Innovative farmer turns ideas into reality

Over the past 15 years, Jin Taixu has been spending most of his time researching and developing agricultural machines and in the process has obtained 12 patents at the national level.

Born into an impoverished family in 1960 in Longsheng village of Yanji, Jilin province, Jin began to do farm work after graduation from high school to relieve the burden on his family.

In 1992, he traveled to Russia to seek more opportunities and earn more money. He took jobs including small commodity trading. When he returned to his family in 1998, he found that some residents, especially the older ones, worked on farms, while most young adults went to work in urban areas.

"I felt a pang of bitterness," he said. "At that time, I got an idea of inventing an advanced and practical rice transplanter that could reduce labor."

He decided to stay in his hometown and do something to help his fellow villagers rise out of poverty. However, from the beginning, he encountered difficulties, starting with his lack of theoretical knowledge.

"I had no college study experience, so I had to practice and revise prototypes over and over again," he said. "Because I had little money, I could only purchase materials at flea markets."

In a small workshop, he cut pieces of wood and iron plates and assembled them.

"It was common for me to work until midnight, and sometimes I could only sleep three hours," he said.

In the spring of 1999, he completed his first hand-made rice transplanter, most of which was made of wood — two wheels, a rice seedling box and a seedling sending mechanism.

The machine successfully achieved Jin's goal of reducing time and labor, with an efficiency equivalent to that of three farmers working as a team.

With the support of his family, he applied for a national patent in February 2001.

To promote the use of his machine and serve more farmers, Jin took his patent certificate to local government departments, where it drew great interest. Jin began to receive lots of visitors at his workshop for studying and cooperation, which enhanced his confidence.

In 2012, he established his agricultural machinery company and began to produce equipment in 2016.

During this period, he upgraded his rice transplanter to metal, which was more efficient and could reach a 99 percent success rate. He also came up with other innovations, including sowers and fertilizer distributors that can work on dry farmland. Currently, many farmers in his village and nearby ones have chosen Jin's machines.

"Only by turning my inventions into machines can I help the farmers reduce their burden of heavy manual labor," he said. "Although I haven't received a large number of orders, the users' recognition is a great encouragement for me to continue my research."