Sixty-Year-Old Farmer in Yongkang, Zhejiang Takes a Shine to Black Rice

"Old Zhu, can you sell me a bit more of your black rice this year? You name the price..." On June 26, in Qiankeng Village, Gushan Town, Yongkang City, Zhu Yinhong, who was filling in rice seedlings in his field, received several pre-order calls. "Judging by this momentum, my black rice this year is once again the emperor's daughter - no worry about finding a husband!" Zhu Yinhong said.

Zhu Yinhong is 60 years old this year and a member of the Yongkang City Dadi Grain Production Cooperative. This year he has contracted more than 300 mu of farmland in Gushan, Zhiying and other places in the city, an increase of more than 100 mu over last year, and he is preparing to make another big push. For major grain growers like Old Zhu, the government grain-growing subsidies available include: a direct subsidy of 40 yuan per mu, 50 yuan per mu for machine transplanting, 40 yuan per mu for unified pest control, plus various subsidies for greenhouse seedling raising, rice drying and more, with the government acting as an all-round "agricultural nanny."

With good policies in place, good varieties still need to be chosen. In terms of rice varieties to plant, Old Zhu also refuses to take the usual path: more than 200 mu planted with ordinary high-quality rice, and the remaining 100 mu all planted with black rice.

Old Zhu said that last year he trial-planted 53 mu of black rice, and it unexpectedly scored a hit on the first try. Not only was the yield considerable, but that year it also sold out completely, "not a single grain left." "Ordinary rice yields 650 kg of paddy per mu, with an output value of at most 2,000 yuan." Old Zhu's "abacus" was very clear: the market price of black rice is about 3 times that of ordinary rice, and the average output value per mu is at least 1,000 yuan higher than the latter.

The bigger change is that this year Old Zhu is focusing on the "ecological card" and the "green card," and together with other members of the cooperative, following the requirements for standardized rice production, carrying out scientific rice farming throughout the whole process to ensure rice quality.

In early June, the Dadi Cooperative's pollution-free rice certification was just approved, which means members have one more "protective umbrella" when venturing into the market. Old Zhu also has another plan: he hopes his black rice will obtain origin certification. He said that if he can secure this "signboard," the black rice will multiply in value and the benefits will be even better.