Source: Xinhua Daily Telegraph
Modern agriculture must be mechanized, informatized, and intelligent high-efficiency agriculture. He wants agriculture to be "inserted with the wings of science and technology"
"Returnees" after the 1990s return home just to plant a good "plant of rice"
Ding Dan's photo in front of the company's cultural wall.
Ding Dan showcases no-wash rice products and production technology on the market. Photo by reporter Chen Chunyuan
Ding Dan (right) inspects the disease and insect pests of seedlings with members of the cooperative. Photo courtesy of interviewee
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to food production and security, emphasizing that "the Chinese people's rice bowl must be firmly in their hands at all times", proposing a new strategy for national food security in the new era, emphasizing the acceleration of " The implementation of the strategy of "hiding food in the ground and hiding food in technology"
"securing the rice bowl", "hiding food in the ground" and "hiding food in technology" requires a group of new farmers who understand farmers, technology and the market
Ding Dan He is a new farmer
This is the story of a "returnee" overseas student who returned to his hometown to grow food. He is just 29 years old this year
In the eyes of ordinary people, a rural boy finally broke free from the land and went to study at a prestigious British university. Returning to the countryside to "play with clay balls" does not seem worth it.
His mother objected and his uncle scolded him, but he did not get over Ding Dan's persistence in "going home to farm".
What "nails" will this master's student from the University of Liverpool encounter? ? Can we use good technology to cultivate good fields?
When I met Ding Dan for the first time, it seemed not easy to match him with the "returnees". Standing 1.8 meters tall, with a pair of large black-framed glasses on his face, and his clothes and trouser legs covered with grain crumbs, he looked like a farmer working in the fields. However, the close-fitting T-shirt under the dark green work clothes is printed with a row of cute cartoon sunflower patterns, which cannot hide his identity as a "post-90s".
There is a foreign air in the rustic style, and there is vitality in the foreign style. The reporter tried to get into the world of this young man.
Ding Dan’s mother, Wang Xiuping, is a model of hard-working Chinese rural women: starting at the age of 13, she worked as a tailor in the countryside of Gao’an, Jiangxi, selling popsicles in the summer and dumplings in the winter, driving a passenger tricycle, and “stealing business” with male drivers. "... She said that she has been through hardships all her life.
In 2007, she and her husband Ding Fenyong, a "teacher", founded a grain and oil company and entered the grain processing industry. After more than 10 years of hard work, the company has grown into a provincial-level leading enterprise with an annual output of 40,000 tons and an output value of 200 million yuan. She has also become a well-known "strong woman".
In September 2015, Ding Dan graduated from the University of Liverpool with a master's degree in consumer marketing. Where to go? The family argued about it.
Hearing that his "returnee" son was going to go home to farm, the family was immediately "exploded"
"My family spent more than 1.3 million yuan for you to study abroad, and you come back to be a farmer. What a nonsense!" "Your father and I have worked hard all our lives, isn't it? Do you want to leave the countryside and live a good life in the city? "
"When I graduated from college and went abroad, I never thought about staying abroad; I chose a major because I wanted to return to the company to take over. "Although a foreign country is good, it is still a foreign country. Ding Dan was born with a strong sense of country.
"Filial piety comes first. My parents only have one son. If I don't come back, who will accompany them when they get old?" In his memory, he started helping his mother to deliver goods since he was in the sixth grade of elementary school.
"I've been used to the smell of earth since I was a child, and I'm used to eating hundreds of meals. I think the only difference between the countryside and the city is that it's inconvenient to deliver food and receive express delivery." He said mischievously.
Ding Dan said that his choice to return to his hometown was also due to his stubborn personality and unwillingness to admit defeat. He often thought: "The quality of my rice is so good, there is no reason why it cannot be sold to others!"
That day, he told his family on the phone that he really wanted to "go home and farm". As expected, the house immediately exploded.
Wang Xiuping said anxiously: "Your father and I have worked hard all our lives, just to help you leave the countryside and live a good life in the city?"
Uncle scolded: "My family spent more than 1.3 million yuan for you to study abroad, and you come back to be a farmer. , Nonsense!"
After several battles, the family's collective opposition finally failed to overcome Ding Dan's persistence, and everyone had to give in.Wang Xiuping put forward a condition: Ding Dan must choose one of the three cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, stay for two years to apply for a job, and must be a modern enterprise.
"I went directly back to my hometown to take over the company. I was eating my old capital and was exposed to the social circle and old ideas of the previous generation. I sent him to study abroad and forced him to find a job in a big city, just to stop being uneducated and knowledgeable." What a shame." Wang Xiuping said.
Ding Dan understands his mother's good intentions. After graduation, he came to Shanghai alone. At that time, Wang Xiuping only gave her son one month's living expenses.
During his two years of "drifting in Shanghai", Ding Dan wandered alone in the modern city and experienced the impact and collision of modern concepts. He works in a large advertising and media company, where he contacts consumers at all levels every day and makes product market positioning and marketing planning plans for large companies. At the end of 2017, he ended his life as a drifter in Shanghai and returned to his hometown, Shinao Town, Gao'an City.
In the first year, due to bad weather and lack of experience, I didn’t make much money growing grains; in the second year, due to the company’s rapid development, a large amount of land was transferred, and there was a severe drought in the second half of the year; in the third year, epidemics, floods, Insect plague and low temperature combined, and we lost a lot of money.
Ding Dan looked up at the sky and said, "God won't reward you with food, but you still have to carry it. I don't believe it's so unlucky that bad weather will happen again this year." His tone was full of a sense of not complaining about God or others. firm.
Those who were "encouraged" by Ding Dan to return home together include Gao Liang, a junior high school classmate who graduated from the seed major of Nanjing Agricultural University, cousin Xiao Wen who graduated from the equipment major of Jiangxi Mechanical and Electrical College, and young fellow countryman Hu Peng... They established Heyue High Quality. The Rice Professional Cooperative formed an agricultural machinery team and set a goal: "Let modern agriculture be given the wings of technology."
Ding Dan said that agriculture depends on the weather, with high investment, high risks, and low returns. The social status of farmers is not high, and rural areas The attraction is not strong, these are indisputable facts. "For rural revitalization, the country must find ways to create conditions so that a group of young people with agricultural sentiments and abilities can stay and take root. Only then will the countryside have hope."
"Moderate failure is the mother of success"
In recent years, " Ding Dan came across many "nails", and he began to understand that when dealing with farmers, he had to have "knowledge" and "local connections", and "breathe through the same nostril" with them.
Ding Dan's first job when he returned to his hometown was not to sell rice, but to It's farming. Wang Xiuping said: "Since you are farming, you have to start from farming. How can you make a career in the countryside if you are not familiar with land, food, and farmers."
Processing Factory used to do contract farming, collecting other people's grain for processing. Wang Xiuping has long hoped to establish his own A grain growing base to ensure high-quality grain sources. When my son comes back, he kills two birds with one stone.
After returning to his hometown, Ding Dan, like ordinary employees of the company, received a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan and began to move around nearby villages and towns, transferring farmland and wasteland.
Just after the first month of 2018, Ding Dan came to Junyang Street and convened seven or eight households of villagers to discuss the transfer of land. Facing this polite young man wearing glasses, the villagers were full of distrust. One villager immediately asked: "Isn't it possible that the land was taken to get government subsidies?"
Ding Dan thought that with enough deposit, Given a sufficient price, land transfer is not difficult. After asking this question, his heart suddenly became cold. The negotiation did not go well. After spending the whole night, only more than 70 acres of land were signed, including more than 30 acres of abandoned land.
Over the years, we have encountered many "nails". Gradually, Ding Dan began to understand that when dealing with farmers, he had to have "knowledge", "connect with the atmosphere", and "breathe through the same nostril" with them.
He took off his leather shoes and put on mud boots, took off his suit and put on work clothes, dressing himself up as an authentic farmer. When meeting the villagers, I learned to put honey on my lips and call them "brother and sister-in-law" and "uncle and aunt" non-stop, and frequently offered cigarettes and water to show their hospitality. Once, when land was transferred in Wangjiawei Township, in order to gain the trust of the villagers, he rushed out a field planning plan overnight, bound it into a book, sent it to the villagers, and invited them to come to the company to inspect the company. The villagers and township cadres became familiar with this young man and liked him.
After 2018, the company's transferred land has grown from scratch, ranging from 2,000 acres, 6,000 acres, 12,000 acres... After several years of development, the company's current total area of transferred land and contract farming has reached 59,000 acres, all of which are used for growing grain. The halo of "star enterprise" has a new title - "big grain grower".
It is difficult to obtain land, and even more difficult to grow grain. Ding Dan and Gao Liang are both "laymen". In 2018, Ruizhou Subdistrict Office worked on an abandoned field of more than 200 acres in Dongfanghong Street. Because they did not understand the conditions of the field and did not know how to topdress fertilizers and release water in time, the normal yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu was only 600 kilograms; that year, camphor trees in Longtan Town On a piece of land in Qiao Village covering an area of more than 200 acres, due to errors in seed variety, sowing time and other aspects, the rice grown was of poor quality and had to be treated as feed...
"Three points for planting, seven points for management." Ding Dan began to ask the farmers School experts consulted, learned from large grain growers, and consulted with farming experts; they began to focus on scientific grain growing and green grain growing, sampling and testing soil, testing soil formulas, formulating fertilizer ratios, reducing the amount of pesticides, installing insecticidal lamps, and using Attractants, prevent diseases and pests in advance, take good care of the rice like taking care of children...
Moderate failure is the mother of success. In 2019, on a piece of land of more than 300 acres in Wenjia Village, Shinao Town, the yield per mu finally reached more than 1,100 kilograms. When the grain inspector saw the golden rice, he couldn't believe it. It was grown by two college students born in the 1990s. He exclaimed: "This is the most beautiful rice I have tasted this year!"
"Now, there are many reasons to choose to stay, but I can no longer find a reason to leave." Ding Dan sighed.
Once, the village cadre asked him in confusion: "What is your relationship with the town secretary? He asked the village cadres at the meeting twice to support you in transferring the land." Ding Dan was stunned. He didn't have much dealings with the secretary. Only later did I realize that this was the local government silently supporting young people to return to their hometowns to engage in agriculture. These "silent concerns" became the reason for Ding Dan to persevere.
There are also many farmers who manage the fields, factory employees, and local poor households... "If I leave, they will lose their jobs." Ding Dan's commitment to the villagers and employees has become something that Ding Dan persists in reasons.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to find a good job in the city after I leave the countryside. My resume in the past few years has been all about farming." After saying this, Ding Dan smiled honestly.
Farming with science and technology, scientific management of fields
Modern agriculture must be mechanized, informatized, and intelligent high-efficiency agriculture; modern agriculture must also be precision agriculture and green agriculture
Who will plant the land and how to plant it in the 21st century, this is what Ding Dan thinks deeply about question.
The traditional rural lifestyle of "working at sunrise and resting at sunset, one family at a time, a few acres of thin fields, farming, reading and passing down the family inheritance" gradually faded away. The curtain of modern agriculture slowly opened. When Ding Dan returned to his hometown, China's agriculture had been basically completed. We have passed the leap of "machine replacing cattle" and are entering the era of "machine replacing people".
Ding Dan thought that modern agriculture must be mechanized, informatized, and intelligent high-efficiency agriculture. In 2018, there were between 5,000 and 6,000 migrant villagers who received wages from the company, with an average of 80 yuan per person per day; in 2019, the number of people receiving wages decreased significantly, and wages rose to 100 yuan; in 2020, migrant workers under the age of 50 have basically I can’t see that most of the work at the base, such as throwing rice seedlings, fertilizing, spraying, etc., are done by women in their 50s and 60s. Many of them have their companies send cars to the villages to pick them up and drop them off; in 2021, there will be fewer people and wages will be more expensive. Sending a car to pick you up is a "certainty" thing.
"Without relying on mechanization and without a batch of 'big guys' agricultural machinery on hand, the labor cost alone can crush the company. Farming in the future will be dominated by agricultural machinery." Ding Dan said firmly.
He recruited 9 "post-90s" people to form his own agricultural machinery team, and successively purchased 5 rotary tillers, 7 rice transplanters, 6 harvesters, and 3 unmanned plant protection machines to explore the full mechanization of grain growing.
"The rice is half as good as the grain." While many grain farmers are still following the traditional methods of throwing rice and sowing seeds, Ding Dan has paid close attention to efficient planting methods such as rice-raising factories and machine transplanting. In 2019, he withstood cost pressure and built 1,000 square meters of glass greenhouses and 2,300 square meters of joint greenhouses in the base. He introduced a fully automated sowing assembly line and used advanced seedling cultivation models to carry out unified germination, seedling raising, sowing, and seeding. Machine plug.
The benefits of seedling raising and machine transplanting are obvious: the cost of machine transplanting was 160 yuan in the first year, dropped to 130 yuan in the second year, and dropped to 100 yuan in 2020.
Ding Dan also believes that modern agriculture must be precision agriculture and green agriculture, seeking benefits from management and quality. In the past two years, Ding Dan has cultivated a selenium-rich organic rice base in Shinao Town. Through painstaking research on drug ratios, the selenium-rich content of the base has reached 400 micrograms per kilogram. He also established a rice-vegetable rotation base, rotating rice with beans, kohlrabi, etc., which not only increased income by 3,000-5,000 yuan per mu, but more importantly, improved soil organic matter content and rice quality.
"I hope that the state will continue to increase subsidies for seedling raising, mechanical transplanting, agricultural machinery and other aspects, and vigorously support agricultural social service organizations. Only when social service organizations are sound, service prices are low, farming is not hard and profitable, agriculture can Attractive."
Who will manage the land in the 21st century and how will it be managed? This is another question that Ding Dan has pondered deeply.
Ding Dan found that the current model of large-scale land transfer and hiring of farmers for management has an obvious shortcoming - it is difficult to mobilize farmers' enthusiasm. After several years of practice and running-in, Ding Dan created the first local farming organization and management model that integrates production, supply and marketing for grain enterprises, and gave it a catchy and memorable name - "Tian Guanjia".
"Field stewards" is a hierarchical management model. After the land is transferred, the cooperative appoints "general stewards" in different regions, and the "general stewards" select "little stewards" from villages and groups in the region according to the situation. "The field stewards we hired not only have a guaranteed salary, but also receive dividends at the end of the year. The share-sharing model fully protects the interests of farmers."
In 2018, Ding Dan tested the "field steward" model for the first time. The company gave the "field steward" a monthly When wages are paid, the "general steward" and the company each share half of the autumn grain profits, and the "little stewards" are rewarded appropriately based on the efficiency of the base they are responsible for. In the first year, Ding Dan found that the enthusiasm of "Tian Guanjia" was still not fully mobilized.
In 2019, Ding Dan included all "field stewards" in the 50-50 profit share; in 2020, the profit share became 64%, with the "field stewards" getting 60% and the company 40%. Some farm companies' profits even dropped even more. The enthusiasm of "Tian Guanjia" gradually aroused.
Zhu Xiying, a 50-year-old "field steward" in Wenjia Village, Shinao Town, manages 500 acres of land for the company. When she shares the profits 50-50, every time there is a dispute in the fields, she always calls Ding Dan to rush to the scene. With the increase in profit sharing, Zhu Xiying took the initiative to find ways to resolve minor disputes such as "pesticides drifted into flower arrangement fields" and "farm machinery damaged villagers' vegetable fields". During the 2020 harvest season, she also took the initiative to contact four harvesters to harvest all the rice in the fields, without letting Ding Dan worry at all. That year, she worked in the fields for less than six months. Although the harvest was not as good as in previous years, she still earned more than 40,000 yuan in dividends.
The biggest feature of the "Tian Guanjia" model is profit sharing. Ding Dan said: "The income from growing grains is already low. The company competes with the people for profits, which dampens the enthusiasm of the 'field stewards'. They cannot grow high-quality raw grains, which ultimately harms the company's interests."
does not make money by growing grains, instead focusing on profits. Putting it in the grain processing and sales links has effectively mobilized the enthusiasm of employees. With the full dedication of the "Tian Guanjia", Ding Dan has more time to "take time" from the fields to plan the direction of the company's grain processing and sales.
"Persevere, just for a bowl of good rice!"
Others are reluctant to grow early rice because of its low return, but Dingdan has more than 6,000 acres. "As long as the country needs it, I will plant early rice this year."
In the eyes of Huang Xu, director of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Gao'an City, Ding Dan is a young man with high emotional intelligence. "He is gentle to the villagers and employees, and has great affection for the countryside. It is rare for young people to be like this." Huang Xu couldn't stop praising him.
Yang Maosheng, secretary of the Party branch of Dingjia Village, Shinao Town, has a lot of work photos of Ding Dan stored in his mobile phone, including those in the fields, factories, and villages... He opened a photo and said to the reporter: "Look, Covered in mud, he is checking for pests and diseases in the fields on a hot day. Ding Dan is motivated and filial, and his family is very kind to the villagers. "
1 For many years, Wang Xiuping has been a "good person" in the eyes of the villagers and a "good wife" in Dingjia Village. .On weekdays, she takes the lead in organizing caring chambers of commerce, enterprises, and volunteers to visit poor single mothers, orphaned children, and impoverished elderly people. She also participates in building bridges and roads, and cultural and sports activities in the village.
Ding Dan took over Wang Xiuping's "love baton". From 2018 to 2020, he led the cooperative to provide small financial investment services for 374 poor households in Shinao Town. The poor households in the town received more than 1,000 yuan in dividends every year; nearly 1,500 acres of farmers' land was under trusteeship, reducing the cost within the industrialization complex. Members’ cost of production materials is 20%, and the average cost of managed land is 90 yuan per acre; more than 600 field jobs are provided; when farming is busy, he sends machines to help poor households with weak labor ability to transplant rice and harvest; when farming is slack, he invites experts to provide training Classes provide planting technical guidance to poor households, which not only broadens the channels for people to increase their income, but also improves the overall personal capabilities of poor households.
"I can earn 100 yuan a day working at the base, and I can also take care of my son nearby." Xie Jinsheng, a poor household who was picking pepper seedlings at the base, said gratefully. Xie Jinsheng, who is in his 50s, has disabled legs and feet, and his son suffers from leukemia. Ding Dan's family has been helping him for more than 10 years. Three years ago, Xie Jinsheng finally got rid of the label of "poor household", his son's illness also recovered, and he was admitted to university in 2019.
Compared with planting mid-season rice, the benefits of planting early and late rice are not much different, but it increases a lot of labor and management costs. Farmers are not very enthusiastic about planting early rice. One year during the early rice sowing season, the party branch secretary of Gaosha Village came to Ding Dan and said in embarrassment: "There are still more than 400 acres of land in the village, and the villagers are unwilling to plant it. What should we do?"
Ding Dan said on the spot: "I'll do it. Plant to ensure that there are seedlings growing in the field in May. After harvesting the rice, I will return the land to the villagers to plant late rice.”
In 2020, Ding Dan responded to the country’s call to expand early rice planting to ensure production, and planted more than 6,000 acres of early rice. It has set a good example among local grain farmers. That year, the early rice planting area in Gao'an City expanded to 699,000 acres. Ding Dan said: "What I grow is not my own food, but patriotic food! As long as the country needs it, I will plant early rice this year."
"You are so young, your choices are so different from those of your peers. Why?" the reporter asked puzzledly. asked.
He picked up a pen and wrote four words: a century-old enterprise.
After Ding Dan returned to his hometown, he poured all his expertise, experience, and knowledge into this "rice". He and his team positioned the company's goal as a slogan - "Persistence, just for a bowl of good rice!"
A grain of rice is as big as the sky. (Reporters Chen Chunyuan and Gu Tiancheng)
[Error correction] [Editor in charge: Xu Zhouchao]
