Lifestyles of new-generation farmers

An idyllic farm, rebuilt

For 18 years, Zhang Zhimin, a former foreign trade expert with a State-owned group, has since been building an idyllic Eden in the far southwestern end of Beijing to produce foods and preserve biodiversity at the same time.

Fluent in English, French and Spanish, Zhang worked in food imports and exports around the time when China opened its market to the world outside. She said she believes that "agriculture is an art of humanity and nature working together."

At her bio-farm, nature rules over humanity's caprice. Instead of eliminating weeds and pests, the wholesome biosphere works by itself to produce seasonal harvests.

"Agriculture is the management of life, and life should be nourished by life itself," she said. It is the philosophy of her farm, called Heaven's Blessings, where trees, bushes and grass grow into inseparable woods, and insects, birds and cattle coexist in harmony. It's more like a habitat than a farm.

Nature by itself is resistant to a variety of threats that can harm crops, she explained. In the face of pests, pollution and climate change, biodiversity makes the most effective defense.

For example, a certain type of weed can produce a substance that fends off pests that are potentially harmful to crops. Earthworms, a populous resident at the farm, help to digest and transform fallen leaves into organic matter that fertilizes the plants, as well as to loosen the soil.

"Humanity's only job is to observe, comprehend and follow nature's rules to manage our lives," Zhang said.

She explained that in early summer, she chops off the tender leaves and branches of the weed under the peach trees to feed the cattle, making room for the crops to thrive. In early autumn she lets the cows roam free to finish off the rest of the weeds.

Similar results have been observed in Wang's other vegetable shed, where its natural ecosystem has worked out perfectly for the harvest to be healthy while no intervention from the outside is necessary, he said.

"I have observed that the grass that grows among the crops functions as a regulating factor of the microclimate by keeping the soil humid," he said.

Then there are the whiteflies, hard to detect due to their miniscule size, they are usually controlled by insecticide. Here, the pest is kept in check by a native breed of spider that nests among the vegetables.

"Perhaps the wisdom based on thousands of years of working in harmony with nature could be the answer to the problems born in mass-scale modern agriculture," he suggested.

The market of trust

Over 200 small farmers and scholars attended a Farmers' Assembly held in China Agricultural University's College of Humanities and Development.

Participants came from all across the country, with the majority being highly educated with stable finances, who have returned to rural areas from city life, according to the organizers of the event - Beijing Organic Farmers' Market and Know Your Food, a self-publishing community focused on food sustainability.

Beijing Organic Farmers' Market is a local platform for individuals or small-sized collectives who adhere to the principle of organic, eco-friendly and sustainable farming, food processing and art crafting.

Since its launch in September 2010, it has become a regular event in the capital city and has taken place on more than 500 occasions.

"The Farmers' Market hopes to consolidate the mutual confidence between the small-holder peasants and consumers by establishing a participation guarantee system," said Chang Tianle, founder of the platform and also founding editor of Know Your Food.

Through the system, the farmers, artisan bakers, jewelers and other craftspeople who wish to have a booth at the fair must respect and commit to the established criteria of organic production, under the inspection and approval of the market administrators and a committee of existing members, scholars and related NGOs.

For the small-holder peasants and artisans, the Participation Guarantee System works where a third-party certification would be too heavy a burden to afford, while the consumers can rest assured of the organic nature of the products they purchase at the fair, said Chang.

"Going grocery shopping at the farmers' market, cooking at home and eating well, is a lifestyle of growing popularity," she said.

"Organic or ecological farming is an important measure to improve the quality and safety of agricultural products," said Meng Fanqiao, professor at CAU's College of Resources and Environmental Sciences.

"Organic or ecological farming is of vital significance for economic development as well as environmental protection in rural areas, for which it should play an imperative role in China's rural revitalization and the building of an ecological civilization," he noted.

The green development of the countryside is a strategy that goes hand-in-hand with food supply security and income level improvement, said Jin Shuqin with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Research Center for Rural Economy.

"Revivifying the ecosystem is a crucial aspect of overall rural revitalization," he said at the Peasants Assembly.

"It is our hope to promote healthy eating to become the mainstream choice, as well as the organic way to produce healthy foods," said Ma Xiaochao, project officer with Know Your Food.

"In the future, a healthy food-centered community will be built together by our small peasant friends, consumers, trade platforms, environmental NGOs and R & D institutes," she predicted.

Xinhua