Why Fan Xuelian's Grain Farming Yields Great Knowledge
The previous wheat crop yielded 410 kg per mu, the following corn crop yielded 500 kg per mu, and the annual grain yield reached as high as 910 kg per mu, 168 kg higher than the city's average grain yield of 742 kg per mu; the annual net profit reached 600 yuan per mu, 111 yuan higher than the city's average annual net profit per mu. Fan Xuelian, a farmer from Lijiao Village, Liulihe Town, Fangshan District, Beijing, has achieved great knowledge through grain farming, and the figures above are his creation.
Fan Xuelian (Image source: Organization Department of the Fangshan District Party Committee)
Fan Xuelian is a citywide model for getting rich through grain farming. From 2006 to 2007, he was awarded the title of "National Major Grain Grower" by the Ministry of Agriculture for two consecutive years. With this honor, Fan Xuelian drew inspiration from grain cultivation, spread and drove large-scale land management, and used the model of high-yield grain creation to drive farming households, achieving increased income and prosperity for farmers.
In 1986, Fan Xuelian, who preferred grain farming, had only 50 mu of land. In 1989, he expanded the planting scale to 160 mu, and the income from grain farming was enough to support two children's schooling. In 2003, he used the land transfer policy and, relying on years of planting experience, expanded the planting scale to 500 mu. As scale and benefits increased year by year, the planting scale reached 780 mu in 2007. Through cooperation with agricultural research and extension departments, Fan Xuelian carried out high-yield grain creation activities. Under the guidance of experts, his grain crops achieved bumper harvests year after year. This year, the average wheat yield reached 450 kg per mu, 108 kg higher than the city's average yield per mu.
As a true farmer, why did Fan Xuelian create a miracle in grain yield per mu? Those who know and understand Fan Xuelian can all state his three "magic weapons" for high grain yield: accepting science and technology, mastering science and technology, and applying science and technology; driving surrounding farming households to farm with science and technology and taking the path of common prosperity; and being willing to accept new things, gradually forming a stable development mechanism.
Since 2004, Fan Xuelian has joined the Beijing Grain Association and begun cooperating with research and extension departments. At the same time, he also led six major grain-growing households in the village to join the "Science and Technology Entering Households" project in Fangshan District. Last year, he introduced the high-quality new wheat variety "Yannong 19" from the district agricultural science institute, planted 400 mu, and implemented technologies such as rapid propagation of improved wheat varieties, purification and rejuvenation of improved varieties, soil-testing balanced fertilization, postponing nitrogen fertilizer, supporting cultivation for quality preservation, and safe drying and storage. He sold all the products as seed, realizing a net profit of 260,000 yuan. In old Fan's own words: "I've farmed for so many years and never seen such a good harvest. Science and technology helped me a great deal." Starting the year before last, Fan Xuelian began attending rainfed corn technology training classes and decided to implement rainfed corn planting. According to expert requirements, he chose the drought-resistant variety "Jingdan 28" and led the whole village to practice rainfed corn planting. Last year, the village's 1,500 mu of corn was not irrigated even once during the entire growth period, saving 90,000 cubic meters of water.
Although Fan Xuelian became a benchmark figure in the village, he never kept technology secret. He taught scientific and technological knowledge to surrounding growers without reservation and introduced new varieties and new technologies to other farming households. When some farming households were short of funds and had difficulty purchasing agricultural materials, Fan Xuelian bought extra so they could use them first. Fan Xuelian's contracted land also provided employment for more than ten idle laborers in the village. Today he has contracted 800 mu of village land.
Fan Xuelian is a person with risk awareness. He knows that farming carries certain risks, so he actively joined agricultural risk mutual aid. In 2005, the Beijing Grain Association established a risk mutual aid mechanism and carried out demonstration work on agricultural risk mutual aid, providing mutual insurance compensation for natural disasters such as wind and hail encountered by crops during the growth stage. That year, Fan Xuelian insured 400 mu of corn. In 2007, due to the impact of strong winds and high temperatures, part of the corn was damaged, and Fan Xuelian received more than 20,000 yuan in risk mutual aid compensation. To better lead farming households to participate in market competition with collective advantages, Fan Xuelian applied to establish the Liulihe Grain Production and Marketing Cooperative, achieving unified purchase of agricultural materials, unified mechanized operations, unified plant protection and prevention, and unified price sales. This not only reduced production and management costs but also increased sales prices, and more and more farming households benefited from it.