1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 274 Great Harvest

The weather was fine, and in the evening, two trucks were parked by the roadside, with workers carrying sacks filled with green peppers up and down.

Even snow peas are now packaged in burlap sacks.

Both trucks had plenty of room in their cargo compartments, but a Yuejin light truck, fully loaded with green peppers, had already gone ahead to stall number 63 in Jiangnan.

Zhongjiao No. 5 is a lantern pepper, shaped like a small lantern, with slightly angular edges, a smooth surface, and crisp and tender flesh.

After removing the chili seeds, there was absolutely no spiciness.

During the harvest, Yi Dinggan stayed on site the whole time, and when Chen Jiazhi came out, he walked over with a smug look on his face.

"Manager, it looks like we'll need to harvest at least 20 tons of green peppers for this first batch. How many days do you estimate it will take to sell them all?"

Chen Jiazhi was still a little unaccustomed to Yi Dinggan calling him "field manager," but he had no choice but to call him that, and Li Mingkun, Guo Mancang, and a few others followed suit.

"We'll definitely sell out before the next batch of green peppers is harvested."

Green peppers are more durable than leafy greens and can be kept for a few days without any problems, but they are definitely better when they are fresh.

Yi Dinggan said, "We'll pick two truckloads today, two more tomorrow, and the next batch will probably be ready in 2-3 days. Are you sure a stall can sell that quickly?"

The initial harvest is estimated at 20 tons, and the yield will increase as the harvest progresses into its peak season.

To maintain smooth sales, Yi Dinggan estimates that he needs to sell at least 10 tons of green peppers every day on average!
In addition, there are also leafy greens and snow peas, which probably add up to 20 tons of vegetables a day!

Selling 20 tons a day! Yi Dinggan still remembers how excited they were last year when they sold 300 to 500 jin by bicycle.

"You think the title of 'Grade A Agricultural Wholesale Market' is just for show?" Chen Jiazhi was also under a lot of pressure, but he still pretended to be disdainful and said, "Oh, right, you haven't been to Jiangnan yet. How about you go and experience it this time?"

Yi Dinggan really wanted to go, but after struggling and hesitating, he finally shook his head.

"The production tasks assigned by the factory manager are also quite heavy, so I won't go to the market."

"You deserve the most credit for this bumper harvest!"

Chen Jiazhi's experience in growing green peppers is far less than that in growing leafy greens, but he still has some insights, and he was the one who devised the technical solution.

He determined everything, including seedling tray cultivation, planting density, pruning lateral branches, water management during the initial flowering and fruit setting period, cultivation and fertilization, pest and disease control, etc.

But now that we have a plan, we need someone to implement it.

Yi Dinggan executed the plan very well, but because he also lacked experience in growing green peppers, he was very cautious throughout the process.

He personally oversees every step of the process.

Yi Dinggan's lips curled up, and he said smugly, "Am I qualified to be the farm manager now?"

Chen Jiazhi glanced at it and asked, "Can you write a technical notification form?"

"Uh~"

Yi Dinggan choked on his words.

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, I have no doubt about your management ability, but you really need to study your theories more."

Yi Dinggan said, "It's very difficult, and I don't have the energy for it. I feel that being able to actually manage it is enough, right?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "If we hand over the market to you now, you can manage it well, but that would only make you a qualified market manager, not an excellent one."

"When you grow vegetables now, you often rely on rigid experience without understanding why you should do it that way. Only by understanding the reasons, continuously improving, and flexibly adjusting can you consistently grow higher-yielding and higher-quality vegetables."

Yi Dinggan silently smoked again.

Chen Jiazhi also knew that this was due to the times. Now, labor costs were low and vegetable prices were good, so many large vegetable markets lacked the motivation to pursue high yields and high quality.

There is also a lack of innovation and drive.

If making money is easy, who would be willing to study diligently?
But vegetable prices can't stay good forever.

He knew that after two years, starting around 1998, the demand for vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and exported would be hindered, and a large number of vegetable markets went out of business in those two or three years.

If Jiangxin Vegetable Market can produce vegetables with low cost, high yield, and high quality, its ability to withstand risks will be greatly improved.

Chen Jiazhi added, "Writing technical notification forms is a great learning tool, and it also leaves a record for management, allowing for better review and summarization."

"Okay, I'll write."

"Shall we start with pruning and trimming?"

"Let me try."

Yi Dinggan walked into the field, squatted down to look at the bell peppers, and called out, "Come and tell me again."

Spicy bell peppers are a major vegetable category in China, and many farmers are professional growers of them.

Many of the people at Jiangxin Vegetable Market are experienced.

But while the methods used by small farmers may be suitable for their own planting, they are definitely not enough for managing hundreds of acres of land; a unified implementation standard is needed.

For example, pruning and removing side branches requires removing side branches once during the seedling stage;

Pruning and thinning the chili pepper plants after harvesting will maximize yield.

"Just remember one thing when pruning and trimming: be diligent, reasonable, and careful, and protect the plant afterwards."

"Chili peppers sprout side branches very quickly. We need to prune and remove the buds every 2 to 3 days. Basically, we have to prune the whole plant every time we harvest."

"However, when the humidity is high, pruning and removing side shoots should not be done to prevent wounds from healing in time and becoming infected with bacteria."

"Remove the weak main branches and prune the overly dense branches inside, retaining the effective leaves in the upper and middle parts of the plant. This will have the best effect on increasing yield and improving quality, and will also reduce the occurrence of diseases and pests."

"We'll apply the pesticide depending on the situation; the main purpose is disinfection and sterilization..."

The two of them squatted in the chili pepper row, pruning and trimming several chili pepper seedlings.

Yi Dinggan said, "It's quite troublesome, it happens every two or three days, and the workload is considerable."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Didn't you say the wages are high? This is the time to show their worth."

"You know what, that makes a lot of sense," Yi Dinggan teased. "So this is what the factory manager is supposed to do: keep the workers busy."

"You really are a genius!"

The two continued pruning the branches while bickering.

"Jiazhi, Yi-ge, what are you doing squatting on the ground?" At this moment, Li Xiu walked over and called out. Before the two of them could look up, he snapped another photo.

Chen Jiazhi replied, "We're talking about work!"

Li Xiu smiled and said, "I've been squatting here for a long time. The workers have finished picking the chilies and snow peas and are all watching you."

"Go ahead and look!"

Chen Jiazhi and Yi Dinggan also stood up. The direction in which the setting sun fell was also the direction of the green pepper vegetable plots. One by one, the vegetable workers walked out of the vegetable field with their backs to the setting sun.

get off work.

However, it was also time for another group of people to go to work.

Walking back to the roadside, both vehicles were fully loaded, with bags of green peppers and snow peas stacked high. Every vegetable worker and passerby who walked by couldn't help but exclaim at the bountiful harvest.

"These chili peppers are grown so beautifully."

"The output is truly remarkable."

"It's going to make a fortune again!"

Hearing similar words over and over again, Li Xiu pressed the shutter button again and again, her heart filled with joy.

Chen Jiazhi was also very excited. He had been preparing since after New Year's Day and before the Spring Festival, and it took him nearly three months to reap the rewards.

Judging from the current market situation, he is 70-80% confident that the market will recover.

"Let's go, Show."

"Um, Jiazhi, what's the price of chili peppers today?"

"About 4-5 cents per jin (500g)."

"It's similar to bok choy."

"Your standards are quite high. This is already pretty good. At this price, there's still a profit."

Most of the time, the price of bok choy was higher than that of green bell peppers, but now they are on par, indicating a positive change in the supply and demand of green bell peppers.

Yan Hao, the driver from the market, drove Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu to the market together.

Wang Bin's truck was also traveling with them; there was too much cargo, so Chen Jiazhi asked him to help haul the goods for a few more days.

Meanwhile, Xue Jun had already delivered a truckload of green peppers. After that, he would have to go to the Dongxiang vegetable market again to get another truckload of green vegetables.

That means there will be about four truckloads of vegetables arriving at stall number 63 tonight, totaling about 20 tons!

This is a challenge!
After a few days of preparation, Li Cai had also figured out the situation in the Jiangnan market.

Currently, among the more than 60 stalls, some people are also sending green peppers to sell.

However, Chen Jiazhi made Chen Zhengxu keep track of the daily purchases.

Starting in April, which stalls sell green peppers, and approximately how many trucks sell them per day?

The conclusion is that both data points are decreasing daily, which has led to a slow increase in green pepper prices.

It's clear that the supply of goods in the surrounding area is decreasing, and a shortage period is about to begin.

The only threat now is the southward movement of chili peppers from the north in early spring.

For example, in Hunan, which borders Guangdong, the normal planting time for chili peppers is after March.

Jiangxin Vegetable Market sows its seeds at the end of January and transplants them on March 5th, leaving a one-month time gap.

However, if Hunan uses mulching or greenhouses to cover early spring peppers, they can be sown as early as February, which means early spring peppers, thus reducing the time difference.

However, the risks are high, and facility agriculture was not fully developed in this era, so Chen Jiazhi believes the threat is small.

He estimated that he could profit from the "time difference" market for at least a month, making at least several hundred thousand yuan in profit.

The earlier the market starts to rise and the later the rainy season arrives, the longer this 'time difference' will be in the market.

When we arrived at the stall, it was only nine o'clock.

The center of the stall was filled with burlap sacks, and next to the stall was a table with sample green peppers to attract customers.

Chen Jiazhi rarely sells at the morning market. He walked up to Li Cai and asked, "How heavy is the last load? Have you made your first sale yet?"

Li Cai laughed and said, "The last truckload was 6.2 tons. We opened for business earlier and sold about one ton, earning 1100 yuan."

"Damn, not bad! It's only been a short time!" Chen Jiazhi exclaimed excitedly. "Selling them all in two days shouldn't be a problem."

Li Cai smiled and said, "Many people come here for the snow peas, but since the snow peas haven't arrived yet, and the green peppers look good, some people choose to take the green peppers back to sell."

"Haha, snow peas really do attract attention."

Snow peas are likely the strongest single vegetable product in the Pearl River Delta region this quarter, and they have been in short supply.

Even though the wholesale price of other vegetables has fallen below 50 cents, snow peas remain firm at around 1.5 yuan per jin (500g).

Very popular.

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment, then pointed to the two trucks that had just arrived, “My truck has about 4.8 tons, all of them are snow peas, and the other truck has 4.7 tons, all of them are green peppers.”

In this way, the price of snow peas remains unchanged, while green peppers can be sold for 5 cents if the quantity is large, and for orders of 1 ton or more, they can be sold for 4 cents.

Li Cai asked in bewilderment, "Isn't it unnecessary to lower the price so drastically? I feel like we can get the goods for 55 cents."

If the price is 10 cents cheaper per ton, the difference is 200 yuan, which is already a very good profit.

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "No rush. Let's attract people first and let the whole market know that we have large quantities of green peppers at low prices."

Remember, we are a planting base, the producers of vegetables, not the transporters of vegetables!
Our different roles allow us to crush our competitors, making them hesitant to sell competing products to us!

Although the word '卷' sounded a bit strange, Li Cai understood its meaning, as if another door had opened in his mind.

Selling vegetables like this feels almost unbeatable.

Chen Jiazhi's idea was to lower the price of green peppers and see if he could stimulate consumption to deplete the market's inventory as soon as possible.

He felt the market was just one step away from taking off.

(End of this chapter)