Farming shakeup is magnet for migrants
Village sees influx of workers after Party chief’s reforms boost incomes
Most villages in rural China have experienced an exodus of young people over the past two decades — but Daicun in Linyi, Shandong province, has seen an influx of migrants keen to benefit from its development.
“As Daicun gets richer and the lives of residents have improve, the village is becoming an increasingly attractive place to live,” said Wang Chuanxi, the village Party chief, who locals say is the prime mover behind the phenomenon.
Before being elected Party chief in 1999, Wang was a project manager at a construction company in nearby Lanling county.
He said his wife strongly opposed his decision to quit his previous job — which paid him a salary of 500,000 yuan ($77,700) a year — and head the village for almost nothing at the time.
“But I really wanted to lead the impoverished people in the village, to help them enjoy well-to-do lives,” the 50-yearold Wang said.
To begin with, the newly elected Party chief — together with other village cadres — conducted research into the problems faced by the village. They found that collectively owned, loss-making businesses, widespread debt and environmental degradation were the major issues that needed to be confronted.
Wang strengthened management of businesses that had potential for profitability and drafted a debt repayment plan of more than 3.8 million yuan.
In just two years, Daicun was out of the red and back in the black, and had improved infrastructure and environment. The river running through the village used to be silted up and fetid, but due to the efforts of the new leadership, the river became a point of pride for Daicun.
Wang learned from experts that large-scale agriculture could further boost development. So in 2005, Daicun rented 173 hectares of land from farmers and the effect was “obvious”, he said.
Villagers now get money from contracts and are liberated from toiling on the land. Some were hired to run large farms, others launched businesses or found jobs in the service sector in nearby towns.
Daicun soon set its expansionist sights on five villages and by 2007, the land under Daicun’s management surpassed 667 hectares, which laid a foundation for further development.
“Large-scale farming is the first step to modern agriculture,” Wang said.
Also in 2005, Daicun turned to experts from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for help. The experts divided the villages into sundry functional sections including those designated for planting, raising livestock, manufacturing, commerce, and green agriculture and horticulture.
The Party chief believed Daicun could achieve more than just success in modern agriculture. Wang invited tourism development experts from Shandong to make the best of Daicun’s natural resources.
In 2012, the Ministry of Agriculture and the China National Tourism Administration established the Lanling National Agricultural Park in Daicun, the first of its kind in China. It has sections for agritech display, produce picking experiences and holiday activities.
The park receives more than 1 million visitors a year and provides over 200 training sessions for farmers to teach them the best practices of modern farming.
Villagers are the ultimate beneficiaries of the reforms. Daicun provides scholarships ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 yuan to students of all ages. Seniors also receive cash rewards each year after they turn 80 to celebrate their longevity.
All Daicun farmers have moved into 65 apartment blocks with modern facilities that were built on previous residential sites, which means no farmland was used.
Long Zhijiang, 60, a resident from Daicun who conceded that he was originally skeptical of Wang’s reforms, said the transformation seen during the past two decades would be unimaginable without the Party chief’s foresight and determination.
Now Wang is aiming even higher. “Daicun has many industries related to agriculture, but it hasn’t tapped into the high-tech sector,” he said. “I hope to see an even better Daicun in a decade.”