Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, Zhejiang: let the agricultural cattle break up

The development of various forms of moderate scale operation of agriculture is the only way of agricultural modernization, and the improvement of land output rate, resource utilization rate and labor productivity must be taken as the core. We should speed up the cultivation of new agricultural operators, such as family farms, professional large households, farmers' cooperatives and leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization. To build a three-dimensional and compound modern agricultural management system based on peasant household management, linked by cooperation and association, and supported by social service in line with national conditions and development stage, we will improve the level of intensive, large-scale, organized, socialized and industrialized agricultural management.

-- extracted from the Comprehensive implementation Plan for deepening Rural Reform recently issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council

"how big is your farm?"

"Oh, ours is not called a farm, but an agricultural technology company."

"what are your products besides strawberries and fruit tomatoes?"

"our products are not strawberries, fruit tomatoes, but 'technology packages', which are comprehensive solutions."

Well, I choked even to ask two questions.

An inconspicuous valley in the evolutionary town of Xiaoshan District, Zhejiang Yangtian Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., referred to as "Yangtian Agricultural Science", is quietly setting off an agricultural revolution-"operating with the concept of investment and implementing with the logic of industry." the plant factories here are subverting your understanding of agriculture and making you "greatly inspired".

Yangtian Agricultural Science, what kind of testing ground is it?

See and hear on the spot

In a plant factory, baby strawberries do not grow "in bed" on the ground.

"where do strawberries grow?"

"on the ground!"

You, who have picked strawberries, will answer with such confidence.

In Yangtian Agricultural Science, the strawberry seedlings we see are "lying in bed"-in a greenhouse of more than 1000 square meters, rows of strawberries are placed on brackets off the ground or 60 centimeters or 80 centimeters, with bright leaves and some florets. Take a closer look, the black matrix stacked on the shelf is not soil, but "broken, sterilized coconut shells, coupled with nutrients." Specially imported from Sri Lanka.

"Strawberries have no skin and no shell. You like them, and so do bugs. The purpose of not using soil or brackets is to reduce or even isolate insect pests.

According to Zhu Hanliang, chairman of Yangtian Agricultural Science, each row of "viaducts" here has two pipes that supply heat and water and nutrients directly to the roots of the plants. "it is not 'what is given, what is absorbed by the plant', but 'what the plant lacks, what it makes up'. The supply is digitally automatically controlled, and the proportion of nutrients varies at each stage of plant growth. According to reports, water and fertilizer is controlled by drip irrigation technology introduced from Israel to ensure consistent concentration at each exit.

The planting greenhouse is very intelligent, it can monitor and record the data changes in the greenhouse 24 hours a day, and the temperature and humidity are adjusted by high-tech equipment through automatic window opening, irrigation and other means, so that crops can grow in the most suitable environment.

In such a plant factory, the fruit hanging period of the plant can be accurate to less than 5 days, and the yield can also be accurately predicted. It is estimated that the yield of strawberries can be increased from 2000 kg to 5000 kg per mu by using this technology.

In another greenhouse inside the park, there are fruit tomatoes, which also do not grow in the soil, but on a white film one centimeter above the ground. Under the white membrane, there is a transparent membrane called "unidirectional osmotic membrane".

"the unidirectional osmotic membrane looks inconspicuous, but it is very effective." Zhu Hanliang said that the roots of tomatoes can grow through a unidirectional film, fully absorb water and nutrients from the eyedropper below, reflect light and absorb sunlight and resist bacteria, diseases and insect pests.

According to reports, unidirectional osmotic membrane cultivation technology is a world-leading technology introduced from Waseda University in Japan, which can improve the sugar content, yield and quality of tomato.

Entrepreneurial story

Contracting wasteland, three MBA plunged into the "agricultural gate"

The founder of Yangtian Agricultural Science is three MBA classmates from Zhejiang University. Prior to this, they did things that had nothing to do with agriculture and did a lot of work in their respective fields.

Why did you choose to enter the "farm gate"? "at first, it also stems from a simple idea-'want family and friends to eat safe and delicious agricultural products'. General manager Lou just said.

Just do it. They took a fancy to a wasteland of more than 100 mu in Huajiadian Village, Xiaoshan Evolutionary Town. There, surrounded by mountains, fresh air, a township road through, convenient transportation.

In July 2012, Zhejiang Yangtian Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. was officially established. Without office space, they rented an assembled container and embarked on a second venture.

The inefficient and extensive management model of traditional agriculture must not work! With the ups and downs of business for many years, the entrepreneurial team should let Yangtian "operate with the concept of investment and implement it with the logic of industry."

Combined with their respective network resources, they look for the most advanced agricultural technology all over the world, and absorb, organize and standardize it, so as to form a technical system with Yangtian characteristics.

They created their own "Jia Le Man" brand, positioning in the middle and high end. This brand of strawberries is specially designed for high-end supermarkets such as Vientiane City in Hangzhou. 12 strawberries sell for 108 yuan, and the price is even higher during the Spring Festival. Even so, they are often robbed by customers as soon as they are on the shelf! "my teacher Jack Ma has been eating strawberries from our family for three years and is a loyal fan of our family." The general manager Lou Gang said with a smile.

They positioned Yangtian as a comprehensive solution provider of modern facility agriculture-- forming a "technology package" of Yangtian's most advanced technology, equipment, and late-stage services, which was provided to agricultural production bases and large growers. The "Yangtian model" was soon popularized in Urumqi, Kashgar, Yili, Korla, the Construction Corps, Anhui and other places, and achieved great success. At present, eight provinces across the country have their demonstration sites.

According to reports, Yangtian Agriculture, which was founded with an investment of 3 million yuan three years ago, now has a market capitalization of 100 million yuan.

Uncover the secrets of growth

Technological Innovation is the Core Competitiveness of Enterprise Development

Yangtian Agricultural Science and Technology has always regarded technological innovation as the core competitiveness of enterprise development.

42 technicians have been introduced in three years, and the main work every day is to study, sort out, absorb and standardize the world's top agricultural technologies, such as Japan, Israel, the Netherlands and so on. Today, Yangtian Agricultural Science has more than 10 technology patents.

This year, Yangtian Agricultural Science has specially set up an academician workstation, and three academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have officially signed contracts, and they will often bring topics.

Three high-paid experts from Japan are also guests of Yangtian Agricultural Science. Mr. Hiroi, who graduated from the University of Tokyo, is the head of Japanese technology in Yoshida Agricultural Science. Every year, he spends half his time in Yangtian, helping Yangtian optimize its skills, train its staff, and go deep into the fields to guide paired farmers.