How does "storing grain in technology" get implemented? Down-to-earth use of agricultural science and technology
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When I first saw the list of the "Second National Top Ten Farmers," I thought Li Sumin, chairman of the "Zhaoxian Sumin Grain Planting Professional Cooperative," was a woman - "su" meaning elegant and pure, "min" meaning eager to learn - and pictured a clever, refined rural beauty. Only later did I learn that this person is a full-fledged "man's man"!
But interviewing this "man's man" Li Sumin proved quite troublesome. First he said he was at CCTV recording an awards gala, then that he was away on a research trip, then that leaders were inspecting...
The harder he was to interview, the more curious I became. So I looked up many reports about Li Sumin: in 2004, after many years in business, Li Sumin quit his job in the county town, returned to his village and contracted 180 mu of land, plunging headlong into the fields and truly becoming a farmer. Eleven years later, he delivered an astonishing report card: in 2012 he founded the "Zhaoxian Sumin Grain Planting Professional Cooperative," later rated by the Ministry of Agriculture as a "National Farmer Cooperative Demonstration Cooperative"; in 2013 he founded the first registered family farm in our province, named a "Star Demonstration Family Farm" by the Zhaoxian County People's Government in 2014; in 2007 and 2012 he twice won the title of "National Major Grain Grower"; he held the honorary title of "Shijiazhuang Municipal Model Farmer Worker" for 2010-2012; in 2014 he was awarded the honorary title of "Good Farmer of Zhaoxian" by the county government. In 2015 he became the only "National Top Ten Farmer" in our province.
Behind all these halos, what kind of farmer is he? Having successfully transformed from a businessman into a professional farmer, what trials did he go through? With so many new-type professional farmers emerging under the encouragement of national agricultural benefit policies, how did he come out on top?
On January 29 (the 20th day of the 12th lunar month), braving the winter wind and snow, this writer arrived at Xujiazhai Village, Nanbaishe Township, Zhaoxian County, to meet the long-awaited Li Sumin.
Celebrity Li Sumin - I'm just a farmer
Surrounded by vast stretches of wheat fields, one farm courtyard stands out prominently. On the white wall, bright red characters proclaim slogans such as "Fulfill the dream of the professional farmer, fulfill the dream of modern agriculture, fulfill the dream of large-scale operation." This is the "office area" of Li Sumin's family farm and cooperative. On the wall by the gate hang six bronze plaques, including "New Variety Trial Base of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences," "National-Level Demonstration Cooperative," and "Zhaoxian New-Type Professional Farmer Training Project Internship Base."
Li Sumin's office is small and exquisite. Certificates, bronze plaques, and photos of leaders' inspections and training sessions fill all four walls; even the metal cabinet and the back of the sofa are packed full. The golden "National Top Ten Farmer" trophy sits quietly in the metal cabinet.
Li Sumin, 49, is of medium build, with small but bright eyes, and dresses neatly and appropriately, much like a white-collar worker in the city. Facing this writer, Li Sumin smiled, but his narrowed eyes showed slight irritation: "I've said everything there is to say. It's just that little bit. I have to repeat it to whoever comes. You'd better go back and read the materials - they're online too." When he saw this writer open a notebook and take out a voice recorder, the irritation in his eyes grew stronger.
"I've come on behalf of farmer readers to learn from your experience. Don't you think being a 'National Top Ten Farmer' is both an honor and a responsibility?"
After hearing this writer out, his eyes turned solemn, but the smile on his face relaxed.
"I'm just a farmer! I never expected to be chosen as one of the national top ten. I hope I can live up to this honor and just focus on farming well."
Li Sumin's family farm mainly cooperates with research institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences to test, demonstrate and promote new wheat and corn varieties and new technologies. Each year it breeds, tests and demonstrates 18 or 19 new wheat varieties, and tests, demonstrates, displays and screens more than 200 new corn varieties. There are also very tedious agricultural science and technology trials, such as different varieties, sowing dates, sowing rates, and different fertilization and irrigation methods, and so on. In his words, it's "trials within trials" - without a bit of patience and a drive to study hard, it would be hard to do well.
Formula fertilization, planting dense-planting-tolerant varieties, precision single-seed sowing, integrated water-fertilizer-pesticide management, unified prevention and control of pests and diseases... With the application of a large number of practical new agricultural technologies and the planting of new varieties, Li Sumin's family farm has basically enjoyed a bumper harvest every year, providing the country each year with 170,000 kg of safe, high-quality wheat and 180,000 kg of high-quality corn. In 2014 and 2015, for two consecutive years, the average wheat yield exceeded 600 kg per mu, increasing income by 120 yuan per mu.
"Storing grain in technology" may be one of the reasons Li Sumin was elected one of the national top ten farmers.
Farmer Li Sumin - likes the title of professional farmer best
Why give up living in the county town and come back to be a farmer?
Li Sumin laughed heartily and said, agriculture has prospects! At the time, the state fully abolished the agricultural tax and implemented a series of other agricultural benefit policies, and he felt that farming and growing grain were sure to have a future!
Only after plunging headlong into the fields did he realize that farming was not so simple. He used plenty of good fertilizer and good pesticides, and did whatever others did, yet he always lost money. After paying "tuition" for several years in a row, Li Sumin finally recognized the importance of technology. With the same drive he had shown in business, he began actively contacting agricultural experts at the county, city, provincial, and even "national-level" levels. In this way, he successively established long-term cooperative relationships with units such as the county agriculture and animal husbandry bureau, the provincial academy of agricultural sciences, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and through this actively sought agricultural projects to test, demonstrate and promote new wheat and corn varieties and new technologies.
To cooperate with the experts, over the past 11 years Li Sumin has participated in various training programs, including those for practical talent leaders organized by the Central Organization Department and the Ministry of Agriculture, national farmer cooperative demonstration cooperatives, and new-type professional farmers, and he even obtained a secondary specialized school diploma. With a big stack of certificates and a pile of titles, he has even served as a judge on the expert panel for the "Performance Evaluation of Post Experts of the Hebei Wheat Innovation Team of the Modern Agricultural Industry Technology System." At this, he smiled honestly and said, "We have to live up to all the hard work the experts put into their trials. We can't mess it up for them."