Can Co-cultivation and Co-planting promote a New Leap in China's Agriculture

A whole 10 mu of rice field, a 67-year-old man, how to cut?

Squinting at the golden rice fields, Dai Qilou looked relaxed: "my old man harvested enough by himself."

Lao Dai is a farmer in Sanhe Village, Haihe Town, Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province. Two years ago, Lao Dai was worried about the harvest season: his son and his wife were out to work, and his wife was in poor health. He went around looking for help with the harvest. What was even more disturbing was where the straw was piled all over the ground. "that year, the neighbor burned straw in the field, and there was only a small ditch, which almost burned our rice field." Lao Dai is a little scared when he thinks of it now.

This year, not only the harvest is easy, but also the straw no longer needs to be burned. Because, since last year, Lao Dai's village has implemented "joint farming".

The "joint farming" in Sheyang has solved a common dilemma in China's rural areas: a group of people in their fifties and sixties are busy harvesting in scattered cornfields and rice fields, while their children and grandchildren have long been far away from the land. working in distant cities to earn money.

How should the land be planted?

There are roughly two roads in front of farmers: one is that families have been operating separately for many years, and at most they can only rely on small-scale agricultural machinery; the other is that the land is transferred to large households or enterprises to operate on a large scale and collect their own rent.

The development of modern agriculture must be competitive in scale, and the second way has naturally become the main channel for many places to change the mode of agricultural development.

However, the land complex that has been deposited in the hearts of farmers for thousands of years has made many farmers, especially middle-aged and elderly farmers, have the mentality of "cherishing land". Coupled with the influence of some damage to farmers' interests in land transfer, many farmers still adhere to the traditional mode of decentralized management. In Sheyang, a major agricultural county, 1.6 million mu of arable land has been transferred over the years with an area of only 250000 mu.

Is there a third way for farmers not to transfer land, but also to share the benefits of scale operation?

Sheyang County has explored this for three years and explored the mode of "joint farming and joint planting": scattered land from one family to another, the ridges of the fields are removed and connected, and the operation of large agricultural machinery is carried out jointly, which basically realizes the large-scale operation in another sense.

Behind the seemingly simple approach, it is a major breakthrough in China's rural land management from "scattered" to "unified".

He Xuefeng, an expert on the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, commented: "Sheyang co-farming and co-planting has achieved agricultural modernization with scattered farmers as the main body, and it will promote a new leap in China's agriculture!"

The person in charge of the Central Agricultural Office said: joint farming and cropping not only retains the core of household management of tens of millions of farmers, but also gains the benefits of joint cooperation among farmers, and effectively gives full play to the advantages of large-scale and intensive land. It provides a useful experience for China's 620 million mu plain arable land.

Inadvertently insert willow

Liu Gucheng did not expect that their small creation unexpectedly attracted the attention of the county committee of agriculture.

Similar to the "guaranteed production to every household" in Xiaogang Village, Fengyang, Anhui Province, Sheyang's co-cultivation originated from the creation of farmers. Liu Gucheng, a 54-year-old farmer from Qinghua Village, Xingqiao Town, is a participant in this change.

The Liu Gucheng family had two responsible fields. A few years ago, it was "one family, two systems." one piece of land only about 1 mu was transferred. "the field is small, time-consuming and laborious, and it is not cost-effective." the other 5.7 mu of land is still planted by itself, "reluctant to part with it. Although there is a rent of NT $3,000 to NT $4,000, what does the family eat?" In the final analysis, Lao Liu is still reluctant to give up the land.

However, this more than 5 mu of land makes Lao Liu very tangled. He has been divided into households for more than 30 years, and the harvest has not increased in these years, and it is not easy to plant it. Looking at the big farm machinery running in the fields of the state-run Xinyang Farm on the east side of the village, Lao Liu envied from the bottom of his heart: how easy it is to see other people in this field! Can we also use large agricultural machinery and really realize mechanization?

"A family of seven or eight mu is divided into five or six pieces of land," because according to the fertility of the land and the equal distribution of the land, the phenomenon of "fragmentation" of farmers' responsible land is very common in Sheyang. The big agricultural machinery can't even turn the corner, how can it really be used? Liu Gucheng discussed with some like-minded villagers whether he could mobilize dozens of connected households in the village to shovel off the ridges of their fields so that large agricultural machines could run in the fields.

In the autumn of 2012, the big agricultural machinery "rumbled" to the four groups of land in Qinghua Village, with more than 300 mu of land, and the ploughing was finished in a day and a half. While laughing easily, Liu Gucheng and his neighbors were busy burying hidden piles at the head of their respective fields. "after shoveling the ridges of the fields, the boundaries have to be drawn clearly, and no one can suffer this loss!"

The operation of large agricultural machinery not only brought ease of farming to Liu Gucheng, but also brought a good harvest. During the summer harvest in 2013, the Liu Gucheng family produced more than 1000 jin of wheat per mu, compared with about 800 jin at most in previous years. "the big agricultural machinery can turn over deeply, the straw returning to the field increases the fertility, and the wheat is not easy to freeze in winter." Liu Gucheng analyzed the reasons for the bumper harvest.

The spontaneous production creation of farmers in Qinghua village won everyone's support with a good harvest, although this creation did not have a name at first, but only based on farmers' simple desire for large machinery work.

Liu Gucheng did not expect that their own small creation soon attracted the attention of the Sheyang County Committee of Agriculture, which first saw the value of this mode of production in solving the problem of "returning straw to the field."

Straw, which has been the fuel for farmers for thousands of years, has now become a major problem in rural areas. "A catty of grain and grass!" Dai Yasheng, director of the Sheyang County Committee of Agriculture, said that when one jin of rice is harvested, one jin of straw is harvested. Now that so much straw is no longer cooked and fed to cattle, the simplest way for farmers to deal with it is to burn it. Burning will cause pollution; if burning is prohibited, where does so much straw go? Dai Yasheng has worked in villages and towns for many years, and he is deeply impressed by the fact that grass-roots cadres stay in the fields day and night to ban burning. "take strict precautions!"

No matter how strict the burning ban is, it will not be able to solve the problem of the way out of the straw. Farmers can only push the straw into the Tian Tou gully and pond river and let it slowly erode in the wind and rain.

Why can't the straw be returned to the field? "in the past, with small farm machinery, the land was turned a few centimeters deep, and there was no way to guarantee the quality of straw returning to the field. The key to returning straw to the field depends on the deep turning of large agricultural machinery, but how can there be room for large agricultural machinery in a small field like fragments in every household? " Dai Yasheng expressed the embarrassment of returning straw to the field.

During the summer harvest in 2013, the field in Qinghua Village brightened Dai Yasheng's eyes: the ridges of the fields were broken, the scattered land was connected into one piece, and the big agricultural machinery went in, and the straw could be returned to the field in full!

In the autumn of that year, Sheyang promoted the practice of scattered farmers to combine their land for farming in 42 villages, and named it "joint farming." "to put it bluntly, it is based on the willingness of the peasants to unite and cultivate the land belonging to each household and adjacent to each other, and the land is still their own land, but farming has achieved large-scale cultivation." Dai Yasheng explained.

Be willing to plant flowers

The land can be planted with sleeves and hands, and if the committee of agriculture says "good", the farmers will of course accept the bill.

When the Committee of Agriculture says "good" things, do the peasants admit it or not?

Whether the farmers accept the account or not, the area of cultivated land under co-cultivation is the best answer.

The pilot project began in the autumn of 2013, and in 2014, the area of wheat co-cultivation and co-planting reached 40% of the county's planting area, and this year, the area of rice co-cultivation accounted for one of the top 3 in the county. Haihe Town, the largest piece of land of co-cultivation and co-cultivation, covers an area of 32000 mu.

Why can the promotion of co-cultivation and co-cultivation be smooth all the way?

"at a great age, farming has never been so easy." Hu Jianhua, 78, from Sanhe Village, Haihe Town, is particularly happy about co-farming and planting. "take rice, for example, from cultivated land to raising and transplanting rice seedlings, and then to the final harvest, the whole process of mechanization, you can plant the field well with your sleeves!"

Hu Xiangcheng of the same village talked about another kind of ease: "Don't look at my leisure now. I didn't dare to do this in the past. I was busy pulling weeds in the fields!" In the past, small farm machines turned over the land so thick that the straw could not be turned in, and there were many weeds, so they had to pull up the grass three or four times. Now that the big agricultural machinery is turned over deeply and the living soil layer is as deep as the knee, how can the grass grow? Now that we don't pull up the grass, everyone can go out to work! "

In addition to easy planting, co-cultivation has also brought about an increase in grain production and a reduction in costs.

Statistics from the Sheyang County Committee of Agriculture show that the grain output per mu of land under co-cultivation and co-cultivation has increased by more than 200 jin, equivalent to an increase of more than 250 yuan in income, while the cost has been reduced by about 300 yuan. This increase and decrease is the "real money and silver" that farmers can touch.

At first, Le Daoxue, 69, from Sanzhong Village, Changdang Town, did not like the machine transplanting technology used in co-cultivation. "which line, the seedlings are far away from the seedlings, and the pigs can run so wide in the middle that the output will definitely not go up!" The skeptical Ledaoxue went to his own field to see the growth of rice, and the more he looked at it, the more convinced he became: "look how beautiful this rice field is, it's straight, it's ventilated, transparent, and it doesn't lodge!" In the past, more than 20 jin of seeds per mu of direct seeding rice were needed, but now more than 10 jin is enough. " As soon as the autumn harvest, the family rice yield of more than 1400 jin per mu, Lao Le really "happy" blossoms: "farming ah, or modern technology is better!"

Du Liangyang, a farmer in Changdang Town, is the leader of an agricultural machinery cooperative. he makes a comparison before and after the implementation of co-cultivation: "in the past, the fields were small, changed fields frequently, and spent more time running on the road than working in the fields; now the fields are all one piece. It saves time and diesel. As soon as the cost of agricultural machinery is reduced, farmers and agricultural machinists will save money! "

The advantage of large-scale production makes every household feel real benefits from it.

Dai Yasheng said: "Farmers benefit, society also benefits, large-scale operation is carried out, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is reduced, and the traditional plastic film for raising seedlings is reduced, which is of great benefit to the improvement of the rural ecological environment; returning all the straw to the field has a far-reaching impact on the improvement of soil quality; in addition, the ridge of the field has been removed and the area of cultivated land has also increased a lot."

Such a low starting point, high-benefit scale operation, the local government began to vigorously promote. Yancheng, where Sheyang County is located, has promoted 4 million mu in the city in the past two years.

Take a calming pill

If the land is "connected" again, it is still our own land, and the "boss" will not be allowed to crowd out the interests of the "fellow villagers".

There are deeper reasons why farmers support co-cultivation and co-planting.

The reporter interviewed in the rural areas of Sheyang and found that most of those farmers are over 50 years old, and not a few are 60 or 70 years old. These farmers who were happy to divide their fields and work alone 30 years ago have not diminished their dependence on land. "Co-tillage and co-planting, and then the land is' United', it is still our own land!" The words of Gu Shu, a 70-year-old farmer from Xinnan Village, Siming Town, showed the peace of mind of the farmers.

Joint ploughing and planting, land contract rights and management rights are still in their own hands, which is the greatest reassurance for farmers.

"if you want to cheat, it's only this season. No, I'll quit next year!" When co-farming and co-planting was piloted in 2013, Gu Baode, a farmer in Xinnan Village, gave this sentence to Liu Jinghua, secretary of the general party branch of the village, revealing the detachment in the hearts of the farmers: anyway, the land is in their own hands, and if joint farming does not work, then go back and work alone!

After the investigation of Sheyang Co-cultivation and Co-planting, Dang Guoying, a researcher at the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: psychologically, farmers think that the land is still their own, and the management right of the land is not transferred, and this model is easily welcomed by farmers.

"there is a way out!" Dai Yasheng said: joint farming and planting is entirely voluntary by the masses, and the land has always been in the hands of farmers, and they can either choose to join or not to join, which is much more reassuring for farmers who like to give themselves a way out.

In fact, farmers have a scale in their hearts, and their approval of co-cultivation is privately compared with the popular land transfer.

"with the transfer of land, the land has been transferred to the big households. how do we farmers make a living?" Dai Qilou has also heard that in some places, land transfer goes against the wishes of farmers and forcibly transfers land to large households or enterprises at low prices. Farmers not only get less money, but also lose the right to use the land they rely on for a living.

According to the Sheyang market, Dai Qilou calculated that the land was transferred to large households, and the rent of one mu of land was subsidized, and he got no more than NT $800 or NT $900 a year. Now, when he participates in co-cultivation and co-cultivation, he earns a net income of more than NT $1300 per mu of land a year, which is quite a difference.

"when the land flows, you work for your boss; if you work for yourself, it's different!" Dai Qilou said with a laugh.

Joint farming and planting avoids the situation in which the "boss" occupies the interests of the "fellow-townsman" in the land transfer.

Because the land is still its own, the production effect of co-farming and co-planting is better than that of land transfer.

Du Liangyang is not only the leader of an agricultural machinery cooperative, but also runs a family farm covering an area of more than 2000 mu. In theory, I have large agricultural machinery and such a large area of land, so large-scale operation can be described as "windy, rainy and rainy". But du Liangyang says frankly that his family's farm is not as good as co-farming.

"to talk about the reasons, one is that when it comes to farming, farmers who co-cultivate and grow crops keep a close eye on them, and agricultural machinery cooperatives must give priority to ensuring them. another reason is that in terms of field management, farmers must be more attentive to their fields. Family farm employees are definitely not as good as them!" Du Liangyang said.