Going online reaps rural rewards
Print Edition
Being a farmer in China no longer means eking out a living in a backward industry. Farmers nationwide are adopting new business practices made possible by the Internet, boosting earnings and modernizing the sector.
For Zhang Guoqin, growing crops sometimes simply needs a few clicks of a mouse.
In northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, he monitors his rice fields on computer. He uses a system of sensors and automatization which takes a lot of the toil and inefficiency out of his business. For example, his fields are irrigated automatically if sensors detect they need it.
“We are able to track the conditions of crops, assess nutrient levels and forecast disasters,” Zhang said.
Last month, the government unveiled an “Internet Plus” action plan targeted at integration of the Internet with traditional sectors to make them smarter and more efficient. Along with manufacturing, agriculture was at the top of the list.
Farming in China has been booming. This year’s summer grain output reached a record 141.07 million tons after 11 consecutive years of increases.
Though harvests are good, inefficient sales channels, a shrinking labor population and lack of access to loans have been squeezing farmers’ earnings and dragging down the rural economy.
In 2014, rural residents’ incomes rose 9.2 percent year on year to 10,489 yuan (US$1,720), less than half of that of urbanites, and 70.17 million rural Chinese earned less than 2,300 yuan a year, the official poverty line.
However, the Internet, especially mobile networks, have provided agriculture with a new vision. By the end of 2014, nearly 30 percent of China’s rural population was online.
E-commerce enables farmers to sell goods quickly, shop around for materials and obtain small loans more easily. The Internet has made intensive mechanized production achievable, boosted yields with fewer laborers and made agriculture greener and food safer.
Internet companies and e-commerce giants are thronging to take a bigger share of the agricultural pie.
Taobao.com, the online shopping platform, has launched an agricultural channel.
Its owner, Alibaba, also plans to invest 10 billion yuan in 100,000 service centers in Chinese villages to help train farmers in using the Internet.
“Following the new generation of farmers, online stores selling farm produce have witnessed explosive growth and e-commerce is reshaping the whole industry,” said Chi Fulin, director of the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development.
Beijing Tianchen Cloud Farm Co has developed Cloud Farm, an app designed as a one-stop shop for farming businesses.
It has amassed over a million registered users as it just requires a mobile phone and a SIM card, simplicity which is crucial in the countryside, where Internet infrastructure lags behind cities.
Han Guiyin, a farm owner in east China’s Shandong Province, uses Cloud Farm when he needs to source fertilizer or logistics services, apply for loans or get technical support.
However, analysts say more needs to be done to improve infrastructure and logistics in remote regions.
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