Diversified Farming and Breeding Models Boost Agricultural Income
On the eve of the Chinese New Year this year, multiple snowfalls affected the grain planting industry across the region. However, Sheng Guiyou of Huangbilong Village, Jiangtang Town, began spring plowing preparations for corn planting right after the snow stopped. "Throughout the entire district, even the entire city, my field corn preparation is the earliest to start," said Sheng Guiyou. Generally speaking, local corn is only available for sale at the end of June each year, but by preparing early, it can be brought to market well before that time, capturing the corn market first and reaping more benefits.
In early January this year, Sheng Guiyou had already completed the ditching work on 50 mu of corn fields. "As soon as this snowfall ended, I began cultivating corn seeds." Sheng Guiyou's corn seeds are bred in nutrient pots. After sowing, entire rows of nutrient pots are placed into the soil, covered with chopped straw and grass film, and then a double layer of plastic film is erected on top, forming a "little world" for corn growth. "For corn seeds to germinate, the ground temperature must be at least 8 to 10 degrees Celsius. Through this 'layer upon layer' and 'multiple protection,' the corn can grow quickly," said Sheng Guiyou.
Besides being able to capture the market first, this early breeding also shortens the later rice growing period. "I use a paddy-upland rotation method for planting. After the corn harvest is completed, around mid-to-late May, I can start planting rice," said Sheng Guiyou. "Planting rice at this time point allows direct sowing. Miss this time point and you need to transplant seedlings. This not only reduces manpower and material resources and saves costs, but also increases benefits by dozens of times. It truly achieves multiple goals at once."
In Sheng Guiyou's office, the reporter saw a computer monitor with all-around surveillance. This is a major highlight of Sheng Guiyou's vegetable planting base. "I installed cameras at every key point along the field ridges. As long as I sit in the office, I can monitor the work conditions of workers and the growth conditions of plants in each plot at any time," said Sheng Guiyou. He demonstrated for the reporter, zooming in on the small screen showing the corn preparation area, where workers, having finished spreading chopped straw, were building a film frame on one of the corn field ridges.
Ecological and Environmentally Friendly Planting Methods
Sheng Guiyou's vegetable planting base is located in Siqianfan, Siqian Village, Jiangtang Town, Wucheng District, mainly planting grain and export vegetables. Since the cooperative was established in March 2011, the land transfer area has increased year by year, and the current contracted land area totals 730 mu. The cooperative was designated as a model base for agriculture-livestock integration by Wucheng District in 2014. It currently has 206 cubic meters of field fertilizer storage tanks, 3 sets of high-pressure sewage pumps, and 1 tank transport vehicle.
The reporter saw in the fields that long pipelines, about 2,000 meters in total, were laid throughout the planting site. These are direct-discharge pipelines to grain fields used for fertilizing. "Our farm complies with the relevant requirements of the 'Five Water Treatment' initiative. Without using chemical fertilizers, we fertilize through pipelines using biogas slurry brought from pig farms across the district, giving this 'waste material' a useful purpose," he said. The base can absorb 1,000 tons of livestock biogas slurry annually. To further improve the utilization of biogas slurry in production and protect the ecological environment, Sheng Guiyou's vegetable cooperative also established a livestock pollution treatment facility construction project in August 2015. "Using existing facilities, biogas slurry can irrigate over 400 mu of grain fields. During seasons when direct irrigation of grain fields is not possible, the biogas slurry is stored in reserve tanks for sedimentation and fermentation, and then used to irrigate vegetables. After the project was implemented, it effectively reduced labor intensity and improved labor efficiency. Using pipelines to separate water and sewage for irrigation also prevents biogas slurry from polluting water sources, making it both ecological and environmentally friendly."
Through planning guidance and policy support, combined with the requirements of the "Five Water Treatment" initiative to protect the ecological environment, the base further strengthened agricultural production development and improved the role and capacity of the agriculture-livestock integration point. While absorbing biogas slurry, the agriculture-livestock integration point reduced pollution to the ecological environment, increased the organic matter content of the land, improved farmland fertility, reduced chemical fertilizer usage, improved product quality, achieved the goal of increasing both yield and income for agricultural products, and ensured the safety of agricultural products.
At the same time, through the implementation of the livestock pollution treatment project, Sheng Guiyou explored and found a path to increase yield and efficiency in rice planting. "Through a 400-mu controlled experiment, yield increased by 8.5%. Based on the 2015 harvest, Yongyou No. 9 generally achieved 550 kg per mu, with high-yield plots reaching 610 kg, showing a clear yield increase effect. In fields where biogas slurry was used, rice grew well in the later stages, achieving green stalks and full maturity per mu, with good quality and heavy thousand-grain weight. It is estimated that 400 mu of rice will increase grain output by 8 tons and increase income by 48,000 yuan." He stated that through the implementation of this project, using biogas slurry instead of chemical fertilizers improved the utilization rate of organic fertilizer, effectively reduced the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, reduced damage to the environment, improved soil fertility, and achieved a virtuous cycle of agricultural ecology. On the other hand, it saved agricultural input costs and reduced labor intensity, effectively improving the safety and quality of agricultural products, labor productivity, and the rate of mechanized operations.
Diverse Management and Operation Features
In addition to fertilizing through biogas slurry pipelines, Sheng Guiyou also developed his base into a family farm, achieving high yields and increased income through paddy-upland rotation and rice-fish farming.
In the early stage, cooperative members accumulated rich rice planting experience and had strong project implementation capabilities and comprehensive rice-fish farming production capacity. At the same time, the project has obvious location advantages, superior natural resource conditions, flat terrain, fertile soil, abundant water sources, excellent water quality, and a good ecological environment. The Jinlan Reservoir, a first-class water source, can directly irrigate the area, making it suitable for rice-fish farming and able to increase income and efficiency for surrounding farmers.
On the basis of the original rice-fish rotation, Sheng Guiyou also built a 120-mu high-standard breeding demonstration core area, renovated and improved the water intake and drainage system, roads, field engineering, electronic anti-theft monitoring, and livestock manure suction vehicles within the base, forming contiguous rice-field aquaculture. With Oujiang carp and crucian carp as the main breeding varieties, an ecological rice-fish co-culture model was implemented. Adhering to the three major principles of "no reduction in grain production, no destruction of the rice field tillage layer, and reduced use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers," rice and fish stocking was actively carried out, with a radiation area of 500 mu.
Through the implementation of this project, the technical level of the rice-field fish farming industry was improved. It not only changed the extensive agricultural operation method but also allowed rice fields to grow both rice and fish, or low-yield fish ponds to raise both fish and rice. This enables rational allocation and utilization of resources, improves the comprehensive output rate of resources, enhances the quality of agricultural products, and increases farmers' income. "Learn science and technology, use science and technology, promote dual growth. Rice-field fish farming plays an important role in ensuring food security, promoting farmers' income growth, improving agricultural efficiency, and providing healthy aquatic products," said Sheng Guiyou. "At the same time, rice-field fish farming can promote the steady growth of grain sowing area, effectively stimulate farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain, and will also play a very good role in promoting the stability of the agricultural production workforce."