A Tough Girl Blazes a New Trail in Smart Agriculture Entrepreneurship
"I don't want to waste my life; I want to strive hard while I'm young." Over the past two years, this belief has driven Lü Xiaofang to establish the Diyuan Family Farm in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province, China, register IoT software, apply for a utility model patent for a saffron hydroponic device, and invest in improving the farm's hardware facilities... step by step, she has embarked on the road of smart agriculture entrepreneurship.
A Chance Encounter with Saffron Set Her Entrepreneurial Direction
Lü Xiaofang, 32 years old this year, graduated from China University of Geosciences in Wuhan. After graduation, she ran a repair shop, did small businesses, and even worked as a substitute English teacher, yet she never found her own goal to strive for.
In 2013, by chance, Lü Xiaofang learned from Professor Lü Weide of Hangzhou Vocational and Technical College that saffron (Crocus sativus) is a rare and scarce medicinal herb variety, with effects of dredging meridians and invigorating collaterals, promoting menstruation and resolving blood stasis, reducing swelling and relieving pain, cooling blood and detoxifying, and relieving anxiety and depression. Zhejiang has a history of planting saffron for over 30 years, and its planting area and output both rank first in the country. Lü Xiaofang immediately developed an interest in planting saffron, so she decided to follow Professor Lü in experimental research on how to grow saffron in Fuyang, Jiande, and other places.
In June 2014, under Professor Lü's guidance, Lü Xiaofang boldly invested more than 60,000 yuan and purchased over 2,000 jin of selected saffron corms from other places, developing 3 mu of saffron and officially launching her entrepreneurial journey. At the start of her business, she lacked funds, space, experience, and manpower; the only thing she didn't lack was her fighting spirit and persistence. To save money, she and her younger sister went up the mountain to cut trees and carry firewood; at home, she and her mother made shelves for placing saffron corms; she planted corms in the fields and carried them back indoors to wait for sprouting and flowering. "I can't believe I actually have a tough-girl side to me," said Lü Xiaofang, a petite and delicate girl, with both pride and confidence.
Planting saffron formally for the first time, Lü Xiaofang was extra careful. She managed the saffron as if caring for a child, carefully observing its growth and keeping daily records. Her hard work finally paid off. The saffron she grew for the first time met high-quality requirements in terms of stigma length, style thickness, and color, with each kilogram of stigmas selling for as much as 35,000 yuan.
"Smart Agriculture" Makes Cultivation Very High-End
Saffron is suitable for crop rotation, prefers sandy soil, requires good drainage, and demands strict control of temperature and humidity. Once, after returning from an inspection trip, Lü Xiaofang could not get to the farm in time due to a traffic jam and was very anxious that she could not adjust the temperature and humidity promptly. From then on, Lü Xiaofang began to seriously study "smart agriculture."
In early 2015, she boldly invested 180,000 yuan and purchased advanced equipment, integrating information technologies such as the Internet of Things and computers. Using the Internet of Things and wireless networks, Lü Xiaofang connected to greenhouse automatic control systems, water-saving irrigation systems, video surveillance systems, weather stations, and more, enabling remote monitoring and management while collecting saffron growth and production data to build a database.
"Agricultural Maker" Promoted to "Entrepreneurship Mentor"
In October 2015, at the provincial review site for college student "agricultural makers," Lü Xiaofang was in Hangzhou. She took out her phone and tapped the screen to adjust the temperature and humidity of the saffron greenhouse at her family farm far away in Jinyun County, while collecting saffron growth and production data and building a database. Her "smart agriculture" earned the judges' comment that "saffron cultivation is very high-end," and she was selected as one of the province's first Top Ten College Student "Agricultural Makers."
This year, Lü Xiaofang's saffron planting area is nearly 20 mu, with stigma revenue alone reaching more than 100,000 yuan. "Next, I will increase investment to improve the farm's hardware facilities and continue to perfect the IoT platform. Next year I will focus on saffron planting techniques, improve efficiency, and use 'smart agriculture' to drive surrounding farmers to get rich together!" Lü Xiaofang said with full confidence.