Dingding's Agricultural Complex: An Indissoluble Bond with the Land

From seedling cultivation and sales, to taking the path of strawberry e-commerce, to direct farm-to-store fresh produce sales, college student Dingding from Hefei, Anhui Province, has tasted both bitterness and sweetness along the way.

Dingding is from Xiaomiao Town, Shushan District. In 2004, he studied securities investment at Anhui Radio and Television University. After graduation, he went to Nantong, Jiangsu Province, to work in sales agency, earning six or seven thousand yuan a month with a worry-free life. After returning to Hefei in 2009, he self-studied for a law bachelor's degree. That year, when he went back to his hometown, he found that the farmland was seriously abandoned, with most villagers going out to work and only the elderly and children left in the village.

Could he use the resources at hand to do something back home? This was Dingding's initial thought. He quit his job and, despite his friends' incomprehension, returned to his hometown. Following local government policies, Dingding developed the seedling cultivation industry. He contracted over 50 mu of farmland and bought seedlings that were in short supply on the market at low prices from other places, tending to them with dedication. He also sold saplings to surrounding farmers at original price and discussed cultivation experience together. Seedlings had good returns, and the market was key. Dingding often traveled around to promote mature seedlings, and after gathering market information from various places, he formed a sales network.

2014 was the year of Dingding's biggest transformation. He invested in transferring nearly 70 mu of land at a strawberry base and began growing greenhouse strawberries, which had nothing to do with his major. Unlike past wholesale sales, he registered an online store and started selling premium strawberries via e-commerce.

As is well known, strawberries are not easy to store and transport. Long-distance travel causes great loss, and the return and exchange rate is very high. To solve this problem, Dingding carefully selected and "beautified" the strawberries. Every day, Dingding would check the order addresses, then combine the en-route environment and local weather conditions to choose ice packs and shock-proof bags. He would pick at 4 p.m., pack directly, and ship on time at 5 p.m. Temperatures are low at night, and strawberries keep well, generally arriving at their destination by 10 a.m. the next day.

To learn more about the strawberry online sales market, Dingding often placed orders with other strawberry online stores across the country as a buyer. "After receiving the goods, I compare prices, taste, packaging methods, and also how to be cute with buyers to provide good service and close the distance."

Thanks to the hot sales of his own new "Hongyan Strawberry" variety and rave reviews, sales kept rising, reaching Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and as far as Urumqi. "At the peak price, it could sell for 40 yuan per jin." This meant that selling one jin online earned nearly 20 yuan more than the wholesale price.

Besides busy work in the fields, he also enrolled in the agricultural economics program of Anhui Agricultural University's in-service education. "There are certainly many confusions. Besides humbly asking other growers for advice, I also need to recharge and study more," Dingding said.

Dingding told reporters that if agricultural products continue to follow the traditional wholesale or sales model, they will fall into disorderly competition, which is not conducive to expanding the market. With the help of online platforms, not only can sales be boosted, but other industries can also be driven to develop together. Surrounding growers also followed suit. At first, they did not even know how to register an online store. Dingding took time to specially train these farmers, teaching them without reservation how to package and pack to ensure sales and quality.

This year, Dingding expanded the planting area by another 10 mu. Considering the large upfront cost investment, the local government also provided him with an 80,000 yuan interest-free loan.

Dingding's arrival gave villagers with surplus labor in the village an additional source of income. The strawberry base needs workers year-round. Combining women and elderly people who farm at home, Dingding hired them as hourly workers at 7 yuan per hour, coming and going as they please, earning fifty or sixty yuan a day without delaying their own affairs.

Now, Dingding has set his sights on the premium agricultural product market and started a physical store business. He opened a fresh produce direct-sales supermarket in the town, engaging in direct sales of agricultural products, gathering fresh fruits, vegetables and ingredients from the fields and selling them through in-store experience and e-commerce operations.

At this time, Dingding, who had studied financial knowledge, analyzed the cost risk. "If I only run one store, counting transportation and labor, expenses will be large. If I open several stores, these costs will be spread out." Dingding told reporters that the current site selection starts temporarily from the urban-rural fringe and will gradually expand to urban areas, so that these fresh green agricultural products truly reach thousands of households. "The first store has already opened smoothly on 'May Day,' focusing on direct farm-to-store fresh produce, selling fruits and vegetables freshly picked from the fields." Dingding is full of confidence about the future.

Ma Jie, our reporter Yang Dandan