The family farmers visited by the prime minister are looking forward to a bumper year

The picture shows Li Keqiang visiting Deqiang Modern Family Farm in Ling County, Dezhou, Shandong Province on July 24, 2014. China News Service reporter Liu Zhen photo

Deqiang Modern Family Farm, located in Ling County, Dezhou, Shandong Province, is "different" not only because of the exploration of modern agricultural development models, but also because of the personal visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in July 2014.

"as soon as Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Deqiang Farm, he went directly into the field, crouched in this field to watch the seedlings grow, personally grabbed a handful of soil to see the soil moisture, and went to the agricultural machinery station, seed station, and fertilizer distribution station to inspect the farm." Farmer Feng Shuqiang said, "I can't believe that the prime minister of a big country can spend nearly an hour 'full process' inspecting a family farm."

Feng Shuqiang, the owner of Deqiang Farm in Texas, and the person in charge of the greenhouse are exchanging the harvest and trading of tomatoes in the greenhouse. Photo taken by Liang Kui

Feng Shuqiang has been in Beijing since the age of 16, running IT, catering and other industries. In 2013, feeling "the country's policy and determination to develop modern agriculture", he invested in Dezhou Deqiang Farm in his hometown of Ling County, Shandong Province, and gathered tens of thousands of mu of land by means of land circulation and lease. specializing in the cultivation of crops, fruit trees, seedlings and vegetables. This is also the first family farm registered locally.

A year later, the family farm welcomed the visit of Premier Li Keqiang. At that time, Li Keqiang crouched in the field and Feng Shuqiang carefully examined the growth of crops and calculated the income with farmers and farmers. After learning that farmers' costs have been greatly reduced and their incomes have increased year by year through large-scale intensive operation, the prime minister said that modern agriculture not only ensures national food security, but also enables farmers to make profits and increase farmers' income.

He said: "Agricultural modernization is to enable farmers to lead a good life. I hope you will join hands and get rich together!"

Li Keqiang stressed the importance of agricultural modernization all the time. During his first grass-roots inspection since becoming prime minister, he came to Tian Niang Farm in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, and praised the new cooperative development model of "company + several family farms" here. He told the head of the farm here: "Gold can also be produced in the land, but there must be conditions. It is not good for a small acre of land, but it still needs large plots and economies of scale."

In last year's "Government work report," Li Keqiang clearly stressed that we should persistently give top priority to solving the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and promote agricultural modernization with ensuring national food security and increasing farmers' income as the core. At a recent meeting, he asked the heads of participating provinces, cities, and departments to proceed from reality, innovate various forms of scale operation, and give full play to the creativity of farmers.

He said: "when the household contract responsibility system was launched on a pilot basis 30 years ago, the practice was different in different places, and the attitude of the central government at that time was' yes, yes, yes'. Today, we should also give sufficient autonomy to all localities and farmers, and our attitude towards rural reform is to 'explore, explore, and explore again.' "

Feng Shuqiang, owner of Deqiang Farm in Texas, is checking the growth of greenhouse tomatoes. Photo taken by Liang Kui

As one of the "explorers" of family farms, Feng Shuqiang believes that the core of modern agriculture is agriculture with high yield, safety and high scientific and technological content. He revealed to reporters that his experience in managing Deqiang is to introduce the thinking mode of the Internet and the management mode of modern enterprises to the farm. At present, Deqiang Farm is strengthening the construction of the Internet of things in agriculture, recording a series of operations such as seeds, soil, irrigation, fertilizers, and workers' work on the Internet. Through big data's analysis, the best proportion data of modern agriculture in North China Plain is obtained, and efforts are made to standardize this set of data into modern agricultural North China Plain, so that Deqiang's planting and management experience can be copied. "then Deqiang Farm will become a brand, a model that can be replicated."

Recalling Li Keqiang's inspection of Deqiang Farm, Feng Shuqiang is most impressed by the Premier's requirements for modern farm management: "moderate scale operation should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of modern agricultural technology on the basis of respecting the wishes of farmers and in accordance with the law."

He remembers that the prime minister specially took a "contract for the transfer of contracted management rights of rural land" and carefully studied it, confirming the provisions to protect farmers' rights and interests one by one, and repeatedly confirmed with the farmers who came to consult and join the farm: "what are the benefits of joining the cooperative?" Have you made up your mind? Is it voluntary? "

He stressed that agricultural cooperation must be open, fair, and fair, and fully respect the wishes of farmers themselves.

Feng Shuqiang said that because of the premier's request, he has been "careful" in running his own farm: "I want to build Deqiang Farm into a farm with strong anti-attack ability, so that the farm can develop healthily and sustainably, so that the farm can pay the land transfer funds to the farmers on schedule every year in accordance with the contract."

On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2015, a reporter from China News Service came to Deqiang Farm. The out-of-season spinach and leek in the cold shed are already on the market for the Spring Festival, and the tomatoes in the greenhouse are also being picked. Lao Wang, who is in charge of the tomato shed, told reporters that some merchants in Liaoning have ordered these tomatoes and they will be transported in the past two days and settled in cash on the spot.

"different from other industries in agriculture, you can't make any mistakes, because the growth cycle of crops determines the specific law of one step at a time and one year at a time." Feng Shuqiang, who turned from the IT industry to the farmer, said quite professionally.

Feng Shuqiang, owner of Deqiang Farm in Texas, was interviewed by a reporter from China News Service. Photo taken by Liang Kui

He told reporters that his wish for the new year is that the state can increase the matching subsidies for large agricultural machinery and equipment, increase the insurance coverage of agricultural insurance, and ensure the implementation of the subsidy policy for field growers.

However, after the local drought in winter and spring, his most urgent wish became "a spring rain as expensive as oil."

"in July last year, the Prime Minister asked me if I could have a bumper harvest, and I replied yes. This year I want to tell the Prime Minister that we are working hard to win next season's bumper harvest. " Feng Shuqiang looked at his ten thousand mu of land and said.