Chapter 121 Great BattleHuimin Planting Professional Cooperative is located in Youlian Village, which is also within the scope of the project to transform medium and low-yield fields in saline-alkali land. And due to Tianhe’s intervention, the renovation process of Youlian Village was advanced. When Guo Yang and his companions arrived at Youlian Village, they were shocked by the scene before them. I saw people clearing the accumulated soil in the fields, people lining the canals with concrete, people planting trees on both sides of the roads, and countless mechanical facilities. It was the first time that Qu Yang saw such a scene. He murmured, "How many people are there?" Liu Jun, deputy secretary of Xinmin Town, and Yang Xiaobing, a representative of Huimin Planting Cooperative, came over together. Liu Jun proudly introduced: "The county is now carrying out a major agricultural campaign. In Youlian Village alone, the number of people working each day has reached 3000." "There are so many people in one village? How is it organized?" Xiang Tianshan asked quickly, Muhe also has experience in improving saline-alkali land, and a large number of people have been mobilized, but that is 20 acres! Moreover, Muhe’s wages are never in arrears and the labor costs are high! Does the town have the financial resources to do so?
Liu Jun said: "Youlian Village has not had any supporting facilities for decades, the canal roads are crooked, the fields are messy, and there is irrigation but no drainage, which is a serious problem. This year, the country launched a project to transform medium and low-yield farmland. The town held a meeting and mobilized all staff to join the battle. In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of the masses, the town distributed the overall five-year farmland construction plan and annual construction plan to the farmers. Let everyone know clearly when and how much will be done in their own village and on their own land. At the same time, the six villages in the north and the nine villages in the south of the town will be divided into two battle units. Implement a method of raising funds and investing labor that requires repayment of money, repayment of labor, repayment of things, segmented and cross-regional implementation, segmented coordination, centralized use, and periodic balance. When one village is developing, the people from other villages in the area will join in. The labor and money borrowed now will be repaid by other villages when the village is developing in the future, thus avoiding the situation where farmers in one village are alone and have difficulty raising funds. " After hearing this, Guo Yang couldn't help but express his admiration. He had never doubted the organizational capabilities of the country's grassroots, but experiencing it personally was a different feeling. "The Farmland Battle is really vivid. It reminds me of the Wuyuan Oath-taking and Wuyuan Battle." In addition to its long history and complex ethnic relations, the Wuyuan Oath-taking and Wuyuan Battle are major events in Wuyuan's modern history that caused a sensation in society. "We can't compare with our ancestors. We used to benefit from the irrigation of the Yellow River, but we were 'trapped' by the Hetao. Every year when the strong north wind blows, every household stores up enough food, fills up their bottles with wine, pickles a few jars of sauerkraut, kills a pig and a few sheep, then heats the kang to heat the room, eats, drinks, and sleeps, spending the winter happily, and then returns to farming in March or April of the following year. In the past, people were afraid of trouble, labor, investment, and land occupation when developing farmland. Now, villages are competing for projects and investment, and all want the projects to be located within their own village so that they can benefit sooner. Since the farmland battle began, not a single household in the six villages within the Youlian Village development area has not stopped working or participated in the battle. " Walking in the fields, you can hear farmers talking from time to time. At the main canal in the village, Guo Yang met villagers who were testing the water through the newly supporting canal system. "Originally, this water diversion channel had 4 bends in 22 kilometers. Now, after the renovation, the water flow speed has been greatly accelerated, and the annual dredging cost has been saved by at least 5 yuan. Through channel system supporting and lining, the project area saves yuan in water fees annually, and the per capita water fee savings is yuan. At the same time, 1200 mu of land can be added through development, with an average increase of mu per capita. Calculated at 800 yuan per mu, the average per capita income will increase by 1200 yuan.
With the irrigation and drainage canal system, more than 6000 mu of low- and medium-yield farmland has been transformed into high-yield farmland, increasing income by at least 100-200 yuan per mu.” When Guo Yang heard Secretary Liu calculating the economic accounts, he also laughed. "Secretary Liu, the revenue increase is only one or two hundred yuan. You are slapping Jiahe in the face!" "The government has invested so much manpower and material resources in farmland transformation, and Jiahe is confident that the income per mu will increase by 500 yuan." Secretary Liu was surprised, "Really?" Guo Yang said: "By adjusting the planting structure, introducing Tianyu No. 1 and Tianmai No. 1, implementing order planting, and selling directly to Jiahe Flour Mill, we can fully achieve high-quality and high-price wheat." "But why hasn't there been any movement at Jiahe's flour mill?" "Haha, so Secretary Liu, you are waiting for me here." Guo Yang laughed, "Don't worry about that. Jiahe's wheat product processing plant will definitely be built." Yang Xiaobing, the representative of the Huinong Planting Professional Cooperative, also had doubts on his face. The task of building a wheat demonstration base was directly issued by the county agricultural bureau and the town. The cooperative, which had fallen into trouble in the past two years, had no other options. But Yang Xiaobing still said unwillingly: "Wheat doesn't yield much, and people prefer to grow sunflowers." Guo Yang was stunned for a moment in surprise, but he also understood that this was the reality. Spring wheat, summer corn and sunflower are the main grain and oil crops in the Hetao region. In the mid-90s, wheat was the main crop grown in Wuyuan County, accounting for 50%. However, with the aggravation of saline-alkali land damage and the increase in the area of saline-alkali arable land, the proportion of wheat planting has rapidly dropped to about 20%. At the same time, the proportion of corn and sunflower cultivation has steadily increased. Sunflowers, in particular, are more adaptable to saline-alkali environments. The price of sunflower seeds continues to be popular and is sought after by farmers. The sunflower planting area has reached nearly 70 acres. "Mr. Yang, your cooperative also planted sunflowers last year, right? How was the profit?" "Last year, it was the rainy season and the water was not drained away, so more than half of the sunflowers were drowned." My goodness! Guo Yang thought last year’s performance was very good, but he didn’t expect it to be so terrible. Secretary Liu also said: "It was like this before. In the spring, the fields were so wet that people couldn't walk in. In the autumn, there were no roads, so the crops had to be carried out." Guo Yang finally understood why the farmers were so enthusiastic! It’s all for personal gain. Guo Yang asked again: "What about the year before last?" The farmer Yang Xiaobing's lips were moving, and coupled with his tanned face, the scene was quite awkward. Secretary Liu sighed. "In July and August of the previous year, a large-scale soil-borne disease broke out in the cooperative, resulting in reduced yields in many plots and even total crop failure. Also due to the successive economic downturns, the original chairman of the cooperative and many farmers withdrew one after another, and the cooperative was once facing dissolution. Now we are counting on Jiahe to help us."
Xiang Tianshan, who had been watching the land renovation, came over upon hearing this. "I think we used to grow sunflowers." "Yes." "It's no wonder that large-scale planting of sunflowers is not conducive to crop rotation. Sunflowers also consume a lot of soil fertility, affecting the fertility of regional farmland soil." The Huinong Cooperative is not big, and Yang Xiaobing is just an ordinary farmer representative. He is good at farming, but his knowledge is limited, and sometimes he is blinded by interests. This is also a common problem among many cooperatives at this time. Yang Xiaobing tried to argue: "The price of sunflower seeds has been high in recent years, so we can make money!" "Have you finished planting?" “Now that the soil has developed continuous cropping problems, rotating gramineous crops such as wheat and corn has strong ecological benefits in cultivating soil fertility and reducing the number of sclerotia in the field. Of course, it would be even more perfect if we could rotate it with Alfalfa 1.” Guo Yang was also happy to see that Lao Xiang had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. But he also remembered that the price of sunflower seeds had indeed increased dramatically in recent years. When I was engaged in farming in my previous life, I met a lot of people and often heard them bragging. Many of the large sunflower growers became rich after China’s entry into the WTO, with the highest net income per mu reaching thousands of yuan! Guo Yang looked at Yang Xiaobing who remained silent and said, "Don't worry, the returns of Tianmai No. 1 are not bad. The agricultural machinery company under Jiahe will soon launch new products. With national agricultural machinery subsidies and Jiahe’s financial policies, the cooperative can fully obtain loans to introduce agricultural machinery. The benefits can be further improved by implementing large-scale and mechanized production.” Guo Yang then added, "In the early stage, the cooperative doesn't even have to pay a penny!" Yang Xiaobing was obviously moved. Wuyuan has a flat terrain and has now undergone land reclamation. If you have a few agricultural machines, you will be like a fish in water. (End of this chapter)