21st Century Farming Booms in Shandong

Liu Bo， an entrepreneur walking hurriedly in the field， looks no different from the ordinary farmers in rural Shandong Province. What sets Liu apart， however， is the fact that he has reclaimed over 1，000 mu （67 hectares） of land to grow organic green tea. He has now become one of the most successful tea growers in Rizhao， near the province’s eastern coast.

Thanks to his success， Liu has been described as a “new-type professional farmer”， a term first used in central government documents in 2012. As defined by the Ministry of Agriculture， a “new-type professional farmer” is a modern practitioner who is engaged in agricultural production and has certain professional skills and whose income mainly comes from agriculture.

Questions such as “Who will farm？” and “How to farm well？” are pressing matters in modern agriculture. Training new-type professional farmers is thought to be an effective way to solve problems and boost modern agricultural transformation. In Shandong， where rural residents account for over 70 percent of the province’s total population， a number of agricultural experts pin their hope for the future of its agriculture on such training. Today， “farmer” has become a profession rather than an identity， and farmers’ fates have changed quickly.

Classroom in the Field

Qi Minggui， 52， talks unceasingly. He is dark-skinned and sturdy， and has spent his whole life farming in Shanglong Village， just outside of Jinan， the provincial capital. However， it is only in recent years that he has developed a sense of accomplishment.

Qi used to grow peanuts and soybeans in his early years as a farmer. Later， he started to grow walnuts， which earned more revenue. It takes a walnut tree one year to grow and two years to produce nuts， and its growth requires special care. If something goes wrong， all the efforts made throughout the year would be in vain. Because of these pressures， Qi felt anxious during that time.

Agricultural technology is very important， and no one knows this better than Qi.

“Start from scratch，” he says. “When faced with a new product or technology， I see myself as a student.”

To master new technologies as soon as possible， Qi has signed up for a training class for new-type professional farmers at the Agricultural Broadcasting and Television School （ABTS） of Changqing in Jinan. He barely misses any classes. Sometimes， he even has to travel at night to attend class.

Training is a key part of cultivating new-type professional farmers. The most important aspect of such training is bringing educational resources to farmers. Having spent months surveying farmers’ quality and training demands， the ABTS of Yancheng concluded in a report that there is a need to “carry out more on-site training in villages so that the farmers can learn practical technologies without traveling long distances”.

Such classes are known as field classes， and are required to be held around 15 times a year. Teachers should educate their students on the growth cycles of all crops grown by the farmers.

Today， field classes taught by professional teachers can help farmers solve their most urgent， technical problems in a methodical way. Wang Guijun， principal of the ABTS of Changqing， says， “Technology training services are customized according to the farmers’ needs.”

Through the training， experienced farmers have acquired new technologies and expanded their horizons， and younger farmers have learned about modern agricultural management and operation philosophies right from the start. The newly learned technical operations have helped Qi reduce the chemical residue on walnuts， the non-fragile skin of which has become thinner. That has helped him improve sales. Since 2013， Qi has enlarged his planting area and founded the Jinan Guilan Walnut Planting Cooperative， which is made up of more than 10 households. He says， “Now， more and more people start to grow walnuts. To increase profits， we must stick to the road of brand building and deep processing.”

New Farmer Certificates

After 10 years of greenhouse planting， Li Pihua， a farmer from Yancheng， Linyi， has finally realized his dream of building up the family fortune. What’s more， he has helped the farmers around him achieve prosperity on their own by growing greenhouse strawberries. Today， he can generate a revenue of 15，000-20，000 yuan （US$2，178-US$2，904） from one mu of land thanks to the training classes he has attended.

“Our generation of farmers is different from our fathers’ generation，” Li says， explaining that he thinks farmers of the previous generation were rather closed-minded. They mainly grew food crops and were afraid to try new things， while the farmers of his generation are adventurous and like to learn new planting philosophies and methods.

In April 2014， Li and Song Shulin became two of the first certified new-type professional farmers in Shandong.

“New-type professional farmer” can be considered the highest title given to a farmer. Which farmers can be rated as new-type professional farmers？ According to an official at the Shandong Provincial Department of Agriculture， to become a qualified new farmer， one must have a certain level of education， a certain amount of land and a relatively high income. The farmers who meet these three basic requirements can be included in a list for certification after being selected by experts.

“Certification is carried out so that farming can become a profession and farmers can get on with their pursuits，” explains Jiang Jiaxian， a certified farmer. “The difference between certified farmers and non-certified ones is that those with certificates can more conveniently access relevant policy support.”

500，000 Professional Farmers to Be Cultivated

“Based on past experience， the peak season of sales will come in a few months，” says Yao Huibing， who works in the E-commerce Entrepreneurship Incubation Park in the Mudan District in Heze， a city in Shandong. Yao， wearing a dress shirt and dress pants， is thinking about the busy season while taking an order in front of a computer. It’s hard to imagine that the 33-year-old e-commerce veteran has been a welder for 14 years.

“When rural migrant workers like Yao Huibing who have professional skills come back home， they will soon be noticed and recommended for professional farming training，” explains a representative from the Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security of Mudan District. “As we knew he wanted to start an e-commerce business， we provided space， funding， technology， training and all kinds of support for him according to the policy.”

Today， Yao is engaged in the sales of home textile products， which has become a feature of the e-commerce entrepreneurship of farmers in the district. There are now more than 5，000 online shops run by local farmers.

In recent years， professional farmer training has been integrated with the entrepreneurship of returned migrant workers， rural e-commerce entrepreneurship， e-commerce poverty relief and other policies by the Shandong government. By combining resources from multiple sides， Shandong has nurtured a significant amount of entrepreneurial talent.