Green models powering up specialty farms

An eco-friendly dairy farm has recently become a hot spot for social media enthusiasts, attracting a large number of visitors and influencers and largely boosting sales through livestreaming promotions.

"Our green farm saw over 20,000 visitors during the Spring Festival holiday due to increased followers on social media platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou," said Liu Jianwei, deputy general manager of Shengsheng Dairy, adding that he has huge confidence in the company's production prospects going forward.

Through a green cycle model involving the use of manure for fertilization and grass planting for livestock feed, the company has tackled issues of pollution related to cow dung and straw burning. From its straw utilization alone, the farm generates nearly 6 million yuan ($829,422) in revenue each year, he said.

As a key enterprise in Pingle town, Luoyang, Henan province, the company boasts a daily processing capacity of up to 350 metric tons of dairy products.

"Our operations, from lighting and sanitation to grass cutting, feeding, milking and refrigeration, as well as the green circular development model, all rely on electricity, which makes ample and stable power supplies so critical," Liu said.

As heat stress can greatly disrupt or imbalance the thermal equilibrium in cows' bodies, leading to a significant drop in milk production and increased susceptibility to diseases, the prolonged hot weather last summer posed a significant challenge to dairy production, he added.

Now, thanks to the fully electrified and automated production processes, Shengsheng Dairy has managed to mitigate such challenges. The farm has installed 130 high-power fans in the holding area to keep the livestock comfortable, thus securing stable and safe production.

"Compared to traditional feeding methods, our capacity has doubled, ensuring both production efficiency and the freshness of milk products," Liu said.

Currently, the dairy company relies on four transformers totaling 2,190 kilovolt-amperes, which are strategically distributed across the breeding and milking areas.

Similarly, at a vegetable cultivation base in Heshangyang village in Changge, Henan, growers have also witnessed satisfying harvests due to stable power supplies.

Heshangyang's soil is highly conducive to the cultivation of cash crops. Rotating between onions, carrots and potatoes, the village took the lead at the end of 2020, guiding farmers to develop more than 220 hectares of land for carrot cultivation, with annual exports of more than 30,000 tons.

With reliable power supplies and high-quality services from local power suppliers, the collective income of the village has increased by about 300,000 yuan each year. The specialty crops have also benefited neighboring villagers, providing employment opportunities for over 2,000 people in nearby villages, said Yang Jingtao, Party head of Heshangyang.

"Thanks to the reliable electricity supplies, our irrigation needs were never disrupted last year. It was another year of bountiful harvests, with yields reaching over 8,000 kilograms per mu (0.06 hectare)," said Yang Tongqi, a contract farmer in the village.

As power grids serve as vital infrastructure in rural areas, the country is ramping up efforts to upgrade grid systems in rural areas and improve power supply resources to promote rural vitalization.

By 2025, the rural power grid structure will be stronger, with power supply capacity and quality steadily improved, said a guideline issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and two other departments in July.

The country has also put forward the goal of basically forming a safe, reliable and intelligent modern rural power grid system by 2035, providing strong support for rural vitalization and agricultural modernization, the document said.

"During the process of grain planting, processing and storage, the promotion and application of modern agricultural technologies such as drones, integrated watering and fertilizing equipment, and electric grain dryers all require strong support from the power grid," said Lu Man, chairwoman of Tianhe Ecological Agriculture Professional Cooperative in Jianhu county, Jiangsu province.

Lu said she hopes that local power suppliers will continue to intensify efforts to consolidate and enhance rural power grids, further improve rural electricity conditions and better meet the needs of agricultural and rural development.

Wang Weizhi, owner of 12 high-end greenhouses in Shanzhaolijia village in Yantai, East China's Shandong province, said cherry growing has led to a significant increase in local farmers' incomes. This year, the grower has harvested large cherries with a diameter of over 32 millimeters and sold them for a high price of 440 yuan per kilogram.

When asked about the secrets to success, Wang said the farmers use advanced technologies to strictly control temperatures, humidity and light intensity in the greenhouses.

"We provide the cherry trees with the most favorable growing environment. We keep the temperature difference at a 'golden 13 C' to make the cherries taste sweeter. The sugar content of our products is generally around 24 to 25 percent, with a maximum of up to 29 percent," he said.

Wang said all the fertilizers they use are organic and high-quality, and thereby the cherries have a great taste and are nutritionally complete.

The greenhouses can be divided into "cold greenhouses" and "warm greenhouses" based on their different locations and the natural lighting received. Cherries grown in "warm greenhouses" will be available for sale in early April, while the ripening time of "cold greenhouse" cherries can be adjusted in accordance with actual market demand.

Embarking on a new journey of rural vitalization, Wang and other local fruit farmers are well poised to further expand planting scale and improve the quality of their products, as well as to increase their brand awareness.

"Power supply companies are expected to integrate more intelligent energy elements into services based on the needs of agricultural modernization. This will help provide more scientific energy solutions for agricultural production and industrial development, actively guiding more people to save energy and utilize green energy in an efficient manner," said Du Gang, chairman of the Wudaohezi Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Cooperative in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, adding that he's looking forward to smarter and more efficient power supply services.