It is recorded in the "Historical Records": "Agriculture, the foundation of the world, is the most important", which means that agriculture is the foundation of the world, and there is nothing more important than it.
To this day, agriculture is still the foundation of the mainland. The Third Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee not long ago put forward for the first time "improving the support system for strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and rich peasants," and at the same time pointed out that there are problems such as low efficiency in agricultural operations, difficulties in increasing peasants' incomes and getting rich, and lagging behind in the development of rural construction. It can be seen that the state has higher requirements and plans for the "three rural" issues related to farmers, agriculture and rural areas.
How to achieve "strong agriculture and benefit farmers and rich farmers"? The state mentioned that industrial revitalization is the top priority of rural revitalization. There is an old saying that "it is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish", and using innovative industrial models to promote the circular growth of the rural economy is a more effective and sustainable way to help agriculture.
In this path, private enterprises are an indispensable force. Because private enterprises are distributed in all walks of life, and the market is responsive and the decision-making mechanism is flexible, they can bring market-oriented economic awareness, innovative industrial models and diversified agricultural assistance mechanisms into rural areas.
The state has also proposed to improve the support system for strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and rich farmers, and it is necessary to adhere to the coordinated efforts of the government and the market to support private enterprises to participate in rural revitalization.
Among the agricultural assistance teams of private enterprises, Nongfu Spring's actions are particularly eye-catching.
In Hengzhou, Guangxi, Nongfu Spring is increasing the income of flower farmers through various measures and driving local prosperity through industrial upgrading. In the recent Guangxi jasmine feature broadcast by the CCTV Agriculture and Rural Channel documentary program "Gongfu Jing", the outside world can see these actions more intuitively.
Looking back, in the past two months, Nongfu Spring's actions to help farmers have received intensive attention from the official media. Previously, the programs "Economic Half Hour" and "Dialogue" told the story of Nongfu Spring in Jiangxi, southern Jiangxi and Xinjiang to increase farmers' income and promote industrial upgrading.
Why does the official media intensively report Nongfu Spring's story of helping farmers? "Yidian Finance" believes that the core lies in the fact that Nongfu Spring provides a value sample worthy of reference for serving the "Three Rurals", which can open up the ideas of private enterprises to help agriculture and inject fresh strength into the "Three Rurals".
Farmers' interests: the core of the "three rural" issues
Six out of every ten jasmine flowers in the world come from Hengzhou, Guangxi.
The jasmine planting area in Hengzhou, Guangxi is as high as 128,000 mu, and the total output of jasmine flowers accounts for more than 80% of China's total output and more than 60% of the world's total output, so it is also known as "the hometown of Chinese jasmine" and "the world's jasmine capital". In 2023, the output of jasmine flowers in Hengzhou will exceed 100,000 tons, and the comprehensive brand value of jasmine and jasmine tea will exceed 20 billion yuan this year, hitting a record high.
△ Hengzhou Jasmine, screenshot of the program "Common Wealth Sutra".
However, in contrast to the reputation of the "Jasmine Capital of the World", local flower farmers in Hengzhou have not earned enough income for a long time. They work hard to pick flowers under the scorching sun, but the average price of jasmine is less than 20 yuan per catty, and the market price fluctuates from time to time, and the income is often difficult to be proportional to the pay.
Such a problem is also mentioned in the story of Nongfu Spring's agricultural assistance reported by "Economic Half Hour" and "Dialogue". The planting area of navel oranges in southern Jiangxi Province ranks first in the world, but local fruit farmers are facing the dilemma of "bumper yields but not bumper harvests". Huocheng County in Yili is considered the "City of Apples", but the local modern apple cultivation base is almost nil, and it is difficult for fruit farmers to obtain a satisfactory income.
In fact, the three programs all pointed out the core of the "three rural" issues, that is, the interests of farmers.
Among the "three rural", farmers are the most active factor and are in a dominant position. The state has clearly pointed out that one of the key points in improving the support system for strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and rich peasants is to persistently protect the interests of peasants. If peasants' interests are effectively safeguarded and their incomes continue to grow, they will actively promote bumper agricultural harvests and rural stability.
Improving the interests of farmers is also the core idea of Nongfu Spring to help farmers.
It is mentioned in the program "Gongfujing" that in 2023, Nongfu Spring Chairman Zhong Sui and his party will come to Hengzhou. Seeing the extremely asymmetrical labor intensity and market prices of the local peasants, Zhong came up with the idea of preserving the peasants' basic income by giving full play to the price mechanism and using price means to lead the market to increase peasants' income. In Zhong's view, price is a mirror to measure whether it is good for farmers, and if farmers can't make money, everything is empty talk.
Shi Yonghui, chief engineer of Nongfu Spring Agricultural Products Division, also mentioned in the program "Gongfu Jing" that farmers must be allowed to see the increase in income and profits first, so that he can see hope and stabilize confidence.
This was also reflected in the first two episodes of the official media.
In July this year, the program "Economic Half Hour" told the story of Nongfu Spring in southern Jiangxi and Xinjiang to join farmers and sign contracts with cooperative farmers to purchase navel oranges and apples at higher prices than the market, transforming farmers from relying on the sky to relying on contracts to eat.
In August this year, in the program "Dialogue", Zhong Sui once again mentioned that "farmers are rich and China is strong" and "China has farmers who are the most contract-abiding spirit".
Many farmers are worried about the uncertainty of income, and Nongfu Spring tries to provide that certainty. How does it do it? The core practices are:
Industrial modernization.
A new model to break the old and create the new, and promote industrial modernization
Private enterprises need not only feelings and slogans to solve the "three rural" problems, but also hard work and wisdom.
More and more private enterprises have formed a consensus that the key to improving the interests of farmers lies in creating an innovative and high-quality industrial model, so that agricultural development can maximize benefits and develop in a virtuous cycle, and farmers' incomes can grow steadily for a long time. The state has also proposed to improve the promotion mechanism for the development of industries that enrich the people at the county level, promote the upgrading of the whole chain of rural industries, and cultivate new industries and new formats in rural areas.
In recent years, Hengzhou City has given various preferential policies to vigorously introduce jasmine tea processing enterprises to promote industrial upgrading. The arrival of a number of leading enterprises represented by Nongfu Spring and Zhang Yiyuan has brought new imagination to the local jasmine industry. Of course, how to create an innovative industrial model in accordance with the national plan and from itself is a test of their wisdom and ability.
In fact, the key lies in the fact that, on the one hand, private enterprises should combine with other enterprises to play a synergistic effect of "1+1>2" through their own advantages and the mechanism of linking agriculture with agriculture. After all, the flame will only be high when everyone gathers firewood. On the other hand, private enterprises should improve the efficiency of farmers' production through modern production equipment, processes and systems. Many peasants actually have enthusiasm for production, but the backward production methods have weakened their motivation.
Under the guidance of the general plan, there are many specific agricultural industry models for private enterprises. Nongfu Spring's model is to anchor the interests of farmers and increase their income by raising the price of jasmine. In order to achieve this in the long run, Nongfu Spring is gradually changing the traditional local production and organization forms and promoting the modernization of agriculture in the production areas.
Previously, many local flower farmers in Hengzhou were worried that there would be no market, and the jasmine they grew would not be able to be sold, and even if they could be sold, they were worried that the price would be too low and their income would be difficult to grow. If we can ensure the sales of flower farmers through large-scale procurement, we can undoubtedly dispel their worries and ensure the stability and growth of income.
For example, Nongfu Spring has cooperated with local enterprises such as Zhang Yiyuan to lay out upstream links such as the purchase of high-quality jasmine flowers. Up to now, it is reported that Nongfu Spring's annual purchase of jasmine flowers in Hengzhou exceeds 10% of the total annual output in Hengzhou, which has greatly stabilized the planting confidence and income confidence of flower farmers.
Of course, this kind of large-scale procurement is also very much in line with Nongfu Spring's own business. In recent years, Nongfu Spring's tea business segment has grown rapidly. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2024, the annual growth rate of Nongfu Spring Tea Beverage will exceed 40%, and the growth rate from 2022 to 2023 will reach 83.8%. The rapid growth of the tea business has pushed Nongfu Spring to further penetrate into the raw material end of tea beverages, which has also led to the rapid growth of its total jasmine procurement in Hengzhou.
With the increase in the total amount of purchases, the confidence of the Hengzhou jasmine market is also increasing, and the local jasmine price in Hengzhou is also increasing. In the summer of 2024, the average purchase price of local jasmine flowers in Hengzhou exceeded 50 yuan/kg, an increase of nearly 50% compared with 2023, and the average price in early August reached nearly 80 yuan/kg, while the average purchase price of local jasmine flowers last year was only less than half of this price, which allowed local flower farmers to directly see the increase in income.
The program "Gongfujing" mentioned that in the past, the price of local jasmine in Hengzhou was too low, dozens of catties of flowers could only be sold for 7 cents a catty, and 30 catties of flowers could only be sold for 21 yuan, and the monthly income was only more than 1,000 yuan, and most young people were reluctant to pick them. Now 40 catties of jasmine can be sold for about 1,500 yuan, and you can earn 20,000 yuan or 30,000 yuan a month. A flower farmer in the program also mentioned that after the price of jasmine increased, many people's houses were built and cars were bought, which did bring a lot of benefits.
△ Lei Pingping, Chairman of the Women's Federation of the Village Committee of Shijing Village, School Chair Town
In addition to improving the income of flower farmers in the procurement process, Nongfu Spring is also in the processing process to improve the quality of local jasmine. Because in the long run, if the quality is improved, the reputation of consumers will be good, the demand will increase, the flower farmers will have more orders, and the income can also be guaranteed.
For example, Nongfu Spring has penetrated into the upstream of the industry in Hengzhou, and promoted the upgrading of raw material quality and jasmine industry by participating in deep processing. Previously, Nongfu Spring set up a technical team in Hengzhou to participate in the deep processing of jasmine and study the technology of jasmine flowers. Later, Nongfu Spring and Zhang Yiyuan and other local enterprises cooperated in the processing of jasmine, and further established a local quality supervision system.
At every step from the beginning of the flowers entering the workshop, Nongfu Spring will have technicians to supervise the quality of raw materials and ensure the quality of raw materials in the upstream of the industry.
It can be said that from procurement to processing, Nongfu Spring and other enterprises have participated in all aspects of the Hengzhou jasmine industry chain, which will drive the modernization and upgrading of the entire industrial chain. It is reported that in the future, Nongfu Spring will also establish a dry tea processing base in Hengzhou to further penetrate the upstream of the industry and promote industrial upgrading.
In the view of "Yidian Finance", the biggest advantage of this model is that it can give full play to the leading role of Nongfu Spring's leading enterprises, revitalize the local unused idle resources, maximize the economic growth space, and form an effective "leverage effect".
In fact, in the previous official media "Economic Half Hour" and "Dialogue", they also told that Nongfu Spring had adopted a similar model of agricultural assistance in southern Jiangxi and Xinjiang.
For example, in 2007, Nongfufu Spring began to build an apple juice production factory in Huocheng County, Xinjiang, adopting a contract-based interest linkage mechanism, adjusting planting varieties, lowering technical thresholds, and cultivating technical teams to provide nanny services for farmers. In the navel orange industry in southern Gansu, Nongfu Spring not only buys fresh fruits from fruit farmers, but also helps them increase the value of their products through deep processing and high-quality routes, which ultimately increases the income of fruit farmers in both regions.
It can be said that Nongfu Spring's agricultural industry model has maximized the integration of individual farmers into the entire industrial chain, and opened up new ideas and provided new samples for private enterprises to serve the "three rural" areas.
The "Two Doctrines" Behind Nongfu Spring's Helping Farmers
Why does Nongfu Spring have these deep insights and innovative thinking in helping farmers, and can really make results? "A Little Finance" believes that it comes from two isms - realism and idealism.
1. Realism
Innovative thinking and models often come from in-depth practice and long-term trial and error.
In the "Dialogue" program, Zhong said frankly that it is the farmer's background that allows him to fulfill his responsibilities as the richest man in the agricultural field, "Elon · Musk's path is to create the boundaries of science and technology, but my experience is that of a farmer, and my experience will be more about thinking about farmers and doing what I can do within my knowledge." ”
△ Screenshot of the "Dialogue" program
Many private enterprises also have the enthusiasm to help farmers, but lack long-term practice in rural areas, and in the end "good intentions do bad things". For example, blindly promoting agricultural modernization and forcibly relying on burning money instead of technology to adjust the industrial structure. However, this kind of blindness and forcible behavior often undermines the law of local agricultural development and affects the operation of the economy.
With a background as a farmer, Zhong knows how to solve problems based on objective facts on the road of helping farmers. In the "Dialogue" program, he said that he should be in awe of agriculture, learn the laws of agriculture from scratch, and improve agricultural technology. With good agricultural products, we can have good goods.
For example, it is mentioned in the program "Gongfu Jing" that the jasmine tea making process is a local production method in Hengzhou that mixes jasmine with tea leaves and allows tea to absorb the aroma of jasmine, which is a practice of intangible cultural heritage. Shi Yonghui, chief engineer of Nongfu Spring's Agricultural Products Division, said that it should be inherited and carried forward. The jasmine flowers used in Nongfu Spring are the original flowers that were recovered in the afternoon, and the tea embryo is very delicate and fresh, and the effect is better after three times, and the flavor is softer and purer.
It can be said that this is a manifestation of reverence for agriculture and respect for the objective laws of agriculture.
2. Idealism
With realistic thinking alone and without the support of idealism, it is difficult for private enterprises to go long-term in helping farmers.
Because the road to helping farmers is full of difficulties, and investment may not yield immediate results, it is necessary to look beyond short-term interests and focus on long-term development idealism.
For example, in 2007, Nongfu Spring was stationed in southern Gan and began to study how to grow oranges. This was followed by a series of setbacks such as the wrong location of the Nongfu Spring factory, the wrong navel orange breeding, and the wrong introduction of the production line. As Zhong said, "The richness of life is stepped out one by one." These valuable "stepping on the pit" experience have also become the driving force for Zhong to continue to develop the navel orange industry in southern Gansu.
For the future, Zhong is also full of idealistic self-confidence: "Tea is actually very, very Chinese, a product with a Chinese soul. I want to use industrialization to organize the intensification of the peasants, so that tea can be popularized to thousands of households, (as) a very elegant civilization on the land of China, and spread to the world again! ”
In Nongfu Spring's realism and idealism, Yidian Caijing observes its deeper business philosophy - altruism. Kazuo Inamori, an entrepreneur who has passed away, is regarded by many as the "saint of management". As a business philosophy, he proposed "altruism" and influenced many enterprises:
Self-interest is life, and altruism is long.
It means that self-interest is instinct and altruism is wisdom.
To help farmers increase their income, promote the development of agricultural modernization, and help rural high-quality construction, Nongfu Spring practices "altruism". In turn, these altruistic actions will also improve Nongfu Spring's product quality and brand image, forming a benign "two-way rush".
This is also one of the biggest value revelations that the official media has reported on Nongfu Spring three times, bringing to the outside world.