College-graduate farmers usher in Agriculture 3.0 era

The yield per unit is 40% lower than ordinary vegetables, yet the output value is more than 5 times higher. In Chongqing, the organic vegetables grown by "college-graduate farmer" Zheng Lingyun command exactly this kind of "price tag."

As agriculture transforms and upgrades, a group of "college-graduate farmers" who are knowledgeable, technically skilled and good at management has emerged in rural areas across Chongqing. They jumped out of the "farm gate" only to return to it: growing vegetables with an average output value of more than 15,000 yuan per mu; developing customized-membership produce and opening boutique counters in supermarkets; growing roses, from which they not only extract high-value essential oil but also attract 150,000 tourists each year to experience the Rose Love Festival...

With deeper insights into agricultural development and the rational combination of capital, technology, branding and land, many "college-graduate farmers" are bringing entirely new production models, market concepts and innovative vitality to rural development.

Mi Chun, a college graduate born in the 1980s, graduated from Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications with a degree in Electronic Information Engineering. Following the traditional career path of college graduates, he traveled more than 1,000 kilometers east to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, worked in an electronics factory and did foreign trade, becoming one of the many white-collar workers striving in coastal cities.

In 2013, Mi Chun's career trajectory took a sudden turn. He chose to return to his hometown of Tongnan, Chongqing, and plunged headlong into agriculture, creating his own wealth from the land.

Leaving the city and returning to farming inevitably means hardship. In the hilly terrain of southwest China, the land is fragmented, with one mu split into more than 10 plots. Smallholder farming does not make money, and much of the land had been abandoned for years, with volunteer trees grown as thick as a bowl's rim. To level the land, Mi Chun's family of five all pitched in, pushing micro tillers or even relying on manual labor, working for half a month before they finally reclaimed more than 30 mu of land.

Strawberry seedlings are planted at the end of August, right during Chongqing's summer drought. The sun blazes during the day, and once it sets, they must hurry to water the fields and preserve soil moisture. Mi Chun's family dragged a water pipe over 40 meters long, watering the seedlings one by one, working from 5 p.m. until past 2 a.m....

Every drop of sweat earns a measure of reward. After more than 3 years of farming, Mi Chun's family farm has expanded to more than 50 mu, with another 50 mu reserved for future development. Relying on leisure and sightseeing tourism, the farm's grapes and strawberries basically need not go to market at all -- they are picked clean by visitors right in the fields, with annual sales approaching 300,000 yuan.

Tongnan is a major agricultural district in Chongqing, and in recent years more than 100 "college-graduate farmers" like Mi Chun have emerged there. Tang Bangfu, director of the Tongnan District Agriculture Committee, has long followed this group. He says that currently "college-graduate farmers" mainly come from three sources: first, those with academic backgrounds in agriculture-related fields who bring technology and capital to start businesses in rural areas; second, those who see the "profit prospects" of agriculture and want the convenience of caring for family nearby, choosing to resign and return home; third, those whose families already have large-scale farming operations in rural areas and who come home to "help out" after graduating from university.

What exactly is the biggest change that "college-graduate farmers" bring to agriculture and rural areas by farming? After in-depth exchanges with dozens of "college-graduate farmers," it was found that the biggest change is the transformation of mindset. When horizons expand, so does the world. What follows college graduates to the countryside is an entirely new agricultural marketing model, organizational approach and innovative vitality.

Zhang Tian, who was assistant to the president of a listed company in Beijing, gave up a comfortable life with an annual salary of 300,000 yuan in 2012 and resolutely chose to return to her hometown to start a business.

Also running a rural guesthouse, Zhang Tian thought more about how to make "a small orchard do big business." Through exploration, she found two paths: first, focus on building farm-experience tourism. In more than 70 mu of orchard, 48 types of fruit are planted. Each type of fruit covers less than 2 mu, ensuring there is no oversupply that would leave fruit unsold, while also guaranteeing no "supply gaps" throughout the year; second, deep processing of fruit, relying on technological research and development to produce fruit wine, fruit vinegar and other products.

"Different ideas shape different agriculture." In Zhang Tian's eyes, agricultural operation has clear generational boundaries: her parents' generation farmed, carried produce on their shoulders to sell at markets and earned hard-earned money -- that is the 1.0 era of agricultural product sales; she returned home to run rural tourism, letting tourists actively come to the countryside to buy -- that is the 2.0 era; now, using the WeChat platform to build a fan economy, with online orders and offline direct supply, it is already the 3.0 era.

In Zhang Tian's WeChat sales group for ecological agricultural products, there are more than 3,000 loyal consumers. From chickens, ducks, fish and eggs to rice, tea, melons and fruit, because the products are green and environmentally friendly with guaranteed quality, demand exceeds supply, with monthly sales exceeding 80,000 yuan.