Rice fields in Helin village, Wanquan town, Chengdu
In recent years, the trend to return to the countryside has intensified, with more and more people taking up modern farming. In Chengdu, these new generation farmers are bringing new technologies, resources and ideas, breathing new vitality into traditional agriculture and revealing new values in the villages.
An inspiring transformation
The young Wang Chengcheng, from generation Z, once shared a profile photo on social networks with the caption: “You will never guess my job”. In the photo, she appears carefully made-up, wearing a khaki dress and stiletto heels. It is indeed difficult to imagine that his job consists of staying in the fields, taking care of the land, fruits and vegetables, and worrying about the weather and the harvests.
Previously, Ms. Wang had little connection with agriculture. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Sichuan Agricultural University, then did a master’s degree in tourism management at the Paris School of Businesses. During the holidays, she worked part-time at a local orchard, where she was responsible for sorting plums. This was then his closest contact with agriculture.
During her studies, she saw the business potential of organic food in China, when the organic market was still in its infancy. “Organic growing methods are more environmentally friendly, the fruits and vegetables grown are healthier. “It’s definitely a long-term trend,” she says.
After returning to China in 2016, Ms. Wang and her partners established an organic farm located in Pengzhen Town in Shuangliu District on the outskirts of Chengdu. However, she quickly realized that she had underestimated the technical challenges of farming, including reducing pests and diseases in a healthy way, as well as maintaining the high quality and standards of fruits and vegetables.
Ms. Wang persevered despite challenges. She and her team strictly controlled the quality of vegetables and expanded sales channels. Thus, their products are found on well-known sales platforms and can be shipped to several regions. At the same time, his team cooperated with several organic vegetable bases in Sichuan and Chongqing to reduce the cost of agricultural inputs. She also took advantage of the temperature variations in different regions of China to introduce various varieties of vegetables and enrich those of Chengdu.
Last year, Ms. Wang rented a new piece of land in Qionglai District. The production of organic vegetables from his farm is constantly increasing, and the price gap with ordinary vegetables is getting smaller and smaller, allowing residents to enjoy “locally produced” organic vegetables without paying too high a price, all providing over 60 jobs to local residents.
Seed display stand (PHOTOS: HAN JIE)
Technology at the service of agriculture
Today’s plantation says goodbye to the traditional model characterized by high labor intensity, low yield and great dependence on weather conditions. New generation farmers are now using technology, playing an important role in modern agriculture.
In Chongzhou (Chengdu), the rice fields are green at the beginning of August. Science and technology intervene at almost every stage of its biological cycle: intelligent sowing, automatic rice transplanting, drone spreading and automated harvesting. Smart agriculture is making sense, with constantly updated technologies. “We regard science and technology as key drivers for the high-quality development of the grain industry,” said Zhu Shan, head of the information center of the Chongzhou Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau.
Technology also plays a crucial role in fruit growing. In 2021, Deng Yangqin founded Rongjinyuan Farm in Anxi Town, Xinjin District, where she mainly cultivates vines and tropical fruit trees. In the past, workers had to carry buckets to fertilize the vines and water them manually, which resulted in very high labor and time costs. Since the introduction of the drip irrigation system, Ms. Deng only needs to use her smartphone to carry out automatic spraying. “The 30 mu orchard (1 mu = 1/15 ha) is fertilized in two hours, saving a lot on labor costs,” she explains.
The agricultural greenhouse is equipped with a temperature control system. When it exceeds 35°C, the roof window opens to dissipate the heat. If the temperature is even higher, a misting system diffuses fresh air, “it’s air conditioning for fruit trees”.
Last year, Ms. Deng collaborated with a Russian technology company specializing in space mutagenesis. Certain varieties of its grapes have been grown using a high-tech fertilizer called “intelligent ionic nutrient base”, to improve their flavor and nutritional value. In mid-August, these grapes attracted many tourists who came to pick and taste them.
Technology has transformed the traditional, often laborious model of farming, increasing yields and incomes for farmers. This also attracts more new farmers wanting to settle in rural areas, creating a virtuous circle.
Training to settle down
Xinghua Village in Qingbaijiang District has a long tradition of planting apricot trees. However, due to technological backwardness and outdated varieties, Xinghua apricots lack market competitiveness and sell at a lower price. Zhang Xuezhi, an agricultural manager born in Xinghua, returned to his village in 2018 to establish Azhi Farm. He then spent six months studying the reasons for the low yield of apricots and their poor taste. He chose a dozen apricot trees from his orchard to experiment with.
Under the guidance of experts and after several attempts, Mr. Zhang developed an effective pruning method: cutting off the poorly growing vertical branches at the top of the apricot tree so that the fruiting branches benefit from better light, better nutrients and enough space to grow. In addition, he improved the quality of the soil and adopted the targeted fertilization method for each apricot tree. Through these efforts, he managed to cultivate several varieties of quality apricot trees, thereby increasing the yield and annual production value per mu.
Based on this, Mr. Zhang introduced other fruits such as cherry, peach and medlar. The cherries from his farm allowed him to get noticed. They ripen 10 days earlier than those of other farmers, which allows him to have the first access to sales. When the cherry season is over and there are still flows of customers, Mr. Zhang promotes apricots.
In his free time, Mr. Zhang participates in training on agricultural planting techniques, and then provides free training to village farmers. With his help, they began to improve varieties of fruit trees and learn the necessary techniques. In addition to apricot trees, they grew strawberries and tomatoes. This diversification of crops in the orchard allowed them to revalue the land and increase their income.
In Mr. Zhang’s view, agricultural development also helps attract people. He collaborated with local farmers to transform the village into a unique tourist destination that combines accommodation, flower viewing, fruit picking and other agricultural activities. This allows the village to develop sustainably and the villagers to lead a better life.
At any time, rural areas need people who are passionate about the land and full of hope. The stories of new generations of farmers, diligent and courageous, reflect the evolution of modern villages.
*ZHANG MAN is a journalist at Chengdu Culture.
