1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 385 Communication
"The sheets and blankets are all new, they were just washed today. If you need anything else, just call me anytime."

"Okay, Lao Li, thank you for your trouble. You should go back and rest early too." Chen Jiazhi thought the room was tidied up quite well.

At this moment, Li Xiu also took out a change of clothes from her bag. "Go wash up first. It's getting late. Get some rest."

"Okay."

After taking his clothes and a shower, Chen Jiazhi returned to his room to find Li Xiuzheng reading a book.

"Stop looking at it for now, go wash up. The facilities here are quite nice."

"Hmm~"

After Li Xiu went to wash up, Chen Jiazhi went to the corridor to look at the starry sky, thinking about tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'll be meeting with the county head, and besides exchanging experiences, I'll most likely be asked to invest.

He was debating whether or not to accept the challenge.

The winter and early-season eggplant and related vegetables from Yuanmou are not well-suited for sale in the Pearl River Delta.

The hot dam area has high summer temperatures and little rain, which is not suitable for the growth of leafy vegetables such as bok choy, making it difficult to form a synergy with existing businesses.

The amount of money tied up is also quite substantial.

At present, the focus should still be on the Pearl River Delta.

"What are you thinking about, so engrossed again?" Li Xiu came out after taking a bath.

"I'm meeting the county head tomorrow, so I have to figure out what he's thinking beforehand."

"Oh, that's a high-ranking official."

"No matter how big it is, it's not as big as you."

Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu returned to their room, closed the door, and their hands began to wander.

The blankets are so soft after being aired in the sun.

...

I woke up feeling refreshed, and the April sunshine in Yuanmou was warm and comfortable.

Chen Jiazhi and Li Xiu got up early to go to the fields, take walks on the farm, watch the sunrise, and admire the rapeseed flowers.

The seed-producing bok choy planted after the Lunar New Year has blossomed again, a beautiful golden expanse.

Chen Jiazhi also caught a little kid waving a branch, scared him a bit, and then let him go.

After walking for a while, we ran into Peng Qian and Ji Song again outside the greenhouse.

He greeted, "Good morning, what are you chatting about?"

Ji Song said, "Boss, boss lady, good morning. I'm discussing the follow-up seedling preparations with Mr. Peng. The greenhouse needs to be disinfected, and we also need to prepare seedling racks, substrate, and so on."

Chen Jiazhi then inquired about the substrate formula that Fang Xuelin had developed, which Ji Song already knew.

"Following the example of headquarters, we also plan to set up a simple site to produce the substrate."

"Yes, let's do it this way for now. You guys get busy, I'll take a look around some more."

Chen Jiazhi then took Li Xiu to see the vegetables in the greenhouse.

After nearly half a year of harvesting, cucumbers, tomatoes, and eggplants have gradually entered the late stage of growth.

After April, vegetable prices also fell, and the profits were only so-so.

After a quick glance around, Chen Jiazhi returned to his office.

Li Mingkun returned after finishing his work and briefed Chen Jiazhi on the farm.

To date, Yunling Farm has generated a total revenue of 164 million yuan.

The initial investment was 300 million yuan, which was not used up. With the income, Yunling Farm still has plenty of funds.

Chen Jiazhi said, "I'm going to the county with you. You can come with me. We might talk about investment again."

Li Mingkun nodded. "Director Ma came before and expressed his intention to let us expand our investment in the greenhouses. I said I would wait for you to come."

Thinking about the funds in the account, Chen Jiazhi pondered and said, "As long as there are basic conditions, investing in vegetable greenhouses can be quite profitable."

If we're going to build greenhouses this time, there's no need to build such expensive seedling sheds; Yunling Farm's current funds are sufficient for the time being.

One of the biggest advantages of Yunnan greenhouses compared to winter-warm greenhouses in the north is their lower cost.

The disadvantage is transportation.

Yuanmou's transportation conditions are considered good in the entire Chuxiong region and even in Yunnan.

The meeting with County Head Pang Bochuan was ultimately arranged at the county government.

When Chen Jiazhi and Li Mingkun arrived, they happened to run into Ma Ming, whom they knew.

"General Manager Chen, Director Li, we'd like to trouble you again this time to share your advanced experience with us."

Chen Jiazhi laughed and said, "Director Ma is just teasing me, so I just did something insignificant."

"Haha, then Mr. Chen will have to do more of this in the future." Ma Ming gestured, "Let's go, Mr. Chen, County Chief Pang and the others should be in their offices by now."

Chen Jiazhi then inquired about who else was involved.

In addition to County Head Pang Bochuan, Ge Qihua, the head of the Agriculture Bureau, and Mi Yong, the mayor of Yuanma Town, will also be there.

Ma Ming smiled and said, "President Chen, this is just a regular exchange and learning session. County Chief Pang has also been quite concerned about the development of agriculture in Yunling recently. You can raise any needs you may have later."

"I just hope that my experience can be of use to Yuanmou."

Chen Jiazhi didn't understand the intricacies of government systems, but as Li Xiu said, the county magistrate was a high-ranking official. He had only acted on a whim to help the county with some publicity, and unexpectedly, it actually worked.

This may be the opportunity brought about by the wave of market-oriented reforms.

After knocking on the half-open door and hearing a "Come in," Chen Jiazhi followed him inside.

Pang Bochuan, Ge Qihua, and Mi Yong, who were sitting in different seats in the office, all stood up.

"Mr. Chen, you've come all this way, thank you for your hard work."

"If my limited experience can help the county, I will come no matter how far away it is."

Chen Jiazhi stepped forward and exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with the three. The occasion wasn't too formal, which actually made him feel relieved.

Li Mingkun, standing to the side, appeared somewhat reserved.

Soon, the two sat down, and Mi Yong poured them tea.

Pang Bochuan said, "President Chen, congratulations! Yunling Agriculture's greenhouse vegetables have been a great success and have set a good example for the county."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "We have achieved some results by chance, and we owe it all to the guidance of the leaders."

Pang Bochuan raised his hand and said, "No need for formalities. Actually, the county sent people to Chenggong to learn about vegetable greenhouses a few years ago, but Mr. Chen is the first to set up greenhouses in Yuanmou."

Chen Jiazhi was slightly taken aback. "Why didn't anyone do it back then?"

“We don’t have the money.” Pang Bochuan said bluntly, “Yuanmou is very poor. Farmers can’t afford to build greenhouses. The county can’t provide much subsidy. Even if the bank provides loans, no one dares to take the risk.”

At this point, Ma Ming also said, "Besides not having money, when we came back, some people were discussing whether it was necessary to build greenhouses in Yuanmou."

The prevailing view was that it was a losing proposition; looking back now, I realize I was rather short-sighted.

Of the government officials present, only Ma Ming was promoted to his current position because he worked in the vegetable industry at the grassroots level, and therefore was more familiar with the situation.

Ge Qihua added, "It seems that the flat-topped tomato was also discovered that year."

Ma Ming nodded, "Yes, there was a tomato in the greenhouse that grew very big. The technicians from the county took that tomato back and, after selection and breeding, we got the big flat-topped tomato."

After going around in circles for a while without getting to the main topic, they kept talking about greenhouse vegetables. Chen Jiazhi listened quietly until he heard about the "flat-topped" tomato and then became interested and asked about it.

Ma Ming proudly said, "The tomatoes from Yuanmou used to be good, but they were too small, which was a constant source of criticism. So when we went to Chenggong, the technicians immediately spotted that special big tomato."

After several years of selection and optimization, the "Big Flat Top" variety was developed. It is large, has a good yield, and is now one of the main varieties cultivated in the county.

"Very impressive." Chen Jiazhi praised with a smile, then turned to Li Mingkun and instructed, "Old Li, Yunling Farm should also introduce the Da Pingding variety and try grafting scions."

Hearing Chen Jiazhi say this, Pang Bochuan steered the conversation back to the seed industry.

At the National Seed Work Conference at the end of last year, the state proposed the policy of "implementing the seed project and promoting the seed industry".

At the beginning of this year, due to the promotional activities of Yunling Agriculture during its breeding process, research institutes and enterprises from Shanxi, Tianjin, and Liaoning successively came to Yuanmou for inspection.

And ultimately, it was decided to build a breeding and propagation base in Yuanmou.

At this time, the spirit of the National Seed Work Conference had only recently been conveyed to the local areas.

Yuanmou then achieved results.

It was like a pillow being delivered to someone who was about to fall asleep, which gave the relevant departments and leaders a great boost.

The role played by Yunling Agriculture has become more widely known.

Subsequently, the greenhouse vegetables at Yunling Farm exhibited an exceptionally long growing period, filling the gap in the production of early winter vegetables in Yuanmou from December 12.20th to March 3.20th, and sold at high prices, generating remarkable profits.

Thus, this exchange took place.

Pang Bochuan's purpose was simple: in addition to exchanging experiences on attracting investment for seed companies, he actually hoped that Yunling Agriculture could expand its greenhouse investment scale.

After understanding, Chen Jiazhi first shared his personal views on seed industry investment promotion.

In this respect, he may not be as good as the others present, but he has focused on strengthening the industrial chain.

We should consider key aspects such as breeding of superior varieties, seedling cultivation, and protection of germplasm resources as a whole.

"Of course, the most important thing is to strengthen communication."

"Whether it's going out to participate in various seed industry exhibitions, or Yuanmou hosting its own exhibitions in the future, it can enhance the reputation and influence of Yuanmou's seed industry."

Yunling Agriculture was fortunate enough to receive some assistance this time, thanks to establishing connections with several organizations after the Fengtai Seed Trade Fair.

They all seemed to be deep in thought and listened attentively.

Pang Bochuan thought for a moment and said, "What President Chen said has benefited me greatly. It seems that this is also why President Chen is optimistic about seedling cultivation."

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "I am optimistic about the potential of Yuanmou's vegetables and seed industry. It is a mutually reinforcing process."

Seeing that the time was right, Pang Bochuan said directly, "Since that's the case, would Mr. Chen be interested in expanding the scale of greenhouse vegetables? The county intends to create a demonstration base and will provide some support in terms of policies and infrastructure."

Chen Jiazhi thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

Just as he was about to speak, Ma Ming unfolded another map.

"Mr. Chen, we've already picked out a location for you in Huangguayuan Town. It has water, electricity, and transportation, and the industrial base is also quite good."

"If you're interested, you can go see it in person now."

Chen Jiazhi was taken aback; this guy really came prepared.

Pang Bochuan then added, "President Chen, the county will also leverage the greenhouse demonstration base to vigorously promote Yunling Agriculture's high-quality vegetable seedlings to various townships. In addition, if needed, the bank can also provide preferential loans."

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment, and although he already had his mind on it, he did not immediately agree.

He instinctively felt that being too decisive was not a good idea, and that he should at least go to Huangguayuan Town to take a look.

(End of this chapter)