventing soil alkalization and salinization, forming a virtuous cycle, thereby ensuring the green and healthy nature of crops and increasing economic returns.”
According to reports, within 3 years Shangpin Landscape has successively transferred nearly 10,000 mu of land, and has introduced multiple types of characteristic agricultural machinery including micro tillers, air-assisted sprayers, trailed sprayers, ditching and film-covering machines, and orchard fertilizer applicators, enjoying more than 400,000 yuan in subsidies. Through technical assistance, it has also driven surrounding farmers to adopt large-scale planting, reduced labor intensity, achieved an annual profit of 38 million yuan and become a benchmark enterprise for becoming wealthy through scientific planting.
“The agricultural machinery operation areas in Hubin District are mainly divided into a socialized service demonstration belt, a sightseeing agriculture demonstration belt and a facility agriculture demonstration belt, covering the four major characteristic agricultural sectors of forestry and fruit, vegetables, aquaculture and nursery stock and flowers. Full coverage of agricultural machinery services has now been achieved.” Chen Shumin, Director of the Hubin District Agricultural Machinery Bureau, said that next, Hubin District will vigorously promote agricultural mechanization toward a three-dimensional, multi-layered direction of enriching the people, making it more refined, larger and stronger.
Cooperatives Become a “Treasure Bowl” for Prosperity
“Normally we communicate with members through our website and Feixin, and we even uniformly issued membership certificates.” At the Lingbao City Zhengda Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative, Chairman Wang Jianbo said that according to the principles of “voluntary joining, freedom to withdraw, scientific management and common development,” Zhengda Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative continuously improves its member admission system, financial distribution system and machinery management system, clarifies unified standards for agricultural machinery operations, and actively encourages members to adopt flexible methods of contracted plowing, planting, harvesting and management, promoting land transfer, expanding the scale of land operations and building agricultural machinery services into a comprehensive, fast, distinctive and excellent main carrier of modern agriculture.
As of now, Lingbao City Zhengda Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative has grown from its initial 6 members and 5 machines to 203 people and 560 agricultural machinery tools. Its service scope has also expanded from the original single plowing and planting to 23 items including agricultural machinery promotion, agricultural machinery repair, agricultural machinery operations, second-hand vehicle transactions, land trusteeship and land transfer.
The head of the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Office introduced that in order to cultivate and guide the development of agricultural machinery professional cooperatives, the Municipal Agricultural Machinery Office regularly organizes chairmen of professional cooperatives across the city to participate in business training, and organizes trainees to visit and study in places such as Xinzheng, Yuncheng and Luoyang. Notable results have been achieved in exploring large-scale planting combining agricultural machinery and agronomy, intensive management, comprehensive integrated application of agricultural mechanization science and technology, and innovation in management service mechanisms. This official said that with the healthy development of agricultural machinery professional cooperatives, agricultural mechanization will surely add wings of takeoff to the development of our city's modern agriculture.