"New farmers" explore the "planting and breeding cycle" and embark on a new path of rural revitalization

Nanyang, Nov. 11 (CNN) -- "New farmers" explore the "planting and breeding cycle" and embark on a new path of rural revitalization

Written by Yang Dayong

In early winter, the weather in Neixiang County, Nanyang City, Henan Province, located in Funiu Mountain, is getting colder, and in the county's digital planting and breeding cycle demonstration area, some plots have been dyed green by wheat seedlings, and some plots have just sprouted wheat. This land, which was once greatly affected by the weather, has low productivity and difficult irrigation, but now under the management of a group of "new farmers", it has been transformed into high-yield and fertile land by exploring the road of "planting and breeding cycle".

The picture shows the digital planting and breeding cycle demonstration area in Neixiang County. Photo by Yang Dayong

Henan, which has completed this year's winter wheat sowing, is a major grain-producing province in China, and Nanyang is a major grain-producing city in Henan, where Muyuan Group, one of China's largest pig breeding enterprises, was founded, and the "Digital Planting and Breeding Cycle Demonstration Zone" is a high-standard farmland construction project promoted by the Neixiang County Government and Muyuan Group in 2021.

The reporter recently walked into the demonstration area and saw that there was a striking slogan on the edge of the field: "Pigs are raised, pigs are raised, and farmland becomes fertile land". "The land here used to be ditches and ditches, and it was difficult to water the slopes. You see, how flat the plot is now. Villagers in Gangfan Village, Wangdian Town, Neixiang County, said that the original sloping land was "harvested by the sky", and after land leveling and planting mode innovation, it has now become fertile land.

"This is the 24th and 29th sessions of Muyuan, which is the magic weapon for our project to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and achieve success." Wu Zukun, the project leader, pointed to the rows of standardized pig houses in the east and said. Wu Zukun is a "post-90s", he said, the project combined with Henan Province high-standard farmland demonstration area to build a policy for construction, the focus is on the efficient use of biogas slurry fertilizer produced by the original farm, around the biogas slurry fertilizer to the water source, irrigation system, planting and breeding cycle water and fertilizer integration system, intelligent monitoring and other facilities transformation, so that the original weather is greatly affected, farmers are unwilling to plant the land, transformed into high-yield fields.

In 2017, Wu Zukun, who graduated from university, joined Muyuan Group, mainly engaged in the cultivation and research of dryland crops wheat and corn, and at the same time looked for planting and breeding points, integrated efficient breeding and agricultural development, and explored a circular economy model. In 2021, he set up a team based on the "post-90s" generation to explore the use of pig farm manure recycling for scientific farming. At present, the team has expanded from 5 to 22 people, most of whom are "post-90s" college graduates, including several graduate students.

Wang Dinggen, a 60-year-old villager from Gangfan Village, is an expert in farming, and at the beginning he had doubts in his heart: Is it reliable for this group of college graduates who have never done farm work to engage in a "planting and breeding cycle" here? Slowly, Wang Dinggen discovered that these young people not only managed the fields well, but also turned the waste of pig breeding into treasure after treatment, and used it as fertilizer to irrigate the fields, increasing yields.

Today, Wang Dinggen is not only convinced of these young people, but also appreciates the "planting cycle" model. During the busy farming season, Wang Dinggen will also organize villagers to help with weeding and fertilization in the fields to increase their income.

"My family's more than six acres of land are managed here through the village collective, and one acre of land is guaranteed to be 1100,<> yuan per year, and the yield is high, and I can also pay dividends, and I earn more than <> yuan more than I grow it myself." Wang Dinggen said that since the demonstration area was built here, a lot of changes have taken place in the village, the villagers' income has increased, the appearance of the village has improved, the transportation has become convenient, and the villagers' happiness index has also improved.

In the eyes of many villagers, these "new farmers" have knowledge, vision and innovation. "This land used to be planted by nearby villagers, but now it is handed over to these young people, and it is better managed than before."

Fan Yanxin, deputy secretary of the party branch of Gangfan Village, said frankly that most of the fields in the village are entrusted to the demonstration area, and many villagers are freed from farming and can do other work to increase their income. He himself is an agricultural mechanic in the village, originally served 500 acres of cultivated land, and now can serve more than 3000,60 acres of cultivated land, with an annual income of 200,<> or <>,<> yuan, and he led other agricultural mechanics in the village to join the agricultural operations in the digital planting and breeding cycle demonstration area, and the total income of six or seven people in agricultural machinery operations exceeded <>,<> yuan per year. Fan Yanxin is preparing to buy another large farming tractor with more than <> horsepower to serve more arable land.

The picture shows the digital planting and breeding cycle demonstration area in Neixiang County. Photo by Yang Dayong

Through the efforts of this group of "new farmers", the average yield of summer grain per mu in the demonstration area has increased from 2021 kg in 365 to 2023 kg in 445, 15% higher than that of other local regions, and the amount of chemical fertilizer has been reduced by 50%.

In Wu Zukun's view, agricultural development is inseparable from the support of agricultural science and technology knowledge, and young people with agricultural science and technology knowledge will take root in the countryside, which will inject new force into agricultural development. He said that the team plans to complete the overall planning of 2,3 mu of "planting and breeding cycle" within 6 to 7 years, and will adhere to science and technology to help agriculture, and insist on exploring the future road of agricultural development and rural revitalization. (ENDS)