[Well-off China] Smart agriculture helps the ancient terraced fields with a history of thousands of years increase yield and income

　　[Explanation] September is the season of autumn harvest.

In Lianhe Town, Youxi County, Fujian Province, the cascading terraces are magnificent; the golden rice shows a vibrant scene.

In recent years, through collective cooperation, digital agriculture, and industrial diversification, the United Terrace has solved difficult farming, low income, and high intensity problems, and achieved high yields and increased income.

　　[Explanation] The joint terraced fields were reclaimed during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. It is one of the earliest large-scale ancient terraced fields excavated in Chinese history.

The 10,717 acres of terraced fields with a vertical drop of nearly 700 meters are distributed on high mountains with slopes ranging from 15 degrees to 75 degrees.

In 2018, the United Terrace was selected as an important global agricultural cultural heritage.

However, even such a traditional terrace has faced many difficulties.

　　[Concurrent] Chen Xiangyao, Secretary of the Party Committee of Lianhe Town, Youxi County, Fujian Province

　　There are more than 260 growers in the United Terrace. In the past, the output value per mu was less than 1,400 yuan and the per capita income was less than 2,000 yuan.

Although the lines of the terraces are beautiful, farming is difficult, the income is low, and the intensity is high. Every year, the town goes to great lengths to prevent abandonment.

　　[Explanation] The local area uses the method of "company + cooperative + farmer" to gather scattered arable land resources, realize land consolidation and circulation, and collectively cooperate to develop and protect terraces.

This intensive, large-scale, and market-oriented planting and business model not only solves the problem of low efficiency of individual farming, but also ensures that the cultivated land is cultivated, the quality of rice is significantly improved, and sales channels are opened.

　　[Simultaneous] Local rice grower Lin Taproot

　　This year we have another bumper harvest, which can increase our income by more than 200 yuan per mu.

　　[Explanation] In addition, in the overall planning of epidemic prevention and control and promoting social and economic development, Youxi United Terraces began to try to adopt the cloud agricultural planting model.

Local agricultural technicians install IoT surveillance cameras in the field. Growers only need to use the mobile phone APP visualization platform, and the agricultural and meteorological experts at the rear will guide farmers on fertilization, sprinkler irrigation, and deworming operations online.

At the same time, it also reduces labor intensity through equipment such as micro-agricultural machinery, and solves sales problems through live streaming of goods through the Internet.

　　[Concurrent] Chen Yiqiang, Director of Joint Power Supply Station, Youxi County Power Supply Company, Fujian Province

　　I am an employee of the power supply station who was born and raised in Lianhe Town, and I have witnessed the changes and development of Lianhe Terrace.

Before, the villagers felt that farming was not cost-effective, and they all planned to go out to work; the villagers basically depended on climbing up the mountains to cut wood for their energy, which not only affected the environment, but was also not stable enough.

　　[Explanation] While maintaining high agricultural yields and increasing income, the local area is also committed to the construction of Fumei villages.

Through the implementation of power grid upgrades, the scenes of burning wood fires and smoke-filled coals are no longer present. Instead, villagers’ all-electric kitchens, homestays, and all-electric roasting of grain production have been adopted.

　　[Explanation] The environment has improved, and rural tourism has gradually developed.

Nowadays, walking in Lianhe Town, a number of high-quality tourism projects such as the Fairview Terrace and Xiaohe Leisure Farm have attracted many tourists, and have also provided more than 300 jobs for surrounding villagers, allowing the villagers to achieve a well-off life in front of their homes.

The planting and processing of golden pomelo, peach and other fruits introduced locally also brings nearly 15 million yuan in income to the town each year.

　　Wu Shengwei, Yan Liangqian and Huang Gongxing report from Sanming, Fujian

Editor in charge: [Liu Xian]