Shenqiu, Henan: 300,000 mu of wheat signed up for "field nannies"

“I won't go back this year; the wheat harvest and autumn planting are entrusted to an agricultural cooperative.” This was the WeChat message Li Dong, who works in Tianjin and is from the Dongcheng office of Shenqiu County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province, sent to the head of the Zhenxing Agricultural Cooperative on May 22.

“This time 26 households in the village signed agreements with the Zhenxing Agricultural Cooperative, and 240 mu of wheat fields have been placed under trusteeship. By signing up for a ‘field nanny’, in addition to the wheat harvest, the sowing, fertilizing and spraying of the autumn crops are also entrusted to the cooperative. Not only do the villagers have less to worry about in farming, they can also go out to work and earn money.” Talking about what the trusteeship services run by the agricultural cooperative have brought to the villagers, villager Li Hongyin joked.

To meet the demand for large-scale planting and mechanized operations brought by the accelerating pace of land transfer, Shenqiu County has actively guided large grain growers and large agricultural machinery operators to establish agricultural cooperatives. In addition to meeting their own needs and providing farmers with production materials such as seeds, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, they also carry out productive trusteeship services including sowing, fertilizing, spraying and harvesting, and build a service platform for farmers suited to appropriately scaled agricultural operations, providing farmers with “menu-style” and “order-style” land trusteeship services.

It is reported that Shenqiu County has more than 200 cooperatives similar to the Zhenxing Agricultural Cooperative, 300,000 mu of farmland has signed contracts with agricultural cooperatives to enjoy trusteeship services, and 14,000 farming households have benefited from the “field nannies”.