1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 328 Breeding and Welfare

In the living room, Yi Dinggan and Chen Shaochang were still discussing politics, and Chen Jiazhi had originally been involved as well.

However, given their differing viewpoints, and the desire to avoid making a fool of himself, Chen Jiazhi decided not to participate further.

Instead, Chen Jiazhi went upstairs to find the Yi brothers, Yi Long and Yi Hu. As agreed, Chen Jiazhi bought Yi Hu a computer. The two brothers were playing in their room at the moment, but they were both new to computers, fiddling with a book as they read.

Chen Jiazhi looked at it for a while, then went back to his bedroom and picked up a copy of "Seed World" magazine to read.

He is indeed quite interested in breeding, as it is related to his future career development.

Before long, Chen Jiazhi became engrossed in an article about cucumber breeding.

In my country's cucumber breeding, Academician Hou Feng and his apprentice Li Jiawang rewrote the history of cucumber cultivation, turning cucumbers from an expensive "delicate vegetable" into a common vegetable on people's tables.

Hou Feng is from Shandong. After graduating from the Horticulture Department of the former Beijing Agricultural University in 1950, he was assigned to Tianjin as an agricultural technician, and that is how he became involved with cucumbers.

They successively bred Jinyan No. 1-7, which were promoted as the main varieties in more than 30 provinces and cities, realizing the first generational update of cucumber varieties in China.

The yield of cucumbers per mu has also increased significantly from 1500 kilograms in the past to more than 5000 kilograms.

In the 1980s, Jinza No. 2, 3 and 4 were successively bred, achieving the second generation upgrade.

The article also mentions that Hou Feng's team bred the Jinchun No. 1 cucumber variety.

Recently, the cucumber research institute where Academician Hou Feng works was also named the "Cucumber New Variety Technology Research and Promotion Center" by the State Science and Technology Commission.

Chen Jiazhi was not familiar with the Tianjin Research and Tianjin Miscellaneous series.

But he knew a little about Jinchun, which is a series of excellent cucumber varieties in China.

However, compared to imported seeds, they are somewhat lacking.

For the next ten years starting this year, foreign seed companies will basically occupy more than 80% of the domestic cucumber seed market share.

It wasn't until 2006, when Jinyou 35, also bred by the Tianjin Cucumber Research Institute, was developed, that the monopoly of foreign varieties was broken.

It is widely planted, especially in the Northwest and Southwest regions.

In his previous life, Li Mingkun, the group leader of the South Group, was a staunch supporter of Jinyou 35. Besides him, many other farmers in Chengdu liked to grow Jinyou 35 during those years.

It has high yield, strong resistance to diseases and pests, and most importantly, it is affordable.

However, more and more information about foreign seed companies is appearing on Seed World.

"Hey~"

"What are you sighing about!" Li Xiu pushed open the door and entered. "I heard you sighing as soon as I came in. Do you have a problem with me?"

"No, I'm reading a book." Chen Jiazhi looked up and said, "Now many foreign seed companies are coming to China, and domestic seeds can't compare with theirs."

Li Xiu sat down next to him and asked doubtfully, "Isn't it good to have good seeds?"

Chen Jiazhi's expression froze slightly. "Good seeds are certainly good, but they might be very expensive."

"How expensive is it?"

"More expensive than gold."

"Hehe~" Li Xiu clearly didn't believe it, but Chen Jiazhi said again, "Hong Zhong went to the north. You'll know when he sends a message back."

"Is it really more expensive than gold?"

“What’s the point of me lying to you?” Chen Jiazhi said. “That’s why I want to get seedlings and then try to breed them myself.”

"Yes, you can do it."

"Tsk, you trust me that much?"

"Because you're trustworthy," Li Xiu said with a smile. "Since you've become enlightened, what haven't you accomplished?"

"Go ahead and do it!" Li Xiu casually flipped through the [Seed World] before handing it back to Chen Jiazhi, and asked, "The market should be doing well in July, right? Make some money and do what you like. Of course, I'll support you!"

Chen Jiazhi had only seen the situation at the vegetable market during the day in July; it was also the first month after the integration of Kaopu Fresh.

After a brief recollection, he began to talk to Li Xiu.

"The market sold a total of 405 million yuan worth of goods. Stall consignment fees were approximately 32.25 yuan, wages were 56 yuan, foam boxes cost 24 yuan, organic fertilizer was applied once costing 49.5 yuan, and other expenses such as electricity were about 25 yuan. The profit was 218.25 million yuan."

Li Xiu smiled, her eyebrows curving upwards. "See? You've made quite a bit of money, haven't you? You should still have some left from the delivery and stall operations, right?"

Chen Jiazhi nodded and said, "There is more than 60 in the stall's account and 25 in the delivery account. The total amount of money in all parts is about 855 million yuan."

Li Xiu paused for a moment, then mimicked Chen Jiazhi's usual gesture and gave him a thumbs up, exclaiming, "Awesome!"

She added, "So, if you want to get into breeding, go for it! We have the money!"

“We’ll definitely do it, but we won’t be that bold at first,” Chen Jiazhi whispered. “Right now, domestic seed production and sales haven’t been opened to private enterprises, so we’ll just set up seedling farms and breeding on a small scale.”

Moreover, by importing foreign seeds, seedling farms should be able to make money.

After reading the article about Academician Hou Feng and the Tianjin cucumber, Chen Jiazhi was deeply moved.

Over the past decade, foreign capital has monopolized not only cucumber seeds, but also other vegetables such as tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplants.

He still remembers the shock he felt when he first grew 'excellent' broccoli in his previous life; there's a reason why it's expensive.

Li Xiu listened to Chen Jiazhi talk about seeds for a while, and then inquired about the vegetable workers' wages. This month's wages were 80,000 to 90,000 less than last month's, but the cash amount of over 500,000 was still considerable.

"Jiazhi, you have to be careful when you withdraw money in the future. A few days ago, two of our vegetable workers went to the city to buy things and were robbed on the way."

"Is this happening?"

"Yes." Li Xiu's expression was serious: "I went to see those two people. Fortunately, they were alright. I'm worried that something like this might happen again after I get paid."

"Yes, it's not impossible. You make a lot of sense."

The recent security situation is hard to describe. Chen Jiazhi carries a gun with him whenever he goes out, but it's not safe.

He recalled several other high-profile cases that year, one of which took place in Panyu.
He had a vague recollection of the exact time, only knowing it was in winter, but he couldn't remember which bank it was.

In short, just be careful.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Jiazhi said, "I need the finance department to go to the bank tomorrow to see if we can pay salaries through the bank."

Li Xiu asked in surprise, "Can salaries still be paid through banks?"

"I don't know if they offer this service now, I'll just have to ask first." Chen Jiazhi closed the book in his hand. "Come on, let's wash up and go to bed early."

"you go first."

"Together?"

"Do you want to take a shower? No, you go first, I'll find you some clothes."

"Okay~".

These past few days have been a bit less busy, and Chen Jiazhi feels very energetic, so he's been working hard in the fields again every night.

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and went to the balcony. There I saw Yi Dinggan pushing his bicycle in the yard downstairs, preparing to go out with Chen Jiafang.

Chen Jiazhi called out, "Brother Yi, Second Sister, are you out so early?"

Yi Dinggan looked up and said, "The weather is changing, it might rain. We need to organize people to cover the area with plastic sheeting immediately. We'll go out first."

They left in a hurry.

Chen Jiazhi then went to the other side of the balcony and could see vegetable workers rushing to the market from all directions.

The sky was also dark, and it definitely looked like it was going to rain.

He went downstairs, pushed his cart out the door, and heard Peng Guozhen call out, "Jiazhi, eat breakfast before you go." "I'll eat when I get back."

Li Xiu called out to her from upstairs, but Chen Jiazhi waved and left, saying, "Just stay home. It might rain soon, so don't come out."

People at the market listen to the weather forecast every day, and many of the vegetable workers have bought portable radios, which they put in the fields to listen to music while they work.

It can be said that the weather monitoring is very effective; however, it is still impossible to be all-encompassing.

Because weather forecasts are now quite inaccurate.

When Chen Jiazhi arrived at the market, the sky above the market, which had an unobstructed view, was already covered with dark clouds, creating a very oppressive atmosphere.

The market was bustling with activity, with people in pairs covering themselves with plastic sheeting.

Before the cover was finished, raindrops began to fall heavily, accompanied by strong winds, and the crowd finally found a place to take shelter.

After waiting for a while, Yi Dinggan and several group leaders also returned to the office.

How many were covered?

"How many vegetable plots were soaked?"

"Have you confirmed that all drain outlets are open?"

Yi Dinggan checked each task, and only after understanding the situation did he breathe a slight sigh of relief. Then he put his hands on his hips and looked at the rain outside.

"It looks like another typhoon is making landfall. I hope this one will also cause more damage."

Qi Yongfeng stroked his chin and said, "That way we can have a great start in August?"

Chen Jiazhi was also watching the rain. The rain in July and August was particularly fierce, so everyone could only huddle together to chat.

"It's good as it is now. There will always be times when prices are high and when there are big market opportunities, we won't be absent."

“It’s not exciting enough. It has to be like July to be truly exciting.” Yi Dinggan pondered, “If we don’t give it our all now, there will be even fewer opportunities like that in the future.”

Qi Yongfeng also said, "That's right. The Dongsheng Farm next door has also installed small arched greenhouses, and many vegetable farmers are now starting to buy small arched greenhouses."

The others also noted that the number of small arched sheds in the surrounding area was clearly increasing.

This is quite normal, not to mention that Chen Jiazhi started using it last year, Hexing and Dongsheng came to inspect it two months ago, and the Quarantine Bureau is also promoting the technology in the brochures for the Hong Kong supply base.

The promotion of facility agriculture in China also began in 1994, marking the start of the second phase of the "vegetable basket project," which included small arched greenhouses.

It's been a year now, and the first group of people who tasted the benefits can no longer hide it.

Chen Jiazhi added, "Don't underestimate yourselves. There are requirements for using small greenhouses. Large vegetable markets may not be able to use them properly. With sudden rain like today, the neighboring Dongsheng Farm may not have been able to build them properly."

"I'll go take a look." Qi Yongfeng, still wearing his raincoat, grabbed an umbrella and headed out.

"You're actually going?"

Qi Yongfeng turned around and said, "Go, they used it once last month and the effect was pretty good. Let's see how it goes today."

He had just stepped out when Li Xiu came in again, carrying breakfast she had brought from home.

The market canteen does not provide breakfast.

Breakfast consisted of noodles with minced meat sauce served in two bowls, one for Chen Jiazhi and one for Yi Dinggan.

Li Mingkun, Guo Mancang, and the others were all watching, and even Qi Yongfeng turned back.

"Brother Zhi, I haven't had breakfast yet either~"

"None of us ate either."

"Hey, this noodle dish even has minced meat topping! It looks delicious."

Li Xiu was also surprised to see so many people there, and felt a little embarrassed.

"Want some to share with you guys?" Chen Jiazhi glanced at it, picked up the bowl of noodles, and smelled the aroma of meat. Looking up, he saw that Qi Yongfeng was indeed thinking of sharing the noodles.

"Stop looking. It's raining this morning. Go home and rest early since it's your holiday."

Yi Dinggan then said, "Yongfeng, don't forget to go next door and gather intelligence."

"Xu~"

There was a chorus of boos, but everyone left one after another. Yi Dinggan then asked Li Xiu and Chen Jiafang if they had eaten. After receiving the answer that they had eaten at home, Li Xiu ate noodles with Chen Jiazhi in the office, while Li Xiu sat on the sofa.

"By the way, Brother Yi, is there any vegetables in the cold storage?"

"Yes, we're going to be cold-season anyway, so we're shipping vegetables that were harvested the day before. But we don't know if we'll have another chance to harvest today."

The sound of rain outside showed no signs of abating. Chen Jiazhi said, "Hmm~"

Yi Dinggan: "You just hummed in response and that's it?"

"What else do you want from me?" Chen Jiazhi raised his head and said, "You've arranged this very well; there's no room for me to make any changes."

“That’s true. Now that you’re the boss, you should focus on the big picture and let go of the small details.” Yi Dinggan then asked, “Have you decided when to go to Yunnan and Shanghai again?”

Chen Jiazhi said, "No, there are still some things to confirm, and there's no need to rush to go to Shanghai."

After eating the noodles, the rain didn't let up, and Qi Yongfeng also brought back news from next door.

As he expected, none of the small greenhouses at Dongsheng Farm were covered, and all the vegetables were getting wet in the rain.

This is the advantage of Jiangxin Market: the organizational advantage of its staff built upon its welfare benefits.

Vegetable workers can be on standby 24 hours a day when needed. Apart from ordinary farmers, other large vegetable markets probably have little organizational capacity.

The rain didn't stop until 9 o'clock, after it had been raining for more than three hours.

The vegetable workers also rested at home in the morning, but Chen Jiazhi still recorded full attendance. The wages paid last month were relatively low, partly because of the low attendance.

This year, the country implemented a two-day weekend, but nowadays, vegetable markets all pay by the day, so if you rest, you don't get paid.

Therefore, workers do not need to take breaks.

Chen Jiazhi is considering changing the salary system. The basic salary will be calculated monthly, each person will have 2 days of vacation per month, and work on rest days will also be paid an extra day.

The workers' canteen must also prepare lunches carefully every day.

In addition, Li Xiu has been taking photos of the workers for a long time, and each worker receives a certain number of free photos per month.
Chen Jiazhi has done the best he can in terms of the welfare and treatment of the vegetable workers.

However, it is also necessary to weed out the bad apples and leave only the core workers who are honest and skilled.

In the past two years, it has been easy to recruit workers, so many vegetable markets have neglected the welfare and training of their workers.

If Jiangxin Vegetable Market does this well, it will be able to establish a core advantage in its workforce in the next few years.

Although vegetable farming is a labor-intensive industry, the skill level and sense of responsibility of the workers can indeed affect the quality of the vegetables produced.

Taking advantage of the three hours of rain in the morning, Chen Jiazhi, Li Xiu, and Yi Dinggan reviewed the management in this area once again.

At the same time, the finance department was also instructed to consult with the bank to pay the workers' wages via bank transfer.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that the Agricultural Bank of China does indeed offer this service.

Moreover, the company pays 500,000 to 600,000 yuan in wages every month, involving more than 500 people, and it is an agricultural enterprise.

The Agricultural Bank branch showed great enthusiasm, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Chen Jiazhi also wanted to use this opportunity to improve the company's salary and tax management, but the bank's goodwill came first.

(End of this chapter)