Dingxi, Gansu turns "little grass" into a big industry

In August, the landscape of central Gansu is lush and green, with grass growing and birds flying. Once the dog days of summer arrive, it is the best time to harvest high-quality oat grass. In the high-quality oat grass fields planted on contiguous terraced land in Zhengchuan Village, Xingyuan Township, Anding District, Dingxi City, Gansu Province, Li Bing, head of the Hengjia Planting Farmers' Cooperative, is organizing the cooperative's machinery operators to seize the farming season and busy themselves with harvesting. The fields roar with the sound of machines, and the "iron oxen" bustle about, playing a symphony in the fields.

Dingxi, located in central Gansu, is known for large-scale cultivation of potatoes and Chinese medicinal herbs, and is called China's "Potato Capital." In response to the situation in recent years in which young and middle-aged laborers go out to work and arable land is left idle, Dingxi City has made the forestry and grass industry, which requires less labor and yields high returns, a strategic leading industry, and has proposed the goal of building a "Grass Capital of western China."

After being demobilized in 2007, veteran Li Bing took on projects and did construction work in **, and was a well-known local construction boss. "I heard that my hometown was developing the grass industry, but the villagers lacked funds, so I thought about coming back to work together with them." Li Bing has the vigorous and resolute drive unique to soldiers. This year he built a veteran entrepreneurship base in his hometown to develop the grass industry and drive the surrounding people out of poverty toward prosperity. "I want to realize the dream of a moderately prosperous life for the villagers in the mountains."

With the support and help of the government, Li Bing established three professional cooperatives: Hengjia Planting, Yitong Agricultural Machinery, and Hengjia Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, with registered capital of 11.5 million yuan. Over the past two years, he has transferred 4,800 mu of land from 230 farming households, all used for growing grass. "I planted oats, alfalfa and silage corn. I don't worry about sales, and I make money relatively quickly," Li Bing said.

Gansu Minxiang Forage Co., Ltd. in Anding District presents another scene. Here, agricultural vehicles delivering oat grass line up in a long queue, large grass grabbers operate at full power, and wrapped silage machinery processes grass products day and night, a busy and flourishing scene.

"Silage forage is really good. It is convenient to transport, and it is a 'nutrition pack' that cattle and sheep all love to eat. Fattening and marketing come early, and growing grass and raising livestock fattens the wallet," said Lin Yimin, head of the company, humorously. This year, the company has already purchased and processed more than 30,000 tons of purple alfalfa and more than 40,000 tons of high-quality oat grass, and will process and sell more than 500,000 tons of grass products for the whole year.

Zhang Jinchuan, director of the Anding District Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau, did some calculations: "If corn is planted, each mu can harvest about 900 jin of corn kernels. At 1 yuan per jin, that is more than 900 yuan in income. If silage corn is purchased, each mu produces 4.5 tons of grass. At 300 yuan per ton, that brings in 1,350 yuan, increasing farmers' income by 450 yuan per mu."

In Anding District, the core area of forage cultivation in Dingxi City, grass output has grown from tens of thousands of tons in earlier years to 1 million tons now. The district has adopted a model led by enterprises and driven by large households to make the most of the "grass story." As of now, it has cultivated more than 2,000 large feed-growing households, established 81 grass industry cooperatives, 19 forage planting service teams, and set up 123 forage purchasing points. In 2015, local farmers' per capita income from the grass industry was 800 yuan. Lin Yimin, head of Gansu Minxiang Forage Company, told reporters that their company adopts the business models of "contract farming," "company + cooperative," and "company + large growers." Driven by the enterprise, the annual contracted planting order area reaches more than 180,000 mu, driving more than 36,000 farming households across the district, and establishing 54 contract purchasing points, enabling alfalfa growers and forage oat growers to earn more than 1,200 yuan per mu per year, and whole-plant corn and sweet sorghum growers to earn more than 1,500 yuan per mu.

"When the wind blows, the grass bends low and cattle and sheep appear." Dingxi City has made the most of the "grass" story, singing the song of "little grass," turning "little grass" into a "big industry," greening the hillsides and enriching the villagers. In 2015, the city's perennial forage acreage, mainly purple alfalfa and oat grass, reached 3 million mu, and the total output value of the forage industry reached 13 billion yuan. In Anding District, the core production area, the perennial forage acreage has remained stable at more than 800,000 mu.