Xuwen Pineapple Turmoil: Behind It Lies the Predicament of Agricultural Technology Extension

In late April, news spread about the unsold backlog of Xuwen pineapples. The field purchase price of the local pineapple variety "Bali" had fallen to 0.3-0.4 yuan/jin, with a few substandard fruits going for as little as 0.12 yuan/jin, far below the cost price - a grim situation rarely seen in the past 20 years. After various "market rescue" efforts and market adjustment, by early May, the Xuwen pineapple market gradually recovered, with prices for high-quality fruit rising all the way, reaching a peak of around 2 yuan/jin, and for the first time entering the international market. (Southern Daily, May 26)

From the reports, it can be seen that Xuwen's breakthrough in the unsold pineapple situation was, to a large extent, a passive emergency response - a last-minute measure taken at the very end of the pineapple production and sales chain, the sales link. It exposed many inadequacies and weak points in the local agricultural product sales process. For example, the news of the unsold pineapples only became market information through media reports, private WeChat group postings, and the holding of a pineapple culture tourism festival, indicating that the local awareness and responsiveness regarding market information dissemination for pineapple production and sales is backward and sluggish. Another example: the online promotion of the unsold pineapples was the result of an agricultural B2B e-commerce trading platform taking the initiative to contact the local agricultural bureau, showing that the local area lacks internet thinking in agricultural product sales.

Looking deeper into the sales link, it is not hard to find that the Xuwen pineapple backlog is more a problem of the production domain and the planting link. Strictly and accurately speaking, it was only the pineapple variety "Bali," which targets the general market, that was unsold. Some new varieties aimed at the high-end market, such as "Golden Pineapple" and "Tainong," maintained firm prices, with selling prices reaching more than twice that of "Bali." However, of Xuwen's current 260,000-plus mu of pineapples, about 98% are the ordinary variety "Bali." Viewed this way, the variety factor is an important cause of this pineapple backlog.

The old variety "Bali" has been planted for decades on end. It is not that the local agricultural authorities and farmers fail to recognize the superiority of new varieties. Farmers have strongly voiced their demand for new varieties, and the local area has made attempts and efforts in promoting new varieties. But hampered by a lack of seedlings and funds and the difficulty of planting management, the awkward situation persists where old varieties still dominate. China Agricultural University also once promoted integrated water-and-fertilizer technology for pineapple cultivation in Xuwen, which was likewise very difficult to roll out. Compared with Hainan, which is close at hand, the pineapple industry there develops quickly, and an important reason is that new varieties are promoted quickly, while planting technology is more advanced and great attention is paid to product quality. This shows that the introduction and promotion of new varieties is a fundamental and decisive factor in boosting pineapple production and sales.

In fact, as the fruits of agricultural technological innovation, the introduction and planting of new varieties is a vast systematic project of agricultural extension. It is far from merely a technical issue; rather, it is comprehensive, all-level construction work concerning agriculture, farmers, and rural areas. It requires scientific design, coordinated implementation, and the pooling of forces from agriculture, finance, and other sectors working in concert to advance together before real results can be achieved. In Guangdong, a government-led agricultural technology extension network has taken initial shape, and there is a relatively high-quality agricultural technology extension team and a relatively well-developed extension mechanism. The scope of extension services has continued to expand and service capacity has steadily strengthened, and some progress has been made in building the extension system. Yet some prominent problems remain, and there is still no small distance from the requirements of modern agricultural development.

According to a slightly earlier research article by a person from the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the prominent problems in Guangdong's agricultural technology extension can be summarized as follows: in the agricultural science and technology extension system, there is excessive reliance on government driving, while multi-channel, multi-level, and multi-form participation by social forces such as leading agricultural enterprises, specialized cooperatives, and research institutions remains very weak; in the grassroots foundation of agricultural technology extension, much strengthening is still needed. According to statistics, 40% of grassroots agricultural extension stations have outdated working methods and lack relevant instruments and equipment. Agricultural technicians are mainly over 50 years old, with few young and middle-aged people; the proportion of professional and technical personnel is relatively low, and education and training are insufficient - this is especially prominent in the east and west wings of the province and the mountainous areas of northern Guangdong. In the training of the agricultural labor force, 91% of the province's people engaged in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and side occupations have an education level of junior high school or below, and only about 3% have received any kind of professional training.

The imperfect systems and mechanisms of agricultural technology extension have caused Guangdong's agricultural science and technology contribution rate and the conversion rate of agricultural technology achievements to be far lower than those of developed countries, which is very inconsistent with Guangdong's image as a major economic province. At the same time, it has further affected the process of agricultural development and farmers' incomes. Such a situation exists not only in Guangdong but in many places, and is highly widespread. Behind the Xuwen pineapple backlog is a predicament of agricultural technology extension that must be cracked. Xuwen's "pineapple turmoil" is a cautionary event for agricultural technology extension and modern agricultural development. Including Xuwen, all relevant parties in various places should ponder it deeply and, even more, act quickly.