A courtyard, several bungalows, and three or two students are the standard features of a science and technology small courtyard. Although small in scale, it plays a huge role in serving agriculture, rural areas and revitalizing rural areas. Its service model largely determines the effectiveness of assisting and benefiting farmers.
The Academy of Science and Technology was initiated by Zhang Fusuo, an academician of the CAE Member and a professor of China Agricultural University, and his team in Quzhou County, Hebei Province in 2009. Over the past 15 years, it has expanded to more than 1000 villages in 31 provinces across the country, and more than 1000 Academy of Science and Technology have taken root in different places.
With the increase of enrollment in universities and the number of teachers and students, and the highlighting of achievements in industry, academia, research and application, the Science and Technology Academy has now gone abroad and promoted to 8 countries in Laos and Africa.
In 2020, the Science and Technology Academy Competition was one of the special events of the China Graduate Rural Revitalization Science and Technology Strong Agriculture+Innovation Competition, and was absorbed as the theme event of the China Graduate Innovation Practice Series. To support the advancement of advanced technology in rural areas, the transformation of scientific research achievements, and the promotion of high-quality agricultural products, Pinduoduo has supported the Science and Technology Academy Competition for two consecutive sessions. It has also increased exposure and subsidy investment in key scientific and technological agricultural products researched by Yunnan Chucheng, Sichuan Danling Orange, Ningxia Tanyang, and Shaanxi Meixian Kiwi, promoting the standardization, branding, and digital development of agricultural specialties.
Recently, the final of the second "Pinduoduo Cup" Science and Technology Academy Competition (hereinafter referred to as the "Competition") was successfully concluded in Dali, Yunnan. Five teams, including Chucheng Science and Technology Academy of China Agricultural University, won the first prize after fierce competition.
"We need to see science and technology academies as a model for serving the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. In the future, science and technology academies should not only target small farmers and update traditional production technologies, but also connect with modern industries and enterprises," said Lin Wanlong, Vice President of China Agricultural University.
The Two Grasping Hands of Agricultural Modernization
"Over the past 15 years, teachers and students of the Science and Technology Academy have rooted themselves in the vast agricultural soil, governing knowledge, understanding people's livelihoods, and combining theoretical knowledge with rich practical experience, greatly promoting agricultural modernization." Hou Kaidi, Vice President of Pinduoduo, said at the closing ceremony.
Although small in scale, relying on the top-notch science and technology, agricultural science and technology talents, and a large amount of resource investment from China Agricultural University and many other agricultural universities, science and technology academies have gradually solved the problem of the "last mile" of rural revitalization since taking root in various parts of the country.
Hou Kaidi believes that the two most important levers in the development of agricultural modernization are technology and talent.
"China's agricultural management is relatively scattered, with a low degree of intensification and scale. In this situation, in order to increase farmers' income and become prosperous, on the one hand, we need to rely on the power of science and technology to improve the yield per mu; on the other hand, we need local leaders to promote good models and advanced technologies." Hou Kaidi said.
In this competition, technological innovation and digital applications are almost reflected in the achievements of every technology academy. Taking "Chu Orange" as an example, the brand has always been popular among consumers, but the most serious problems affecting the quality of Chu Orange are the spotted fruit and cracked fruit. Under strict product selection requirements, the yield of Chu oranges was once only 54%, and the rest could only be disposed of or destroyed at low prices. In 2022 alone, the direct economic loss was as high as 26 million yuan.
After conducting experiments and comparisons, Chu Cheng Technology Academy has focused on the wind as the cause. To solve these problems, they erected a high net on the outside of the farmland and sprayed medicine on the fruits to form a protective film; In order to reduce the occurrence of fruit cracking, potassium and calcium elements were specifically supplemented. In the past, a tree produced 200 fruits, with about 20-30 cracked fruits. After a series of treatments by a scientific and technological hospital, the number has now decreased to 2-3. The small courtyard also constructs a quality and climate prediction model. According to Quan Tielin, a student at Chucheng Science and Technology School, this model can predict fruit quality 45 days in advance.
Chu Orange represents the extremely high level of management and management in China's fruit cultivation industry. Its success has attracted many orange producing areas to emulate it, but so far it has been difficult to match. According to Quan Tielin, Chu Cheng has established a training center that provides free instruction to farmers who are interested in orange cultivation in the surrounding area, allowing everyone to transition from being unable to learn to being able to learn.
Lai Guoyong, located in Banzi Town, Pinghe County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, is now a "technology farmer". In 2019, the establishment of Pinghe Guanxi Honey Pomelo Science and Technology Academy brought scientific planting techniques for honey pomelo to the local area. After testing the new fertilizer, Lai Guoyong, who was one of the first to eat crabs, found that not only did the fruit grow well, the leaves were plump and green, but the yield did not decrease, and the cost of fertilization was also saved.
He began to act as a bridge between technology academies and farmers, striving to become a Minnan language "translator" when students went to the village to promote organic fertilizer, and using practical experience to help build trust between both sides. It is reported that the small courtyard has already brought out more than 20 "technology farmers" like Lai Guoyong, promoting the development of the local honey pomelo planting industry through farmers teaching farmers and household guidance.
From "Solo Fighting" to "Collaborative Operations"
After decades of development, the technology small courtyard model has been continuously upgraded from initially assisting each household. The Gusheng Village Science and Technology Courtyard located in Wanqiao Town, Dali City is the first technology courtyard to move towards the "3.0+" version.
In 2021, Academician Zhang Fushuo from China Agricultural University led the organization of more than 50 experts and scholars nationwide to conduct in-depth research on agricultural non-point source pollution in the Erhai Lake Basin. The following year, the Gusheng Village Science and Technology Academy was officially unveiled. Zhang Fushuo and his team of teachers and students have been stationed here for a long time. On the one hand, they provide zero distance, zero time difference, zero threshold, and zero cost "four zero" services to local villagers. On the other hand, they visit and research the local resource utilization situation, seeking solutions to the problem of Erhai Lake non-point source pollution.
According to Yang Xinru, a student at Gusheng Village Science and Technology Academy, the development of the academy has gone through three stages, with version 1.0 providing one-on-one assistance to small farmers. 2.0 version begins to collaborate with the industry. The 3.0 version serves rural revitalization through technological innovation and talent empowerment in technology academies.
Since its establishment, Gusheng Village Science and Technology Academy has comprehensively assisted in the revitalization of local talents, organizations, industries, culture, and ecology, achieving a transformation from the opposite direction to the same direction in protecting Erhai Lake and increasing farmers' income. And behind this, multiple forces are integrated, including industrial integration, disciplinary integration, industry university research integration, and so on.
In fact, cross industry, multi subject collaborative cooperation and joint efforts to promote rural revitalization are becoming the development direction of science and technology academies across the country.
Taking Chongqing Tongliang Vegetable Science and Technology Academy as an example, it has explored a new model of agricultural development with industrialization consortium as the starting point and multi subject participation. On the R&D end, the Science and Technology Academy is responsible for analyzing problems and creating a green production model for the entire vegetable industry chain; On the sales side, we will collaborate with multiple entities such as the government, universities, agricultural input enterprises, and e-commerce platforms to expand sales channels and increase the income of vegetable owners.
It is reported that after the promotion of the new model, only one crop, chili pepper, will increase its income by 953 yuan per mu per season. Calculated based on the promotion area of 10000 mu, it will achieve an increase of 9.53 million yuan in income.
"We should regard technology academies as a model for serving the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. In the future, technology academies should not only target small farmers and update traditional production technologies, but also connect with modern industries and enterprises," Lin Wanlong told reporters.
Pinduoduo, as a supporter of the competition, plays an important role in promoting advanced technology from science and technology academies to rural areas, transforming scientific research achievements, and connecting the production and sales of high-quality agricultural products. The competition provides a platform for showcasing technological achievements, while Pinduoduo endows these achievements with more market value, thereby achieving a positive cycle.
Taking Chucheng as an example, in order to help Chucheng expand its sales channels, the platform reached a strategic cooperation agreement with it in 2019, and later provided strong support through billions of subsidies; In November last year, Chu Cheng joined forces with CCTV News to conduct a live broadcast of the China International Import Expo, and became one of the seven fruits on the shelves.
Pinduoduo has many successful cases of transforming scientific research products from samples to products, and then to explosive products. Pinduoduo has also given active attention and support to characteristic agricultural products such as orange, which is a key research focus of Danleng Orange Science and Technology Academy, Pinghe Honey Pomelo researched by participating teams in the Fujian regional competition, and kiwifruit researched by Shaanxi Meixian Kiwi Science and Technology Academy, promoting the standardization, branding, and digital development of agricultural specialties.
"If technology academies demolish the walls between schools and society, between disciplines, between teaching and research, and between teaching and learning, then Pinduoduo needs to help break through the walls between research and market, promote the standardization, branding, and digitalization of agricultural products, and improve the modern agricultural industry chain," Hou Kaidi said, "Even if this is a systematic project with a long development cycle and slow investment returns, we will spare no effort to firmly invest in agriculture and adhere to long-term principles."
Assist in upgrading the agricultural industry
Supporting technology academies is just the tip of the iceberg for Pinduoduo's heavy warehouse agriculture. As an e-commerce platform that started with agricultural products, agriculture has always been the core strategy of Pinduoduo.
"From the production and planting end (farmers start farming) to the consumption end (selling to consumers), there are many and difficult supply chain links in the middle of agricultural products." Hou Kaidi said that Pinduoduo has always been committed to finding technical solutions applied to the entire agricultural product supply chain, using technology to drive high-quality agricultural products up the market.
In response to the problems of small scale and scattered layout, Pinduoduo has explored the "agricultural land cloud consolidation" model, which combines dispersed agricultural production capacity and demand for agricultural products in the cloud, forming a virtual national market. Driven by this model, the scale of agricultural products on the Pinduoduo platform reached 270 billion yuan in 2020, doubling year-on-year.
In response to the issue of agricultural products having a place of origin but no brand, Pinduoduo launched the "Agricultural Cloud Action" in February 2023, focusing on investing advantageous resources and entering agricultural areas such as Jiangsu hairy crabs and Northwest fruits to help the local area build a more resilient and competitive digital agricultural belt.
The effects brought by the "Agricultural Cloud Action" are tangible. Taking the second quarter of 2023 as an example, the number of agricultural businesses receiving billions of subsidies from Pinduoduo increased by 60% year-on-year, and the sales of agricultural products increased by 80% year-on-year.
In response to the issues of variety and quality, Pinduoduo has begun to focus on technology empowerment. Holding three sessions of the Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition, supporting two sessions of the Science and Technology Academy Competition, and establishing a "billion yuan Agricultural Research" special project are not just gimmicks, but are promoting the integration of industry, academia, and research, and putting technological innovation into practice.
For example, the award-winning team "Zhiduomei" from the first "Duoduo Agricultural Research Technology Competition" has developed hardware, software, and algorithm products such as intelligent irrigation and intelligent greenhouse environmental control. As of the first quarter of 2023, 40 sets of systems have been exported to Liaoning, Yunnan, Anhui, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Beijing and other places to assist strawberry and blueberry production.
In the third quarter, the R&D expenses of Pinduoduo platform reached 2.85 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, with heavy agricultural investment being the core of Pinduoduo's R&D expenses. At the previous performance meeting, Chen Lei, Chairman and Co CEO of Pinduoduo Group, emphasized multiple times that he will continue to increase investment in agriculture and manufacturing in the future. The main focus emphasized by Pinduoduo is to focus on agriculture, leverage digital advantages in rural areas, and promote the transformation and upgrading of rural industries.
In April 2023, Zhao Jiazhen, Co CEO of Pinduoduo, proposed for the first time that the company has entered a new stage of fully embracing "high-quality development". Agriculture, as one of Pinduoduo's core businesses, is an important focus for achieving high-quality development. Through digital empowerment, technological innovation, and win-win cooperation, Pinduoduo will continue to assist in the upgrading and transformation of the agricultural industry, actively promoting high-quality agricultural development.