1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 342 Not in vain

Chen Jiazhi is not worried about the production management of the new vegetable market, as Ao Dehai is now capable of it.

Qi Yongfeng, Huang Juan, Zhang Weidong, Hu Chunmei, Huang Shan, and others can also provide assistance.

What he needs to pay attention to is financial management, and how to sell the vegetables afterwards.

The finance department had no choice but to act expediently, entrusting full authority to Ao Dehai with Qi Yongfeng's supervision, while simultaneously recruiting finance and accounting personnel.

They could only sell vegetables at the wholesale market first, and later they would need a truck to sell vegetables. Qi Yongfeng and Ao Dehai both got their driver's licenses.

Or they could find a middleman to buy the produce directly from the fields.

In the long run, however, we also need to expand Kaopu Fresh's business to Shanghai, either by acquiring stalls or engaging in delivery services.

Through his contact with Ronan Agriculture Company, Chen Jiazhi also gained a better understanding of the local market, where the delivery market in Shanghai was more competitive than in Huacheng.

Because Shanghai is not as open as Huacheng, vegetable companies at all levels have a strong presence.

There are several district-level and town-level distribution centers. For example, the collectively owned Luonan Horticulture Farm was born with a silver spoon in its mouth. It has already found markets and its vegetables are directly supplied to more than a dozen university canteens in Shanghai.

Other standardized vegetable markets include Yuepu Horticulture Farm and Guangming Leafy Vegetable Base.

It can be said that most of the canteens in government-affiliated institutions and universities have been divided up.

However, there are also drawbacks.

These collective and state-owned horticultural farms have low per-acre output value and even lower profits, making it difficult to operate and maintain without government subsidies.

Take Yuepu Horticulture Farm, which was established in 1994, for example. It has 110 acres of land, mainly growing tomatoes and cucumbers, with an annual output value of 69 yuan.

This is considered above average locally.

However, compared with Jiangxin Market and other privately-run markets in Guangdong, the gap is quite obvious.

From the perspective of fair market competition, Chen Jiazhi is not afraid. Without a canteen in the public institution, he actively expands into ordinary catering and hotel delivery.

Then, after the collective horticultural farms went bankrupt, they went to rob the canteens of state-owned enterprises.

According to his familiar history, after fulfilling their historical mission of ensuring the supply of vegetables for citizens, many of these collective horticultural farms in Shanghai went bankrupt or switched to growing greenhouse flowers and other crops with higher economic value.

Now is a suitable time to enter the Shanghai stock market.

Chen Jiazhi also outlined a development plan for Shanghai's vegetable markets, while simultaneously calculating the funds at hand.

Jiangxin Vegetable Market's profits plummeted in September due to market conditions. Supported by prices for goods supplied to Hong Kong, the market barely managed to make a profit of nearly 200,000 yuan that month. Including the distribution center, the total profit was about 300,000 yuan.

Fortunately, the team had accumulated a substantial amount of capital in the previous months.

Chen Jiazhi wrote down numbers one by one in his notebook.

Because Yuanmou needs to build greenhouses, an investment of 200 million yuan is probably not enough; we'll estimate 300 million yuan first.

A vegetable market in Shanghai covers 580 acres; even after deducting subsidies, the investment would still be around 300 to 400 million yuan.

Li Cai reached an agreement with Lianzhou on a planting base cooperation. Although he did not need to build the base himself, he still needed infrastructure such as cold storage warehouses.

Furthermore, winter is coming, and I need to check out the current situation of Zengcheng late-season cabbage this winter.

The late-maturing cabbage plant is tall and easy to identify, but currently, there is no trace of Zengcheng late-maturing cabbage in the city.

After scouting the location, if it's suitable, you can try cooperating or building your own base.

And there's also mustard greens from Shuidong!
Now we can try to explore and get involved, and if it's suitable, we can guide local planting or plant it ourselves.

These should be estimated at least 200 million.

In this way, the total amount is 800 to 900 million yuan, with about 100 million yuan left as a reserve fund.

Besides, it's not like all the money was spent at once, and the market is still operating, so the funds are still relatively sufficient.

After taking stock of the funds, Chen Jiazhi picked up the magazine next to him.

The Fengtai Seed Trade Fair, to be held at the Xinfadi Wholesale Market in Beijing, is also drawing ever closer.

In his past life, he had attended many seed trade fairs. As a tourist or buyer, he could sample various new varieties for free. There was food, entertainment, things to sell, and things to buy...

Still pretty good.

Seed trading is now rare.

At the same time, Beijing also gathers the country's top agricultural colleges and research institutions, and experts, professors, business leaders, and large-scale growers from all over the country who are rarely seen may appear at the trade fair.

He will definitely go this time.

We also need to take some people along to broaden their horizons.

In the temporary office borrowed from the village committee, Chen Jiazhi held a pen, pondering which people to bring along.

We need at least one representative from each of the three regions: Shanghai, Huacheng, and Yuanmou. We'll definitely need to buy seeds at the trade fair, so we should also invite Hongzhong.
A moment later, Chen Jiazhi finished writing the list and then notified each person to buy tickets.

...

The village of Fanrong is crisscrossed by several small rivers, forming a water network typical of the Jiangnan water towns, and the new vegetable market is located on the banks of two of these rivers.

Water resources are not scarce, but we still need to consider how to drain water more quickly.

After several days of investigation, Ao Dehai and others designed an irrigation and drainage system, which has already been excavated.

Before leaving, Chen Jiazhi also conducted a thorough inspection and couldn't find any major problems.

He is very familiar with the construction of the site and can be described as very skilled. He stayed in Fanrong Village to check for any shortcomings.

"Dehai, this is a rare opportunity. Why don't we take two or three days to go to the Beijing Seed Fair together?"

"Let Yongfeng go; if he finds suitable seeds, he can bring them back."

Ao Dehai actually wanted to go to Beijing, the capital, but now was a crucial time for laying the foundation for the vegetable market. If the foundation wasn't laid well now, it would be much more difficult to achieve twice the result with half the effort later.

Chen Jiazhi walked along the ridge of the field, where several dry plots of land nearby had been covered with a thick layer of organic fertilizer.

Several Dongfanghong tractors were also tilling the land on the leveled surface, and white and gray birds were pecking at the turned soil.

Under the guidance of key members, the laborers also neatly arranged the plots of land into rows of raised beds.

The progress is changing every single day.

Ao Dehai had already made a sowing plan, and some seeds were already being dried and soaked in preparation.

There may be occasional mistakes during the process, but given the efficiency, the flaws do not outweigh the merits.

Chen Jiazhi felt at ease entrusting the new vegetable market to him, and he hoped that more Ao Dehais would emerge from the market.

...

Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone.

Chen Jiazhi and Xue Jun walked out of the sales hall of a real estate development and looked back at the tower-shaped building.

Xue Jun lit a cigarette. "Jiazhi, you don't want to buy it, do you? This house looks nice, but it costs 15,000 to 16,000 yuan per square meter, and you'll have to use foreign currency."

"Is this house pretty? I feel the layout is weird, I don't like it, and I won't buy it."

The houses are for foreign sales purposes. Currently, most of the properties in Shanghai are for foreign sales purposes, built for foreigners working in China.

Recent international turmoil has led to a slight drop in housing prices, but they are still around $1000 to $2000 per square meter.

The property they were looking at was a high-end development, and the price was also high. However, Chen Jiazhi thought the apartment layout was a bit strange, facing all directions, and he couldn't see what was good about it.

"Let's go to the airport and fly to Beijing." Xue Jun was even more excited than Chen Jiazhi. "Haha, now I'll be someone who's been to Beijing soon too."

Fengtai is a major vegetable production area in Beijing, and there are several wholesale markets in the area, including Xinfadi, Wanquansi, and Yuegezhuang.

This seed trade fair is being held in Xinfadi, which currently covers an area of ​​100 mu (approximately 6.7 hectares), much larger than the Jiangnan Market.

Chen Jiazhi and Xue Jun arrived early, and after arriving, they did nothing but find a place to stay.

Besides him, Xue Jun, and Qi Yongfeng, Ji Song from Yuanmou, and Hong Zhong, Peng Qian, and Fang Xuelin from Huacheng are also on their way to Beijing.

There are seven people in total, and this business trip will cost a lot of money.

However, after booking his accommodation and going to the trade fair, Chen Jiazhi felt that the money was well spent.

The trade fair attracted not only seed companies from provinces and cities, agricultural research institutes, and merchants from Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also individual seed dealers and sales personnel from material manufacturers.

This year, the number of foreign-invested seed companies has also increased.

Over a hundred companies gathered together for on-site exhibitions and negotiations, as well as on-site transactions and seed reservations.

Such a scene is rare these days, and even just coming to visit can be rewarding.

The trade fair lasted for three days. On the first night, Hong Zhong, Peng Qian, Ji Song, and Fang Xuelin arrived in Fengtai.

Chen Jiazhi gathered the people together for a meeting. He spent money, but he couldn't just watch. He also needed to exchange ideas, build connections, and find high-quality seeds. If he could secure one or two more seed propagation orders, that would be perfect.

Among these people, Peng Qian is the most likely to attract orders for more seed products.

Peng Qian is a well-known breeder in the field of leafy vegetables, and the breeder of No. 49-19 Chinese cabbage and No. 2 late-season Chinese cabbage.

They also have influence in companies that need Chinese cabbage seeds.

He also took the initiative to take on the task of making contact.

However, they didn't dare to be too blatant. Among the participating organizations, there were individual businesses, collective units, state-owned enterprises, and research institutions, but no private enterprises.

When Yunling Agriculture, under Chen Jiazhi, was registered, its main business was vegetable planting and seedlings, but it did not produce or sell seeds.

But there's always room for flexibility, and Chen Jiazhi was able to accept orders for various products under the name of a self-employed individual.

The next day, after the seven people entered the venue, they dispersed.

The venue had already been set up with booths displaying various seeds and finished vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, wheat, and soybeans.

Chen Jiazhi, along with Peng Qian, searched for seed companies with potential demand for seed propagation.

First up is bok choy, followed by Chinese kale, mustard greens, lettuce, and Shanghai bok choy, mainly leafy greens.

In addition, seed production of vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants can be considered as an alternative, and they can be propagated in the future when the technology is available.

Therefore, the primary targets are easy to screen; seed companies in Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai are all potential targets.

The method used was very simple: they went up to each family one by one to chat.

This is also the purpose of the trade fair.

While transaction volume is important, it can also lay the foundation for future trade and establish business relationships.

However, after talking to several companies, Chen Jiazhi also sensed the differences.

Collective enterprises and individual businesses were very active, followed by county-level seed companies, all of whom were very willing to communicate with others.

Provincial seed companies, on the other hand, were rather arrogant. Chen Jiazhi and Peng Qian were repeatedly turned away, and seed propagation was out of the question.

After running around all morning, everyone gathered at a restaurant for lunch.

After ordering, Chen Jiazhi asked, "So, did you find anything you wanted?"

"I was thinking of asking you to order two fewer dishes earlier." Qi Yongfeng scratched his head. "I've been so busy eating all morning. I've tried several varieties of watermelon, including yellow ones. I've really learned a lot."

"..."

Hong Zhong smiled and said, "My trip wasn't in vain. I can find out the market information at the meeting, and I can find people I want to contact. It's much more convenient than going to find people myself with money."

Chen Jiazhi nodded, "We can participate in more similar seed trade fairs in the future. Besides seeds, there are also agricultural supplies there."

“If I had known, I would have brought the planter with me,” Hong Zhong said. “I saw that some individual farmers even brought mature wheat and soybean seedlings.”

Fang Xuelin said, "I saw it too. I have to say it was very intuitive and attracted a lot of attention."

Chen Jiazhi also saw the man. "If you want to do business, you have to be willing to go all out. You'll have to make a lot of trips this afternoon."

After having a meal and resting for a while, Chen Jiazhi went to the exhibition again to communicate with seed merchants from various places.

There were many people at the event, with an estimated two thousand attendees.

The conversations weren't limited to the venue; people discussed related business in nearby teahouses, hotels, and other places.

Chen Jiazhi didn't want to waste time. Since he was already there, he figured he should at least chat with each booth.

In addition, there are so many people who didn't participate in the exhibition.

Chen Jiazhi's situation is somewhat awkward. Individual business owners are rare at exhibitions, and he has no prior experience in breeding, making it difficult for him to gain people's trust.

However, quite a few seed companies have agreed to give it a try.

Because breeding is hard work, the profit from contract breeding is low and unstable, just like growing vegetables, it depends on the weather.

Therefore, most seed companies do not breed their own seeds, but instead place orders with farmers and then purchase the seeds themselves.

Chen Jiazhi is essentially a farmer who comes to us on his own initiative to ask for seed propagation, and he's a large-scale farmer at that. For some companies with corresponding seed propagation needs, giving him a chance is not a bad idea.

If this goes through, it will provide multiple sources of goods in the future.

Chen Jiazhi, Peng Qian, Ji Song, and others relied on visiting each household one by one, and by the time they tallied up the results in the evening, they had secured five trial orders for bok choy, Shanghai greens, and Chinese kale...

"Hey, Italian lettuce!"

Chen Jiazhi picked up a packet of seeds, quite curious, "Which organization gave you these?"

Ji Song said, "The Nanjing Vegetable Research Institute has achieved excellent results after large-scale promotion in the Nanjing area this summer and autumn, and it is very popular among growers. Therefore, the demand for seeds next year will be relatively high."

Chen Jiazhi was very surprised. The summer and autumn planting had achieved very good results. Could this be the main variety of Yunnan's four major leafy vegetables in the future?
"Hmm~ Take note of this variety. It can be planted in Nanjing during the summer and autumn. It should be relatively heat-resistant and bolt-resistant, and has great potential for promotion. Trial planting should be carried out in Yuanmou, Shanghai and Guangzhou."

The emergence of a good variety is beneficial to both upstream and downstream industries, resulting in higher profits for both propagation and cultivation.

Italian lettuce is worth paying attention to.

On the last day of the trade fair, Chen Jiazhi visited all the remaining booths, demonstrating his diligence.

We didn't receive any orders for seed production of vegetables like bok choy, but we did receive two orders for seed production of nightshade vegetables: one for tomatoes and the other for green bell peppers (such as the Zhongjiao No. 5 variety).

The quantity is still not large, but little by little, it adds up. There were a total of 7 orders, and the total number of seeds is not bad.

The order for Chinese cabbage seeds alone is 1000 jin (500 catties).

That's quite a lot. Take the Sijiu Caixin No. 19 variety as an example; the yield per mu is only 40 to 50 jin.

Including other seeds, at least 30 to 40 mu of land are needed for seed production, while the Yuanmou base only has 150 mu in total.

This winter will keep the Yuanmou seedling nursery busy for a while.

What's more, we also got high-quality seeds like Italian lettuce, so this trip was definitely worthwhile.

(End of this chapter)