Early in the morning, in a greenhouse on the Pamir Plateau of Xinjiang, two tanned farmers, one bent over and the other squatting, began to prepare for planting: pouring a bag of substrate into the white substrate tank, using their bare hands Crush, pave, and then move the place to another trough...
Two doctors are making preparations for planting
These two are actually not farmers. They are from Internet technology companies in first-tier cities. One has rich scientific research experience. One is a doctor of agricultural sciences, and one is a "post-90s" doctor of agricultural economics. From white-collar workers at large Internet companies to "greenhouse farmers" in Kashgar, let's take a look at the farming life of "doctoral brothers" Shi Leigang and Cheng Zenan.
01For the land of Kashgar, they changed their life trajectory
How do the doctors from big factories go to Kashgar to do farm work? It turned out that the laboratory the two worked in was a specialized team exploring ways to help rural revitalization.
Kashgar is rich in light and heat resources, but relatively short of water and land resources, so it is particularly suitable for the development of facility agriculture. Therefore, their laboratory collaborated with co-creation partners such as top domestic agricultural research institutions to design a set of systematic innovative solutions, including intelligently transforming local "earth greenhouses", building Chinese-style high-efficiency greenhouses, and achieving environmental control, temperature and humidity regulation , water and fertilizer integration to explore a path to promote sustainable rural development. If the pilot demonstration is successful, it can be replicated and promoted in other regions across the country.
Such exploration has also caused great changes in the life trajectory of the "Doctor Brothers". Cheng Zenan, a "post-90s generation", studied agricultural economics. Many of his classmates changed careers, but he has always wanted to find solutions to promote rural development in the agricultural field. Shi Leigang, a doctor of agriculture, has many years of experience in Internet technology. At the age of 40, he decided to return to the countryside and start a new digital exploration in the fields.
Cheng Zenan (left) and Shi Leigang (right), senior project managers of "Tencent SSV Village Development Laboratory", take a group photo in a greenhouse in Kashgar, Xinjiang
02When technology empowers fields, soil greenhouses are no longer "soil"
We must start from "zero" "In the beginning, it was not easy to use new methods to grow crops in Kashgar.
After doing preliminary research, "Doctor Brothers" selected 20 local greenhouses as demonstration sites for the first phase. Everything was ready, but when they went to communicate with local growers about their planting intentions, the effect was not very good. It turns out that the local growers are older and have limited knowledge of technology. It is difficult for them to understand the terms "informatization" and "intelligence" alone.
"No matter how nice your words are, no matter how advanced the technology you provide, if you don't get to the front line and let the people see the real thing, you will definitely not be recognized." So, the "Doctor Brothers" went to the greenhouses in Kashgar, and based on the farmers' Based on their growing experience and acceptance, we selected several varieties of cucumbers, watermelons, and cherry tomatoes, and began to transform them with the growers step by step.
A few months have passed, and the earthen greenhouse is no longer "earthly".
Digitally transformed greenhouse demonstration site
Originally, rolling quilts on the roof of the shed was entirely manual, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. With the digital applet, remote automatic take-off and landing of quilts can be realized.
When growing vegetables in a greenhouse, you would normally irrigate and fertilize once a day or two, but with digital tools, you can set the time, dosage and frequency of water and fertilizer management, making the control more precise and effective.
The greenhouse is also equipped with remote cameras to monitor pests and diseases, and agricultural experts can provide remote guidance at any time.
03 Seeing is believing, New Bentou reached a "reconciliation" with the older generation of farmers
The hand-by-hand companionship of two "outsiders" and the blessing of seeing is believing through high-tech means began to change the attitude of the farmers.
Now, everyone is highly motivated and comes to work in the greenhouse early every morning. The environment in the greenhouse is also different. After a day's work, everyone will clean the greenhouse before leaving. After transplanting the cucumber seedlings, the farmers took the initiative to carry water tanks and water the greenhouses, treating the greenhouses as their own homes. Seeing the cucumber sprouts sprouting in the substrate tank, the farmers smiled brightly and said to Shi Leigang: "I trust you, I will do whatever you say."
There have been welcome changes in the greenhouse, and there is a new direction in life.Two young people in the village have become "good hands" in using digital tools through training. They said that they have the modern agriculture of their dreams right in front of them, and they will be able to use it even more in the future. Several elderly people in their 60s said they never expected that they could continue to work and earn money at home and felt that they were more valuable.
04Tomatoes are blooming, cucumbers are harvesting, this is the meaning of hard work
Looking back on the past, Cheng Zenan can't help but sigh: "Rural development requires more people to come back, and everyone works together down-to-earth, so that agriculture will have a more promising future and the countryside will have more potential. ." When everyone works together, the endogenous motivation of villagers is mobilized, and they are willing to use new technologies to improve agriculture, which is truly good feedback on sustainable social value innovation in rural areas.
"What is the criterion for developing agriculture? The common people can benefit. I hope that together we can embark on a path to digitally transform traditional agriculture so that more farmers can live better. I have some experience accumulated in Internet technology and can better Serving agriculture is my original intention and responsibility," Shi Leigang said.
In September, in this promising greenhouse in Kashgar, watermelons and tomatoes are blooming one after another, and the first crop of cucumbers has been harvested. In the past few days, a villager picked 300 kilograms of cucumbers in his greenhouse and sold them for more than 2,000 yuan. The cucumber picking cycle is expected to last more than 70 days, and everyone can earn more income in the future.
In the digitally transformed greenhouse in Kashgar, Xinjiang, the "Doctor Brothers" led local farmers to plant a bumper harvest of cucumbers
In the 2023 "Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival", the "Doctor Brothers" brought a modern harvest to the local area.
