1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 318 June Summary
Based on the agreed-upon plan, Hongzhong successively reached order intentions with Dongsheng Farm and Hexing.

Both companies are considering purchasing their supplies from Youyi Agricultural Supplies.

As the sun set, Chen Jiazhi also came to the market from his home and stood on the ridge of the field with Hong Zhong.

"You didn't tell them anything, did you?"

“They wanted to ask more questions, but I’m not that stupid,” Hong Zhong laughed. “I told them it should be included in the technical service.”

“That’s right, that’s how it should be done.” Chen Jiazhi held a cigarette in his hand. “Selling agricultural supplies should be combined with technical services. You also need to maintain a good relationship with the plant protection station. If you can recruit a couple of technical talents, that would be even more secure.”

"is it necessary?"

"Yes!" Chen Jiazhi said, "If you want to promote new technologies and new varieties, you need to provide corresponding services."

"Okay, then I'll hire people!"

Hong Zhong now values ​​Chen Jiazhi's opinions highly, not only because he is a shareholder and holds shares, but also because his suggestions always have immediate and effective results.

Chen Jiazhi then asked, "What about the seeds? Didn't they buy any seeds?"

“No,” Hong Zhong said. “Dongsheng imports seeds from Japan, and Hexing also has overseas channels. I’ve been paying attention to the industry situation recently, and many foreign seed companies have also entered the domestic market.”

"An?" Chen Jiazhi was surprised; he didn't have time to pay attention to that.

Hong Zhong said with a focused expression, "Companies such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Saint-Ness from the United States, Sakata and Takii from Japan, Seoul and Heungnong from South Korea, and Limagrain from France have all entered the domestic market."

Some have set up offices, others have established joint ventures, and last year, South Korean Nongyou even established China's first wholly foreign-owned seed company in Beijing.

"It seems you've put in a lot of effort," Chen Jiazhi praised, then added, puzzled, "But ordinary private enterprises can't produce and sell seeds, can they?!"

"Yes. Seeds produced at the seed breeding base can only be supplied and sold centrally by the government. The seed industry has not yet been opened to private enterprises."

"Oh~"

Chen Jiazhi didn't know what to say.

Hong Zhong smiled. "It's rare that there are things you don't know."

"..."

Chen Jiazhi wanted to say that this was normal, that everyone has their own expertise, but he couldn't explain why he knew which seeds were good.

After thinking for a while, Chen Jiazhi said, "These companies have probably only recently entered the domestic market and are still in the market promotion period. I think you can go to the north to make some contact. If you're lucky, you might be able to buy some cheap seeds."

Hong Zhong considered it for a moment and then agreed, "Okay."

Over the next two days, vegetable prices remained high, with the wholesale price of bok choy once again reaching 3 yuan per jin (0.5 catties).

Vegetable farmers are also very lucky; they're going to make a fortune.

The supply of vegetables at Jiangxin Market is limited, with the supply to Hong Kong and stalls barely maintaining around 10 tons each.

Chen Jiazhi reduced his visits to the market, and his focus at the vegetable market shifted to transplanting and management.

During this period, the number of vegetable workers also increased again, reaching more than 400 people.

So many people bring their own tools to transplant vegetable seedlings every day.

In less than a week, the 600-mu vegetable field was transplanted.

The seedlings in the plug trays were very robust, with a high survival rate after transplanting. They were also fertilized, and with the sunny weather, the leafy greens grew quickly. In just a few days, the market was vibrant again, with everything thriving!
The market remains strong.

At the same time, Dongxiang Vegetable Market officially became a thing of the past. Apart from Ao Dehai and his wife, most of the skilled vegetable workers also decided to come over, and some were transferred to Kaopu Fresh by Chen Zhengxu.

This was the day we moved.

"Yongfeng, look at you, drooling all over the place. How about I give you half a day off so you and Aunt Juan can go back and pollinate each other?"

As soon as they arrived, Qi Yongfeng, who had been waiting, went to the car to greet his wife, only to be teased by Yi Dinggan.

The people in the car burst into laughter.

"Haha, right, Yongfeng should be given half a day off. If Huang Juan doesn't come soon, Yongfeng will probably run off to pick wildflowers!"

Huang Juan said angrily, "You guys really haven't changed at all. Even as farm managers, you still spout lewd nonsense. Not one of you is serious!"

Qi Yongfeng wasn't intimidated and said to Yi Dinggan, "Okay, if you're taking a holiday, then I won't come over later. Juan, let's go home!"

Yi Dinggan curled his lip and said, "Damn, are you serious? Are you that thirsty?"

"You're a well-fed man who doesn't know the hunger of a starving man," Qi Yongfeng snorted, and was scolded a few more times by Huang Juan before he finally calmed down.

Chen Jiazhi also stood upstairs watching the group of people playing around. After they were settled, Yi Dinggan led Ao Dehai and his brother-in-law Wu Chengyong to his office.

"After Dehai arrives, he will serve as the deputy director, managing the newly acquired 300 mu of land. There will also be 3 more group leaders. One group will be assigned to Yong Ge, and Director Yi will recommend one new person for the other two groups. Dehai will also choose one from among the veterans. Any problems?"

Ao Dehai pondered for a moment and said, "I'm fine with it, I can get to work right away."

Wu Chengyong hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Chen Jiazhi made tea for the two of them and said, "Brother Yong, you don't need to be afraid. It's just managing people. If you don't understand something, just ask. The newly acquired land also needs to be organized, so it's perfect for practicing."

Wu Chengyong sipped his tea, a little uneasy, and said, "Okay, I'll do my best."

After drinking a pot of tea, Chen Jiazhi led his men to see the newly acquired land.

The early rice has turned yellow, a golden expanse, and the harvest will be completed in at most half a month.

The "vegetable mountains" on the two wastelands were rotting, and the piles of them looked disgusting.

Chen Jiazhi said, "We've cleared away all the weeds and stones. First, we'll dig ditches and prepare the soil. Then, we'll spread these rotten vegetables on the ground. They're excellent nutrients, so the next crop will be pretty good."

Ao Dehai laughed and said, "I had a similar experience at the Dongxiang vegetable market. Rotten vegetables were used as fertilizer, and the vegetables that grew were very beautiful." Overall, the newly rented land had good fertility, but drainage was a problem.

However, extensive ditching would damage the soil fertility, and with the rainy season approaching, there wasn't much time to adjust the field shape, so the existing ditching could only be preserved.

After setting the framework, Ao Dehai led his people to start working on the wasteland.

This also allowed him to accumulate experience in pioneering and preparing for the establishment of branch farms in the future.

Leveling, ditching, tilling, fertilizing, tilling again, preparing ridges...

Ao Dehai adopted a method of planting crops in one plot at a time during land reclamation, which may lack overall cohesion, but the advantage is that it can produce crops quickly.

It's hard to say whether this method is good or bad. Although he's not short of money now, Chen Jiazhi still agrees with this approach.

In Huacheng, due to increased land rent and labor costs, very few large vegetable markets can operate for a long time; they always give up for various reasons.

Jiangxin vegetable market is not yet in his long-term plans.

Therefore, there is no need to be overly meticulous about some details.

In his mind, the more you invest in and boast about running a base at the beginning, the more dismal the outcome will be in the end.

"Dong dong dong."

"Please come in." Chen Jiazhi looked up at Xu Yao as she entered. "Wow, you look much thinner! Your weight loss efforts have been very effective!"

"Really?" Xu Yao smiled happily. "President Chen, the accounts for June are in, and the performance has been phenomenal."

"Haha, it was worth it for everyone who worked so hard."

I'll put it here for now~

Xu Yao jogged out the door, her footsteps sounding cheerful, and then turned around and went downstairs.

Chen Jiazhi shook his head, put down the book in his hand, and picked up the report to look at it.

Balancing accounts is an art, and there are many murky issues surrounding Jiangxin Market, Dongxiang Market, and Kaopu Fresh.

Fortunately, they had plenty of cash, and since everyone behind closed doors was family, it was relatively easy to do business with them.

Throughout June, Jiangxin Market achieved sales of 627 million yuan, significantly breaking its previous record.

The green peppers at the beginning of the month were quite good, the bok choy was in a slump in the middle of the month, but then rebounded strongly at the end of the month.

In the last 8 days of the month, they sold more than 520 million yuan, making them famous overnight!
The quota for supplies to Hong Kong was also exceeded by the end of the month, and the company once again received an excellent rating.

Jiangxin Vegetable Market also received a quota of 400 tons for supplying Hong Kong in July.

On the expenditure side, 65 yuan was paid in wages, 42.6 yuan was paid to Kaopu Fresh as a sales agent, the cost of the foam box factory was about 25 yuan, and miscellaneous expenses such as electricity, oil, and repairs amounted to 20 yuan.

In addition, there were purchases of a house, a car, and agricultural supplies at the beginning of the month, as well as payments for the remaining balance of cold storage and foam boxes, and the construction of a canteen.
The total expenditure in June was 359.6 yuan, with a surplus of 267.4 million yuan.

This performance is truly phenomenal.

The account balance reached 552.4 million yuan, and there was also a loan of 72 yuan for buying a house with Kaopu Fresh.

Once you have money, you have to think about how to spend it.

Chen Jiazhi had already been thinking about investing in and building cold storage facilities in the market to expand the sales and storage advantages of the terminal channels.

Secondly, building steel-framed seedling greenhouses is a cost-effective option due to low labor costs and the high cost-effectiveness of seedling transplanting.

In addition, some funds will be invested in scientific research, mainly involving seed breeding and seed saving, facility and machinery improvement, fertilizer formulation, and supporting technologies, etc.
The seeds cultivated will not be sold externally; the current goal is to produce and sell them ourselves.

While reviewing the performance reports, Chen Jiazhi was also refining his ideas in his notebook.

More than 500 million is not a small amount; it can do a lot of things. Besides cold storage, greenhouses, and scientific research, there is still a lot of money left over.

Investing in a new farmers' market could also be put on the agenda.

But how do I choose the location?
Now that Huacheng has the Jiangxin vegetable market, he is more inclined to expand into markets in other cities.

Shenzhen is an option; it's closer to Hong Kong and Macau, but he's not familiar with that area.

Secondly, he was from Shanghai. He had spent a few years in Baoshan District of Shanghai and was more familiar with the planting environment there.

Moreover, land rent in Shanghai is low. He remembers that in 2002, the land rent in Baoshan was only more than 200 yuan per mu.

At the same time, the market is also quite large, and Pudong New Area has only been established for two or three years, making it more convenient to export to Japan and South Korea.

It's just that it's far from Huacheng, making it inconvenient to manage.

Chen Jiazhi struggled to decide between the two places.

I decided to put it aside for now and go out for a walk to clear my head.

That's the good thing about working on a farm; you can see the pastoral scenery anytime.

Especially now that Guangzhou's industry is developing rapidly and pollution is severe, it's not easy to breathe fresh air.

Li Cai and Xue Jun had been in the city for too long and were tired of its filth, so they returned to the market today.

"Brother Chen, a lot of the vegetables in the field are ready to be harvested!"

"We can collect more today, let's not wait. While vegetable prices are still high, selling seedlings is a good deal!"

As soon as Chen Jiazhi left, Li Cai and Xue Jun rode up one after the other on their bicycles.

(End of this chapter)