China News Network, 5 May (Reporter Jiang Xuelin) "For thousands of years, we have tried to increase land production and income every year, planting many times a year, the land has not had to rest, our land is very tired, we should let her rest and rest." It was not an expert professor who said this, but a "female farmer" in Sanwu Town, Xingbin District, Laibin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, who is Mo Lirong, president of the Baicao Garden Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative in Xingbin District, Laibin City.
Mo Lirong is a "farmer" with only a junior high school education. "I like to learn, I like to study things, and I want to change my destiny through my own efforts." Mo Lirong said in an interview with reporters recently.
Because Mo Lirong loves to learn, she has changed from a traditional agricultural person to a "new farmer" who is gradually proficient in modern agricultural knowledge. Mo Lirong said that traditional agricultural planting, management is scattered, messy, chaotic, farmers in the planting process, in order to increase crop production and income, generally apply fertilizer, the soil can not be completely absorbed, in the long run, the land will remain a lot of harmful substances. It is necessary to find ways to improve the soil and let the land rest and recuperate, so that the agricultural industry can enter a virtuous track of sustainable development.
"There are many ways to improve the soil, and with the support of the local science and technology department, I am also trying. For acidified land, the method of spreading lime can be used to improve, or the method of water and drought rotation can be adopted, and after planting rice, corn, soybeans, or peanuts can be planted instead. Mok Lirong said that only by improving the land well can we grow high-quality rice.
While farming in the village, Mo Lirong also served as a substitute teacher at the village primary school. After getting married, she and her husband Huang Chaoguang started a business, successively doing department stores, small supermarkets, restaurants, mother and baby specialty stores, each of which was prosperous, and Mo Lirong became a well-known local businesswoman.
Mo Lirong, who walked out of the "farm gate", changed his career direction and devoted himself to agriculture in 2018. "Although I have been away from agriculture for many years, I have always had a special passion for agriculture, and it was with this intention that I decided to invest in agriculture." Mo Lirong said.
The idea of Mo Lirong switching to agriculture was strongly opposed by his family. However, in Mo Lirong's view, there is also great potential to deepen the agriculture of his hometown. But after dabbling in agriculture, Mo Lirong suffered a series of failures. "Opportunities are left to those who are prepared, and only by gritting their teeth and persevering after failure can miracles be created." In the beginning, although the startup failed, it accumulated a lot of experience for me and paved the way for the success I have today. Mo Lirong said.
The turning point came in 2021, when Mo Lirong switched from the Chinese herbal medicine plantation industry to rice cultivation, and she contracted her own land to grow rice, because large-scale rice cultivation requires a seedling plant, and she invested in the construction of a small seedling plant. With the strong support of the local party committee and government, her rice planting industry has become bigger and bigger, she invested more than 1000 million yuan (RMB, the same below) to create a rice industrial park covering an area of more than 200 acres, and this year she received support from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Agricultural Machinery Center to build a regional rice industry center. The industrial center includes a seedling center, a drying center, a storage center and a rice processing center, and the project construction infrastructure has been fully completed, and the equipment has been installed one after another, and it is expected to be delivered for acceptance in June this year. After the completion of the project, Mo Lirong will have the entire industrial chain of rice production.
Mo Lirong said that the rice industrial park also offers training courses for growers, and cooperates with the Xingbin District Agriculture and Rural Bureau, the Agricultural Machinery Center and Guangxi University to cultivate new farmers. So far, two training courses have been conducted and more than 2 growers have been trained.
"This year, the industrial park is expected to cultivate about 3,15 mu of seedlings." Mo Lirong said she already has 4 large rice transplanters and <> drones. In the land of Zhuangxiang, from south to north, there are her rice transplanter fleet to provide services to farmers.
Mok Lillong (first from left) goes to the field to guide farmers to observe pests and diseases. Photo by Huang Shaoyan
"I used to say I was a farmer, and people would make fun of me. My ideal is for all the young people who come back to farm with me to be decent farmers. The so-called decency is that people ask me what I do, and I have to say loudly that I am a farmer, and I am a new farmer who has planted thousands of acres of land, even tens of thousands of acres. Mo Lirong said.
Mok Lirong said that modern agriculture needs the participation of young people with technical ability. "Influenced by me, my daughter stayed with me after graduating from college to help me develop agriculture." Mo Lirong's ideal agriculture is to gradually form large-scale management through the circulation of land, rely on big data, and finally realize intelligent management. At that time, sitting in the office, you can control the paddy fields of multiple villages, manage thousands of acres of land, and only through the data presented on the screen, you can understand when the seedlings need to be watered, what diseases the seedlings have, what fertilizer needs to be added, and whether there is a lack of fertilizer. When planted rice needs to be fertilized, when it needs to be insecticidal.
"I want young people to be proud to say, 'I farm.' What's so bad about farming? I think farming should be honorable. If young people do not farm, how can food security be guaranteed? Mo Lirong said. (End)