Embracing the Soil: My Journey into Agriculture
I had no farming background growing up. For years, my younger brother and I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, where our older brother ran a very successful business.Over the years, my older brother actively sought new business opportunities to diversify risk and drive growth. During this time, we also decided to return to our family home in a village in Shandong Province and renovate it. Then, in 2021, an opportunity arose to rent a 66 Ha agricultural plot from the village. My brother entered into an agreement with the village people, and that's how my younger brother and I became farmers.
Learning from Scratch
My brother really believed that food security would become a major issue of concern so we decided to cultivate corn and wheat as our primary crops. Starting a farming operation without prior experience was overwhelming. Initially, everything about farming was foreign to me, and I had to learn everything from scratch. We visited neighboring farms, consulted with local agronomists, and absorbed all the knowledge we could. Every day brought new lessons on the complexities of crop management and the delicate balance of soil health.
In 2023, my brother attended a lecture about the use of drip irrigation in corn cultivation and we decided to install a drip irrigation system on our farm. Given the high cost of our land lease, increasing yield was the only way to sustain our business model. I was cautious and more conservative and wanted to start small but my brother decided to take the full plunge and install drip irrigation across our entire plot. It turned out to be the right decision.
In the first season, our yield broke local records; one plot of over 10 Ha reached a yield of 16 Tons/Ha, and the average yield of our whole plot was 13.5 Tons/Ha. Our corn yield had significantly improved because we were no longer affected by the weather. We could fertilize and water any time we needed according to the corn’s growth cycle. This convinced me to firmly adopt Netafim's drip irrigation technology.
Farm Life - A Mixture of Joy and Challenges
My day starts at 6 AM. I gather the farm workers and assign them their tasks. Then I head to the fields. We have twenty-one plots, and I make sure to visit three or four of them each day. I check on the seedlings and the crops to make sure everything is in order. Then I go to the office to deal with paperwork, supplies, and machinery. Part of my day is spent at home, taking care of household duties. And then there are the visitors. Our farm was the first to adopt drip irrigation and is very successful, so quite often we have visitors, larger farm owners and government officials who come to learn about our business and operations.
There is something new each day. But what I love most about farming is the connection to the land. There's an unimaginable peace that comes from watching your crops grow, whilst nurturing the earth and seeing the tangible results of your labor. I enjoy walking through the fields because it allows me to see firsthand the condition of the soil I am cultivating and to immediately respond to problems that I encounter in the field.
A Vision for the Future
After two years of planting, I now have a solid understanding of how to manage my land. Under normal circumstances, in 70-80% of cases, I don’t need to rely on others. I know each step of the process from planting to harvest and have accumulated a lot of experience. However, I am still looking to improve yield and quality, and continue collaborating with Netafim to enhance our operations.