The grain-growing story of Cheng Apei, a major grain farmer in Ningbo

    Because 135 mu of farmland in the village was too far from the village and no one would contract it, he, as the village Party branch secretary, took it on, and thus became Ningbo's most famous model major grain farmer. That was in 1986. After the contracted farmland was requisitioned, he transformed himself into a grain merchant and set up a rice mill, becoming Ningbo's first major grain farmer with an integrated production and processing operation. That was in 1999. In 2001, he opened a grain and oil sales store, once again becoming the first person in Fenghua to personally run a grain and oil sales enterprise. Judging by his style of doing things, he is a person who dares to be first, and one would guess that he also acts with vigor and decisiveness. But not long ago, at the entrance of the grain and oil sales store he runs, what the reporter saw was an old man who spoke softly and did not much like to talk. He is Cheng Apei, the retired former secretary of Fennan Village, Jinping Street, Fenghua City. At 63 years old, he once received the title of National Model Worker.

At 63 years old, Cheng Apei can still lift 4 bags of rice in one go.

Cheng Apei's eldest daughter, who is in her 40s, saw that a reporter was interviewing her father, pulled a book out of the cabinet and said: "Everything about him from 20 years ago is in here. If my father had not shut down his small factory in order to grow grain, our family would be very wealthy now."

At that time, amid the nationwide upsurge of contracting output to households, Fennan Village, Daqiao Town, Fenghua (now Fennan Village, Jinping Street) also began to promote contracted output to households, and when dividing up one patch of farmland, it ran into trouble. This patch of farmland totaled 135 mu, accounting for one third of the village's land, but it had three major disadvantages: it was too far from the village, 5 km away; it was located at the junction of three townships, making disputes very likely during irrigation. Since no one would contract this patch of farmland, the village Party branch secretary Cheng Apei could not bear to see whole stretches of farmland go to waste, so he contracted this land, planting early and late rice and rapeseed, and became Fenghua's largest major grain farmer.

Sitting to one side, the eldest daughter became somewhat emotional when she heard her father speak of this: "At the time our whole family was opposed. His hardware factory was doing well and was quite profitable, yet he went to grow land that no one else was willing to grow. He did this just to make a contribution to the country. It was a bit foolish." Facing his daughter's complaints, Cheng Apei smiled and said: "No wonder she complains. It really did drag down the whole family. I could not handle so much farmland by myself, so I had my eldest daughter help, and also hired four or five farmers."

Cheng Apei showed great boldness in growing grain. He not only adopted scientific farming methods and introduced new varieties, but also invested more than 200,000 yuan to buy combines and other equipment. However, because the soil quality was poor, he actually earned only 20,000 to 30,000 yuan a year. In 1988, Cheng Apei was named a Zhejiang Provincial Model Worker as the only model among the province's major grain farmers; in 1989, Cheng Apei was named a National Model Worker.

From 1986 to 1999, over 13 years, Cheng Apei sold more than 900,000 kg of grain to the state in total, and was called the "top grain-growing scholar" and "grain-growing king." In August 1999, because of national construction needs, all 135 mu of farmland he had contracted was requisitioned. Suddenly having nothing to do, he transformed himself into a grain merchant, investing 500,000 yuan that year to set up a rice mill in the village, mainly processing grain and feed. He became Ningbo's first major grain farmer with an integrated production and processing operation, but the rice mill was prosperous for only two years before business fell off. Because more and more farmland gave way to other industries, Fenghua was no longer a major grain-producing area, and the rice mill's source of paddy became a problem. In 2001, Cheng Apei started a business for the third time. He raised funds to open Fenghua Apei Grain Management Co., Ltd. on Nanda Road in the urban area of Fenghua. This was the first grain management company opened by a Fenghua farmer after grain purchase and sales were liberalized.

At Apei Rice Store, the reporter saw bags of rice and dried noodles neatly piled up, and Cheng Apei was still carrying bags of rice for villagers who came to buy rice. Years of growing grain have kept Cheng Apei in good physical shape, and he even lifted 4 bags of rice on the spot to show the reporter. Now Cheng Apei and his wife's main daily work is managing the grain store while also helping take care of their little grandson. The eldest daughter said that Cheng Apei is already in his 60s but still cannot stay idle all day, and often pedals a tricycle to deliver rice to people.

Cheng Apei has four children, three daughters and one son. The eldest daughter and her husband run Apei Rice Store together with him, the other two daughters became teachers after graduating from university, and the son runs a kindergarten. Cheng Apei told the reporter that as a model figure among farmers, the state gives him a monthly economic subsidy of 300 yuan, and his life is quite good.