Current location:world >>
Innovating Rice Planting with Passion
world54People have gathered around
IntroductionContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
- Home
- News
- People
- In-depth
- ACWF
Innovating Rice Planting with Passion
September 22, 2023
When you see Zhu Shasha for the first time, you may not imagine this young, comely woman, with a ponytail, is a professional farmer who is skilled at planting rice. In 2016, Zhu, then 23, quit her job as a kindergarten teacher to begin farming in Shuguang, a village in Xiaoshan, a district in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province.
During the past seven years, she has grown into a "new farmer," who has mastered an advanced production mode, and advanced agricultural technologies. Now, she is head of an agricultural cooperative, and she contracts more than 2,000 mu(133.33 hectares) of farmland in Shuguang Village.
Become a 'New Farmer'
Zhu's parents began contracting farmland in Shuguang nearly 17 years ago. Working the land became tiring for them as they grew older. So, in 2016, Zhu took over her family's contracted farmland, which covered nearly 200 mu(13.33 hectares), to take the load off her parents. Since then, she has studied rice-planting techniques, to use scientific methods to increase rice production, and to develop new rice varieties.
Zhu participated in many training sessions involving agricultural mechanization and rice planting and production. She used what she learned to increase rice production, and she contracted more land to plant rice. In 2019, the rice yield reached 900 kilograms permu, and her farm set a rice-yield record in Xiaoshan District. Throughout the years, she has won several district-level prizes for her highly productive crops.
"Even though I grew up in the village, I seldom did farm work before. At the beginning, it was difficult for me to work in the field, when I learned planting techniques from agricultural experts … As time went on, I grew to deeply love the farmland, and I now am full of passion for my job," says Zhu.
Every morning, early, Zhu inspects the land, to monitor growth of the crops, apply fertilizer, and/or control pests and crop diseases. She often works late. "In the past, I liked wearing beautiful skirts and dresses. Now, I only wear trousers that are convenient for farm work. However, I feel accomplished when I am able to use what I have learned to troubleshoot problems with the agricultural machines. It is all worth it," Zhu says.
She has witnessed the great changes that have taken place in the local agriculture sector. "The mechanization level of farm work has increased. We have unmanned crop-protection machines, unmanned rice transplanters and other unmanned farm machines. My parents never thought that one day machines would help farmers do farm work. In the past, they transplanted rice seedlings and applied fertilizer with their hands. Now, we control unmanned aerial vehicles to plant seedlings and apply fertilizer with remote control," says Zhu. "I feel happy when I see my family farm is getting better and better. We, 'new farmers', should do what we can to promote the development of modern agriculture, so every farmer in the country will have great expectations for the future of farming."
On Zhu's farm, the use of new agricultural technologies and machines has achieved good results. Compared with 10 years ago, her rice yield per muhas increased by about 200 kilograms. Other farmers in the village sing her praises as a young, large-scale grain producer.
'New' Agriculture
Agricultural mechanization has helped countless farmers harvest their rice. Six years ago, a low-tech harvester could only harvest 20 mu(1.33 hectares) per day. Now, a more-advanced harvester (with modern technology) can harvest about 50mu(3.33 hectares) of land per day. "The harvest efficiency has more than doubled. The environment of the harvester cab has also been greatly improved. The cab is installed with air conditioning, which makes the driver feel more comfortable," Zhu says.
She provides various services, including grain and oil-crop planting, transplanting rice by machine, crop protection and tractor ploughing, to farmers in surrounding villages. Zhu has helped more than 20 villagers increase their annual output by 60 kilograms per mu.
In the future, Zhu will make more efforts to expand the sales channel of her high-quality rice, and to use more "intelligent" agricultural machines to improve production efficiency.
Zhu has three goals — to grow delicious, organic rice, develop her own brand, and increase the area of contracted land to 3,000 mu(200 hectares). In 2022, she vacated 100 mu(6.67 hectares) of land, on which she tried to plant a new, high-quality rice variety. She reaped a bumper harvest, with an average yield of 500 kilograms per mu. The rice smells good, and it is soft and tender. She sold the rice through WeChat, China's major instant-messaging app. Many of her customers placed repeat orders for the high-quality rice.
"I hope more and more young people, who master advanced agricultural knowledge and technologies, will return to the countryside, start their own agriculture-related businesses, and contribute to the country's rural revitalization," says Zhu.
Photos Supplied by Interviewee
(Women of China English Monthly September 2023 issue)
32.3KPlease understand that womenofchina.cn,a non-profit, information-communication website, cannot reach every writer before using articles and images. For copyright issues, please contact us by emailing: [email protected]. The articles published and opinions expressed on this website represent the opinions of writers and are not necessarily shared by womenofchina.cn.
Comments
Magazines
Projects
- 2023 Women Science and Technology Innovation Pioneer...
Photos
- People Enjoy Blooming Tulips in Jinan, East...
- Flowers Bloom Across China in Spring
Special Coverage
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Earthly Elements news portal”。http://indonesia.highlanderdistrict.org/article-93b599861.html
Related articles
Joe Rogan's 'brain
worldPopular podcaster and influencer Joe Rogan has been accused of cashing in on brain health supplement ...
【world】
Read moreMore human remains believed those of missing woman wash up on beach
worldSOUTH MILWAUKEE (AP) — More human remains, including a torso, that are believed to belong to a missi ...
【world】
Read moreDubai rain: Emirates again halts local flight check
worldDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Emirates said Friday it would again halt local ...
【world】
Read more
Popular articles
- Target starts price war with Walmart by slashing the cost of 5,000 popular items
- European Union official von der Leyen visits the Finland
- Chinese Grand Prix could deliver drama to F1 and slow Verstappen's victory march
- US vetoes UN resolution backing full UN membership for Palestine
- These hilarious notices will make you do a double take
- Ukraine starts building 2 modern units at Khmelnytskyi nuclear plant
Latest articles
Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia amid deadly unrest and indigenous frustration
Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but transgender sports rule still on hold
After Roe v Wade, alarms sound about emergency pregnancy care in U.S.
Scientists uncover missing link between junk food and cancer
Eleanor Tomlinson puts on a leggy display in sparkly black minidress as she joins co
Maurizio Cattalan, Zoe Soldana collaborate in iconoclastic Vatican exhibition inside women’s prison
LINKS
- Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce doing Coachella in style! They will be staying at a TOP luxury members
- Cristiano Ronaldo swaps red card rage for beach tranquility as Al
- 'The wheels have come off!': Steve McManaman delivers scathing assessment of Liverpool's dismal 3
- PLAYER RATINGS: Scores revealed for DIRE Liverpool stars who flopped in first leg against Atalanta
- Watch live: Labour leader Chris Hipkins speaks from Polyfest
- Man United legend Andy Cole accuses Mikel Arteta of 'mugging off' out
- Ellie Leach breaks down in tears over her cheating ex
- Tiger Woods heads out onto Augusta National course with Justin Thomas for another pre
- Is Phil Foden a shoo
- Government needs to 'step up' and support rainbow community amid protest