Wheat yield per mu drops from 1,400 jin to 400 jin, why such heavy losses?
In 2014, Jiang Rongnian grew 11 mu of "Xinmai 26" wheat, with a yield of more than 1,200 jin per mu. One year later, Jiang Rongnian, who planted "Xinmai 26" again, fell into distress at wheat harvest -- the yield per mu dropped straight to more than 400 jin. Nearly 300 farmers encountered similar situations, and they, suffering heavy losses, found it very hard to understand: where did the problem occur? A deputy director surnamed Zhao of the Xiping County Agriculture Bureau said that for two adjacent plots with different yields, there could be many reasons, possibly the seed, and possibly related to the plot, weather, or disease. Moreover, this year fusarium head blight was indeed more serious than in previous years.
In 2014, he grew 11 mu of "Xinmai 26" wheat, with a yield of more than 1,200 jin per mu. To promote itself, a pesticide factory had him stand in the field holding a pesticide promotional picture, and took the photo that appeared on the poster.
One year later, Jiang Rongnian, who planted "Xinmai 26" again, fell into distress at wheat harvest -- the yield per mu dropped straight to more than 400 jin. Nearly 300 farmers encountered similar situations, and they, suffering heavy losses, found it very hard to understand: where did the problem occur?
[Event]
Yield per mu changes from more than 1,400 jin to more than 400 jin
"High-quality" wheat seed shrinks severely
When 66-year-old Tian Guoyin of Dongkeng Village, Yangzhuang Township, Xiping County, talked about this year's wheat harvest, tears welled up in his eyes. His voice trembling, he lowered his head, and teardrops fell along the corners of his eyes.
Tian Guoyin is a member of Huitong Cooperative. In 2015, the cooperative promoted the planting of the strong-gluten wheat variety "Xinmai 26" and provided it to members free of charge. Because planting this wheat the previous year had brought a bumper harvest, this time he again planted all 13 mu of his family's land with "Xinmai 26". However, blessings did not come in pairs.
"After the winter solstice, the newly emerged wheat seedlings all froze to death," Tian Guoyin said. Later, people from the county agriculture bureau provided him free of charge with 600 jin of other wheat seed. After replanting in winter, by wheat harvest the average yield was more than 400 jin per mu. "Last year the yield was more than 1,400 jin per mu, and I sold it for more than 20,000 yuan, and still had more than 1,000 jin left as food grain. But this year, even if I sell it all, I cannot recover the cost."
Song Jingchun, a villager of Zhaogao Village, Zhuantan Township, encountered a similar situation. He planted 16 mu, and the yield was only 400 jin per mu. "In 30 years of growing wheat, I have never seen such a low yield." According to members of the Huitong Cooperative council, this year nearly 300 members received "Xinmai 26" from them for planting, with a planting area of about 3,000 mu, and on average the yield came to more than 400 jin per mu.
[Questions]
The "Xinmai 26" planted this time
Could there be some problem with it?
The cooperative provided high-quality seed to members, originally to lead farmers to prosperity together, but this time the Huitong Cooperative got into trouble because of "Xinmai 26". In the words of Yang Jincheng, chairman of the cooperative, "good intentions failed to accomplish a good deed."
Yang Jincheng introduced that some members had in fact already planted "Xinmai 26" for 3 years. In the first two years, the wheat seed was purchased by the cooperative after inspecting the place of origin, Xinxiang, and the yield was high and the quality good. Before the wheat was even harvested, flour mills came to seek to buy it.
This year's "Xinmai 26", however, was provided free of charge to the Huitong Cooperative through government bidding and fiscal appropriation. The winning bidder was Zhumadian's Henan Dunyuan Seed Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dunyuan"), and the wheat seed was also provided directly by that company.
"This batch of original seed not only had a low germination rate, but also suffered large-scale freezing to death, and there was a lot of mixed wheat. We suspect there is a problem with this seed, or that it is not 'Xinmai 26' at all," he said.
[Investigation]
The wheat seed was sent for testing in two separate submissions
But the two results were different
At this year's wheat harvest, the Huitong Cooperative honored its promise and purchased the wheat produced by members who planted "Xinmai 26", but because the quality was poor, the contract previously signed with a flour mill became void. At present, more than 1.4 million jin of wheat is still in the warehouse.
Zhu Mingzheng, a member of the Huitong Cooperative council, said that in April the cooperative reported the problem of "Xinmai 26" to "Dunyuan", but the two sides failed to reach an agreement on compensation for the growers.
At the end of April, the Xiping County Agriculture Bureau invited agricultural technicians to the field to investigate and appraise "Xinmai 26". In May, the agriculture bureau, the cooperative, and "Dunyuan" took samples of the unopened original seed of "Xinmai 26" in the cooperative and sent them in two separate submissions to a testing company in Zhengzhou for testing, but one result was "unqualified" and the other was "qualified".
Zhu Mingzheng said that when the two test results were inconsistent, on August 15 they nevertheless obtained from the county agriculture bureau an investigation conclusion report saying there was no problem with Dunyuan's "Xinmai 26" wheat seed.
A reporter from Henan Business Daily saw that the report had no issuing unit, no official seal, and no date. Only in item five, "Mediation Situation", did the words "by the Xiping County Agriculture Bureau Comprehensive Law Enforcement Brigade......" appear.
A captain surnamed Wang of the county agriculture bureau's law enforcement brigade told a Henan Business Daily reporter that this investigation conclusion without an official seal and date had been approved by the unit's leaders, and that the reason there was no seal was that no regulation required a seal.
[Result]
County agriculture bureau determines the seed is qualified
Farmers question "non-compliant retest"
The above investigation report mentioned that field yield measurement and appraisal showed that the dead wheat ears of "Xinmai 26" planted by some farmers were caused by a severe recurrence of wheat fusarium head blight. The initial test (the sample submitted in May) showed the sample's purity did not meet the standard, while the retest (the sample submitted in July) met the standard. According to Article 36 of the Measures for the Administration of Product Quality Supervision and Random Inspection, this batch of wheat seed did not meet the conditions for being inferior, and "Dunyuan" recognized the second retest result and refused mediation.
Regarding this investigation conclusion, multiple damaged farmers and members of the Huitong Cooperative council said that the official conclusion was too hasty and had many unreasonable points.
Zhu Mingzheng said that a retest should be requested within 15 days of receiving the report, but the retest mentioned in the conclusion was two months after the first test. "This does not conform to retest standards, yet the conclusion uses the retest result as the final determination."
On August 19, a Henan Business Daily reporter found the above testing institution in Zhengzhou. The reviewer surnamed Wang on the test result sheet said that because the interval between the two tests was long and the samples tested were not from the same package, they did not conform to retest standards and were two separate tests.
In addition, regarding the conclusion's statement that the dead wheat ears were caused by a severe recurrence of wheat fusarium head blight, damaged farmer Dong Guoyan questioned that villager Dong Guoying, whose wheat field was adjacent to his, also planted more than 3 mu of "Xinmai 26", but Dong Guoying bought the seed from the county town and achieved a yield of more than 1,170 jin per mu, while his own yield was only 420 jin per mu. "They are all 'Xinmai 26', so why did this side get the disease and that side not?"
Progress
Officials say they will report the situation upward
A final conclusion will be made after study
On the afternoon of August 18, a deputy director surnamed Zhao of the Xiping County Agriculture Bureau said that for two adjacent plots with different yields, there could be many reasons, possibly the seed, and possibly related to the plot, weather, or disease. Moreover, this year fusarium head blight was indeed more serious than in previous years.
Regarding the growers' question about the "non-compliant retest", he said that the report had been reported to the Zhumadian City Agriculture Bureau law enforcement team, and that they had also consulted experts and lawyers and agreed with this investigation report. After the public raised questions, law enforcement team personnel again reported the situation to the city, and a conclusion would be made after study.
Is there actually a problem with this batch of "Xinmai 26" seed? What progress will the official investigation make? A Henan Business Daily reporter will continue to follow up.
(Original title: Yield per mu changes from 1,400 jin to 400 jin; Xiping County Agriculture Bureau of Zhumadian determines the seed is qualified)