Sharing economy lets farmers profit more: A 50-50 split gives rise to a new agricultural model
Gazing into the distance, rows of white greenhouses stand neatly arranged, stretching on without end; outside the greenhouses the weather is freezing cold, while inside it is as warm as spring, with tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants growing vigorously; trucks stream by in an endless flow, delivering freshly picked vegetables to sales outlets everywhere……This is the scene a reporter saw a few days ago at the modern agricultural industry demonstration park of the Nonghe Yifeng Planting Professional Cooperative in Caizhuang Village, Zhengjia Town, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province.
A 50-50 split gives rise to a new agricultural production and sales model
“All we do is go to the contracted greenhouse and grow vegetables; we don't have to worry about building the greenhouse, management, pesticides and fertilizers, sales or anything else. The base has dedicated staff for all of that. After the vegetables are sold, we just wait to collect half of the income.” On December 1, 2015, the Luxi Plain once again welcomed a bright sunny day. Early in the morning, Wang Zhenwu of Caizhuang Village went to “work” in the No. 51 greenhouse he had contracted.
“My family's 7 mu of contracted land was transferred to the cooperative at a price of 900 jin of wheat per mu. Before the transfer, growing field crops brought in less than 2000 per mu per year; after the transfer, the rent is more than 1000 per mu per year. In addition, after the transfer the land was converted to greenhouse vegetable cultivation, and with the 50-50 split I earn more than twenty thousand per mu per year. The benefit is more than ten times what it was before the land transfer.” Wang Zhenwu cleared snow while doing the accounts for the reporter. “The greenhouse I contracted covers 2 mu. The tomatoes planted in August 2015 initially had low yields, only a bit more than 4000 jin, and sold for 4180 yuan. After deducting 340 yuan for fertilizer and 170 yuan for pesticides, the remainder was split 50-50 with the company, and in October I took 1835 yuan. In November the yield reached 5000 jin and the price rose to 2 yuan, so I got nearly five thousand myself.”
The “company” Wang Zhenwu referred to is Liaocheng Yifeng Chain Supermarket Co., Ltd. In January 2013, drawing on land transfer, the company established the Shandong Liaocheng Nonghe Yifeng Vegetable and Grain Planting Professional Cooperative, with plans to invest 100 million yuan and transfer 10,000 mu of land to build a modern agricultural industry demonstration park. In October of the same year, with nearly ten million in financial support from the province, city and district, Yifeng Company invested 26 million yuan to start the first-phase project, transferring in one go 2260 mu of land from 320 households in Wenji Village, Caizhuang Village and Mozhuang Village, and building 500 mu of high-standard solar greenhouses and 700 mu of large arched greenhouses, creating an agricultural base integrating fruit and vegetable cultivation, processing, sales, introduction of new varieties and technical training.
⟦NL
In 2013 Yifeng Supermarket already had 62 stores in Liaocheng City, and its annual sales of vegetables alone reached about 100 million yuan. “Buying from others is selling, and growing our own is also selling, and we can supervise quality and safety. People get to eat safe and cheap fresh vegetables, the supermarket expands its profit margin, farmers gain another channel to prosperity, and the sharing economy achieves a win-win for all. Why not do it?” Firmly committed to this idea, company general manager Wang Guangsheng returned to his hometown to begin his “new journey of entrepreneurship.” The demonstration park employs more than 300 rural laborers and has brought tangible benefits to local villagers.
Five unifications guard the first gate of food safety
Every day, Chang Linan collects samples from 10 greenhouses for testing. This big boy, a graduate of the Agricultural College of Liaocheng University, is a quality inspector at the demonstration park's testing center. “Besides guiding farmers in the use of pesticides, our main job is to test whether pesticide residues in agricultural products exceed the limit, ensuring that every batch of produce on the market meets safety standards.” Chang Linan picked up a tomato with a slightly greenish skin and said that because of the recent stretch of cloudy days, the tomatoes colored slowly and looked poor, and some people outside would improve their appearance by coating them with chemicals, but this is prohibited in the park. “Although it doesn't look good on the outside, it's red inside and tastes very good too.” Chang Linan casually picked one, broke it open and handed it to the reporter.
To ensure the quality of fruits and vegetables, the demonstration park strictly follows green and pollution-free standards in production and implements the “five unifications” management measures, namely unified production materials: the base uniformly selects high-quality, high-yield and safe improved seeds for sowing; uniformly purchases fertilizers, pesticides and other production materials from manufacturers and distributes them to cooperative growers without markup; and adopts advanced irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation and pipe irrigation, laying the agricultural materials foundation for producing high-quality, safe agricultural products.
Unified technical guidance: in light of the coverage of crop varieties planted in the demonstration park, well-known experts and skilled growers from Shandong Agricultural University, the Liaocheng City Agriculture Bureau, the District Agriculture Bureau and the District Vegetable Office are invited to provide on-site guidance, and vegetable expert researcher Du Guangshen is hired as a consultant to the base, comprehensively raising the technical and management capabilities of growers.