On the morning of October 23rd at 6 o'clock, the sun had just jumped out of the horizon, and Shanghai, thousands of kilometers away, was still asleep. However, people from Chucheng Manor in Yunnan started killing sheep and slaughtering cows to prepare for the annual "Harvest Festival".
Chu Yibin, the general manager of Chushi Agriculture, wakes up at 6:30 and runs, which is a habit he maintains. After 10 years of deep cultivation in agriculture, his skin was tanned and he was already 60 years old. However, his body was strong and sturdy, and he never left his hands smoking. When asked when he would retire, he always smiled and said it was not urgent, there were still ten years left. Chu Yibin often wears a simple T-shirt and a pair of black sports shoes while inspecting production in the field all year round.
Starting in the afternoon, the Shangguo platform has gathered all the farmers of Chucheng Manor, waiting for a year of hard work and recognition. Chu Orange Manor is divided into seven work areas, and farmers in each work area sit under the stage with their own work leaders. Under the guidance of the host, the boss Chu Yibin took the stage and announced that the best operating area last year was the fifth operating area, with a high yield rate of 69%. The yield rate refers to the rate at which oranges, after being picked and screened one by one, are finally labeled as "Chu Orange" and sold on the market. The average yield of Chu oranges is stable at around 54%, and 69% is a very good result.
According to Chu Agriculture, the production of Chu oranges this year has reached 25000 tons. This achievement is not easy. What outsiders may not know is that, in addition to diligent cultivation, behind the grand harvest lies the power of numbers.
This originated from a bold "breakthrough attempt" by the agricultural academic community and industry.
In August 2021, Chu Yibin met Zhang Fushuo from afar, who proposed to establish a "Science and Technology Academy" in Chu's Agriculture. Zhang Fusuo is an academician of the CAE Member, a professor of China Agricultural University, and the founder of the Academy of Science and Technology. The "Science and Technology Academy" is his "experimental field" for future Chinese agriculture: applying technology to agriculture, achieving the unity of production practice and academia. Through the "Science and Technology Academy", agricultural university students enter the fields where Chu oranges are planted for practical production, learning, and research. Chucheng Technology Academy not only studies Chucheng, but also digitizes and standardizes experience and practice for future agricultural production, and teaches more people how to become Chucheng.
The supporters behind the "technology courtyard" are Pinduoduo.
On November 28th, Pinduoduo's third quarter financial report showed that its revenue for the third quarter of 2023 was 68.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 93.9%; Achieved a net profit of 15.54 billion yuan under the US GAAP standard, with a net profit margin of 22.6%, and revenue and net profit significantly exceeding expectations.
Compared to impressive financial data, Pinduoduo believes that utilizing digital technology and platform effects to help millions of Chinese farmers achieve digital transformation is a more important mission. As the timeless truth in agricultural civilization goes - "A drop of sweat, a thousand grains of grain, a thousand grains of sweat, a granary full of grain." Pinduoduo is rooting itself in every corner of the land of China, contributing its strength to the construction of an agricultural power with a state of dripping water piercing stones
Tear down the wall between scientific research and the market
It takes over half an hour to drive from Jiasa Town, Xinping County, Yuxi City, Yunnan Province to Ailao Mountain. The road is winding and steep, with no guardrails on either side. If you're not careful, the car seems to be driving straight down. When the roadside was filled with orange trees and someone stopped to inspect, Chu Orange Manor arrived.
"Orange trees are everywhere. The mountains and fields are full of orange trees." Quan Tielin was amazed by the scene before him. Each orange tree is about the same height, squeezed and arranged neatly on the hillside. Whenever you look out from a place with a window, your eyes are covered in green, adorned with golden fruits. From time to time, farmers patrol the mountains on motorcycles.
This is the headquarters of Chu's agriculture. 21 years ago, Chu Shijian planted oranges on the sugarcane field at the eastern foot of the middle section of Ailao Mountain. After more than a decade of hard work, the fruit he produced became famous nationwide and was affectionately known as "Chu Orange" by consumers due to its popularity in the market.
Quan Tielin is a second year graduate student at China Agricultural University. In February, she came to Chucheng Science and Technology Academy to do research on industry and academia. Her first impression of this place was that it has good conditions, including food, housing, and salary. After 9 months, she has become acquainted with local farmers. On the day of Harvest Festival, she stood in the small circle closest to the campfire, her face flushed with the light of the fire, and she worked hard to jump and jump. Her long hair flew up to her rhythm until the campfire went out.
At present, there are 12 students at Chucheng Science and Technology Academy. Apart from being young, they have already integrated with local farmers. Chu Yibin, the boss who holds great hope for "technology changing agriculture", has provided this technology small institute with an extremely relaxed research environment and the greatest support.
Before this, in the words of Chu Yibin, "The reason why Chu Cheng is called Chu Cheng is because from the most basic field work to the entire management system, standardization has been achieved.". In the field of agriculture, which relies on natural resources, the taste of Chu oranges has been controlled daily for 20 years, with a "golden" sweet sour ratio of 24 points sweet and 1 point sour.
This is not enough. In 2019, Chu Yibin established the most advanced fruit selection plant in Kunming with 86 million yuan, setting precise standards for the color, shape, volume, weight per fruit, and sugar content of oranges. This fruit selection line realizes the automation of the process from cleaning, sterilization, heat preservation treatment, sugar content infrared detector detection, and three-dimensional visual detection. The fruit diameter is accurate to millimeters, the weight is accurate to 0.5 grams, and the accuracy of sugar and acidity detection is as high as 95%.
But the strict precision has reduced the yield of Chu oranges to around 54%, which means that only 54% of the oranges picked by fruit farmers can become "Chu oranges" on the market.
For many years, "spotted fruit" and "cracked fruit" have become the most serious problems troubling Chu Orange. In the year before Zhang Fushuo's arrival, spotted fruit and cracked fruit could only be processed or destroyed at low prices, suffering losses of approximately 26 million yuan.
On the day of meeting, Chu Yibin and Zhang Fushuo were surrounded by people, but only the two of them were talking. Chu Yibin summarized the conversation in 12 words: "Discover problems, solve problems, and create value." He hoped that the Science and Technology Academy could "timely discover problems in production, solve them, create value for the people, and also realize its own value.".
More than a month after this meeting, on September 30th, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs organized a conference on the construction of science and technology small courtyards for representative agricultural leading enterprises in the province. On October 23rd, the Chu Cheng Science and Technology Small Courtyard was unveiled at the Chu Cheng Manor.
In February 2022, Chu Cheng Technology Academy began working. Longquan was the earliest mentor to settle in Chucheng Science and Technology Academy at that time, along with 9 graduate students from China Agricultural University, Southwest University, Yunnan Agricultural University, and Fujian A&F University.
Before fully appreciating the beauty of Yunnan and the sweetness of its fruits, these graduate students arrived at the Science and Technology Academy and faced 14 major production issues from Chu Orange Manor, including the two most important ones: how to reduce spotted and cracked fruits.
Chu's Agriculture has high hopes for the Science and Technology Academy: two two-story small buildings serve as experimental bases with good accommodation and dining conditions, a monthly subsidy of 1200 yuan, and most importantly, experimental fields divided according to various requirements in 6800 acres of land.
Returning to September 24th, the second "Pinduoduo Cup" Science and Technology Academy Competition kicked off in Chongqing. Chu Cheng Science and Technology Academy participated for the first time, "feeling a bit nervous, like taking the final exam on campus," said Quan Tielin.
The Science and Technology Academy Competition has been held for two years, aiming to achieve the unity of agricultural production practice and academia, apply research results to agricultural production, solve production problems, and improve the level of agricultural modernization. Pinduoduo, which started with agricultural products, highly recognizes this principle. We have held three consecutive "Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition" and supported the Science and Technology Academy Competition for two consecutive times. This year, the competition has expanded to five competition areas, with 96 teams participating in the competition.
Quan Tielin represented his classmates on stage. She focused on the 8 minutes of the competition and talked about how Chu Cheng Technology Academy solved the prevention and control of spotted and cracked fruits, and based on this, explored the "industry university research" model of cooperation with leading enterprises.
Hua Ban Guo is an orange with large brown patches on its surface, and there are no more than 50 academic papers on Hua Ban Guo. Sheng Junming received this question and compared various data between the spotted fruit and normal fruit through experiments, and finally focused on the wind as the cause.
In February, at Ailao Mountain, the wind was strong and dry, blowing like a knife on his face. Sheng Junming had to test the wind speed in four directions at different time periods during field inspections. In the early morning, he rode a motorcycle up the mountain, with no one around and only the whirring wind in his ears. Climbing up the slope, he raised the instrument in his hand and measured the wind speed in different directions around the orange tree, using both the windward and leeward sides as references.
Finally, they concluded that the spotted fruit was formed from February to April when the fruit was just ripe and was scratched by leaves or branches due to strong winds. In order to prevent wind, they erected nets higher than trees on the outermost side of the farmland. Sheng Junming also mentioned a method: "You can spray medicine on the fruit to form a protective film to prevent damage.".
There are also cracked fruits. This is a topic for student Shi Xingjian. Cracked fruits are further divided into outer and inner cracks. The outer cracked fruit is a long scar that grows from the bottom to both sides. The inner cracked fruit makes the skin soft and the inside hollow, which can easily shatter when pinched. Finally, Shi Xingjian's experiment showed that the cracking of the fruit is caused by excessive precipitation and insufficient light, and potassium and calcium elements need to be supplemented.
"Last year, a tree produced 200 fruits, with 20-30 cracks. This year, it's much better, with only two or three cracks per tree," said Shi Xingjian. Every student has encountered accidents to some extent when they come to the Science and Technology Academy. The orange tree is prickly, and everyone only knows when they come here that if they are not careful during picking, they will be scratched with blood. Walking from a distance on the road, you can see a snake ahead. On rainy days, the road is very slippery, making it easy for cars to fall at turns and people to fall out. Both knees are bruised and bruised.
The competition in the Chongqing region is extremely fierce, with 20 teams from universities such as China Agricultural University, Southwest University, and Yunnan Agricultural University. All participants believe that the opponent is very strong, and whoever can reach the finals proves their worth.
The person in charge of Pinduoduo said, "If the Science and Technology Academy has demolished the walls between schools and society, disciplines and disciplines, teaching and research, and teaching and learning, we also want to demolish the walls between research and the market."
When young people return to agriculture
In the wave of change sparked by digital technology, some people's career choices and life trajectories have also undergone earth shattering changes.
Gutian is renowned as the "capital of edible mushrooms in China". Whenever customers from other places ask why Gutian has a high production and good quality of white fungus, local businessman Liu Jian always humorously answers, "Cuiping mountains and waters are a good match for mushrooms."
In Liu Jian's memory, when he was a child, his father often said, "It's best to use mountain spring water to grow Tremella, and Cuiping Lake is the best gift from Gutian." After graduating from Tianjin Vocational and Technical Normal University, Liu Jian bravely returned to his hometown against his father's expectations of walking out of the mountains. "My parents supported this family by growing white fungus, and now it's up to me to take on the responsibility of the family and see if I can contribute to my hometown." Liu Jian said, "The labor intensity of growing white fungus is very high. When the yield and quality are both improved, if we don't solve the sales problem, everyone will lose income and enthusiasm for planting, and the good local specialties in our hometown will be a pity."
In the second half of 2019, Liu Jian opened his first store in Pinduoduo. With some experience gained from experimenting with e-commerce platforms during his college years, Liu Jian has full confidence in his small shop. Before opening the store, Liu Jian visited and conducted research - many people in the county have tried to sell their own planted Tremella online, but due to a lack of operational knowledge and inability to scale, it often ended in failure. But he still believes that Pinduoduo has a huge number of users, and as long as the quality of Tremella is excellent, this time it will never fail to reach the internet.
"Tremella fuciformis is rich in nutrients and is now the favorite of the 'health enthusiasts'. We want to recommend good agricultural products from our hometown to more people." Liu Jian said, "The Tremella fuciformis industry is also the main way to help Gutian people move from poverty alleviation to a moderately prosperous life, and it is the root of our Gutian people."
"Mushroom Generation II" is committed to exploring the ratio of ingredients in the culture medium, adding new ingredients such as Poria cocos and lotus seed powder on the basis of traditional wheat husk, sucrose, soybean powder, etc., to enhance the soft and smooth taste of Tremella fuciformis, with higher nutritional value. The baton that opened up new sales channels for Gutian Tremella has been passed on to the "Mushroom Three Generations" represented by Liu Jian.
The down-to-earth efforts have finally paid off. The store has gone from one or two orders per day to over a hundred orders per day, and now it has shipped over a thousand orders per day. Over the past four years, the store has attracted 25000 fans and accumulated over 1.5 million orders. "The Pinduoduo platform provides merchants with a lot of subsidies, and we also give the benefits to consumers. By signing up for multi person and ten thousand person group activities, we have received traffic support from the platform, allowing millions of consumers to learn about Gutian Tremella."
Everyone is busiest around the Spring Festival every year. Auricularia auricula is one of the best-selling agricultural products during the Chinese New Year, and gift boxes filled with Auricularia auricula have become the preferred gift. In January this year, the store received nearly 10000 orders per day, greatly exceeding Liu Jian's expectations. According to the backend data of the store, Tremella fuciformis is the best-selling in Guangdong and Fujian, with a comprehensive repurchase rate of up to 30% nationwide.
In 2022, Liu Jian's sales on the Pinduoduo platform exceeded 60 million yuan. In the new year, he launched a sprint towards a sales revenue of 100 million. At present, there are more than 500 growers in the county who use cooperatives for centralized harvesting or targeted purchases by individual investors to ship Tremella from Chengyue small shops nationwide. "On average, each household can earn an income of 150000 to 200000 yuan by planting 100000 barrels per year. With cars and houses, their lives become better and better." Liu Jian said, "We purchase from villagers at prices higher than the market. They grow happily and with peace of mind, and leave the rest to me."
In the four years since opening a store at Pinduoduo, Liu Jian has also felt significant changes in consumers - the proportion of young consumers has increased, and more people are interested in the quality and nutritional benefits of Tremella, not prioritizing low prices. Liu Jian will carefully read the feedback from customer service and evaluation areas, and do his best to meet the expectations of consumers.
The successful collaboration with the Edible Fungi Research Institute of Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences has enabled mushroom farmers to choose improved strains for cultivation and explore methods for growing better products. More than ten deeply processed products, such as papaya milk Broth of white fungus, herbal tremella, freeze-dried Broth of white fungus, tremella clear dew, will be put on the shelves in succession, which can meet the needs of different consumer groups.
On the Pinduoduo platform, including Liu Jian, there are over 126000 "post-95s" and "new farmers", accounting for over 13% of agricultural businesses. These post-95s, who grew up in the era of mobile internet, have high education, understand management, and are good at integrating upstream and downstream, are becoming a new force in comprehensively promoting rural revitalization.
"College students returning to their hometowns to start businesses in e-commerce have received strong support from the government. Logistics and express delivery subsidies, talent allowances... have truly provided us with too much convenience, and more and more people are willing to join the ranks of e-commerce," Liu Jian sighed.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Gutian County Commerce Bureau, there are currently 651 e-commerce enterprises and 3492 e-commerce stores in the county. In 2022, the online retail sales in Gutian County reached 2.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 122.8%.
"We have long been committed to controlling quality from the source through docking with production areas, and through measures such as tilting traffic resources and billions of subsidies, we help improve the market competitiveness of high-quality agricultural products and expand new consumer groups." The relevant person in charge of Pinduoduo said, "We look forward to more 'new and new farmers' like Liu Jian working together with the platform to develop characteristic industries in our hometown and drive income growth for local farmers."
The year of Nongyun Action's "Crossing Mountains and Mountains"
Although surrounded by three deserts, the development of the agricultural industry belt in Minqin County, Gansu Province has attracted widespread attention.
In 2007, Minqin County introduced the planting of Ginseng fruit, which produced a lot quickly, but the market has always been a big problem. Later, with the encouragement of local policies, a group of "new farmers" began to set foot in e-commerce, and soon found a market through Pinduoduo. Ginseng fruit really became the "golden fruit" of the people of Minqin County. At present, the local Ginseng fruit planting scale has reached 15700 mu, and the corresponding e-commerce incubation center, storage, sorting, distribution, supply center, etc. have also been set up.
Agriculture needs industrialization, new farmers with knowledge and vision are needed, and at the same time, it cannot be separated from a high-speed road that can allow agricultural products to leave the village and enter the city.
Pinduoduo started in agriculture and has created a new agricultural product supply chain through "agricultural land cloud integration", becoming the largest agricultural product upstream platform in China. In order to further serve rural revitalization and respond to the call for "promoting agriculture through digital commerce", Pinduoduo announced the launch of the "Agricultural Cloud Action" earlier this year, focusing on investing advantageous resources to promote the faster integration of 100 agricultural belts nationwide into the cloud, and to create a more resilient and competitive digital agricultural belt.
The blueberries in Yunnan have harvested abundantly. It is large and sweet, with quality surpassing most foreign production areas, and is expected to double the production compared to last year. How to help local fruit farmers sell smoothly and efficiently? Currently, it is a significant challenge. In the middle of February, a group of local "new farmers" and offline merchants who have only been engaged in the supply chain for a long time in Kunming, together with the Pinduoduo "Nongyun Action" special team, planned how to "sell out" local agricultural products such as blueberries, apple dates, mandarin oranges, Ginseng fruit fruits, flowers and so on in Yunnan this year.
This is the first stop of Pinduoduo's "Agricultural Cloud Action" research.
▲ Pinduoduo Agricultural Research Base. Photo by Gu Chen
Yunnan has a complex and ever-changing terrain with a variety of agricultural products, but the planting scale is often not large. The long-term pain point here has been the high logistics costs, and there is a serious shortage of young and compound new farmers who understand both e-commerce and agriculture locally. The sales radius of a large number of agricultural products is limited to the province or surrounding areas, and offline circulation not only involves multiple links with high losses, but also makes it difficult to obtain incremental profits from the national market.
However, in recent years, the situation has undergone significant changes. As for blueberries alone, the High Mountain Economic Plant Research Institute of Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences continuously introduces new varieties, promoting the rapid development of the blueberry industry. As of the end of 2021, the planting area of blueberries in the province is about 100000 mu, with a yield of about 45000 tons. This year, the area and yield will greatly increase, and the demand for fruit farmers to connect with the national market through the platform will become increasingly strong. At the same time, the government continues to invest and increase in logistics and warehousing, and has also built a good infrastructure for fruit farmers to directly connect to the national market through e-commerce.
Pinduoduo innovates the "agricultural land cloud consolidation" by collecting scattered orders from both time and space dimensions, creating a convenient channel for Yunnan's agricultural products to break out of the province. In 2016 and 2017, Yunnan's snow lotus fruit, Ginseng fruit fruit and other niche fruits were the first to sell through Pinduoduo, and became popular online fruits at one fell swoop.
"We are confident in helping Blueberry become a 'new internet celebrity'."