Mechanizationisimportantnotonlyforagriculturalproduction,butalsoforalleviationofdrudgeryandtheheavyworkloadonwomen,childrenandtheelderly.
WuWeihua,Professor,ChinaAgriculturalUniversity
ForWangXiuzhen,transplantingriceseedlingsalldayinthepastwastiringwork.ThepaddyfieldsbecameaplaceofpainfortheChinesewomanfarmerinher40s,causinghertosufferfromendlessbackproblemsanddreadeachwakingday.
Fortunatelywiththeadvancementoftechnology,Wangnowhastheuseofaspecializedmachinethatcantransplantriceseedlingsinpaddyfields.Wangandtheotherwomenfarmersintheareanolongersufferfrombackpainandsheisupbeataboutthefuture.“Wehavefreedourselvesfromthetediousworkofplantingpaddyfieldsbyhand,”shesaid.
“It’sveryefficient.Thepaddyplantercantransplantmorethan3mu(0.2hectares)offieldperhour,anditcantransplanttheseedlingquicklyrequiringonlyonepersontooperateit,”saidWang.
Mechanizationbenefits
Fiveyearsago,whileworkingoutsideofherhometown,Wangsawthericetransplantermachineforthefirsttime.Havinglearntthemachinecouldsavefarmers’considerabletimeandlabor,sheboughtoneandbegantouseittogrowriceinherhometowninTanzhuangVillage,ShangheTowninHuai’anCityofeastChina’sJiangsuProvince.
Shelearnthowtooperatethericetransplanteranduseditonherfamilyfields,whileassistingotherfarmers,savingbothtimeandlabor,increasingefficiencyandearningmoremoney.
ThetransplanterisjustoneofarangeofmethodsthatChinanowenjoysinitsincreasedmechanizationofgraincropsproduction.Onaverage,themechanizationratesofplantingandharvestingwheat,riceandcornhavereached91percent,55percentand56percentrespectively,accordingtoProfessorWuWeihuaatChinaAgriculturalUniversity.Inthecountry’smainwheatandriceproductionareas,themechanizationratesarehigher,headded.
AlongwithrapidurbanizationinChina,moreandmoreyoungmengotocitiesforwork,whilethewomen,elderlyandchildrentendtobeleftbehindtocareforfamilyfields.
“Mechanizationisimportantnotonlyforagriculturalproduction,butalsoforalleviationofdrudgeryandtheheavyworkloadonwomen,childrenandtheelderly,”saidWu.“Becauseitimprovesagriculturalproductivityandreducesthedependenceonlabor,whichequatestoanincreaseinlaborproductivity.”
NiYanye,50,awomanfarmerinDazhuyinVillage,LianyungangCityofJiangsuProvince,echoedWu’sidea.Shesaidmechanizationhasreducedmuchofherfarmingworkload.
Ni’shusbandworksinShandongProvinceandonlyreturnshomeduringtheChineseSpringFestival.Thankstotheuseofmachines,shecanmanagetogrowwheat,cornandpeanutsonherfamily’s5mu(around0.33hectares)oflandonherown.
“Ihadtoworkfortwoweeksnon-stoptoharvestwheatinthehotsummerdaysinthepast,butnowthewheatcombineharvestercandowheatcutting,threshingandseedcleaningatthesametimewithinonehour,”shetoldChinAfrica,addingthatfortheuseoftheharvester,sheonlypays80yuan($11.6)permu(0.067hectares).
“It’snotaspainstakingasbeforetogrowandharvestcrops.Withmachines,it’seasy,fastandefficient,”shesaid.“Afterusingthemachines,Ihavemuchmoretimetotakecareoftwochildrenanddootherthings.”
Shenotedthatfarmershadtopickcorncobsbyhandandclearupcornstrawinthepast.Butnowthecornharvestercandoalltheworkatthesametime.“Thesmashedcornstrawscatteredinthefieldisgoodfertilizer,”shesaid.
Skillsdevelopment
Toencouragemorefarmerstousericetransplanterstoincreaseefficiency,Tanzhuangvillageofficialsalsoorganizedtransplanteroperationtrainingprogramsonaregularbasis.
WangXiuzhenisnowawomanpioneerintheuseofnewfarmingtechniquesandmachinesinhervillage.FollowingWang’sexample,otherwomenfarmersbegantolearntousethemachine,andequipthemselveswithnewtechniquesandskills.WomenfarmersuseamachinetotransplantriceseedlingsXINHUALikeotherareasinChina,meninWang’svillagealsogotocitiestoworkandwomenfarmersshouldertheresponsibilitytocareforthefamilyfieldsandagriculturalproduction,accordingtoWang.Inaddition,theyalsotaketheinitiativetolearnnewtechniquesandupgradetheirskillstobecomefarmingexperts.
“AslongasIhavetime,Itakepartinthefarmingmechanizationtrainingprograms,fromraisingseedlingstotransplantingthem,andfromusingtransplanters,harvesterstomachinerepairandmaintenance,”saidWang.
LuoYan,42,awomanfarmerinLiuyuVillage,KaiyangCountyinsouthwestChina’sGuizhouProvince,iscontentwithherlife,notonlybecauseshelearnttheskillsofgrowingsnakegourdsandmademoney,butalsobecauseshetaughtotherwomeninhervillagetheskillsandhelpedthemliveabetterlife.
In2015,shegrew1mu(0.067hectares)ofsnakegourdsandearned30,000yuan($4,348),whilelastyearsheexpandedthelandto3mu(0.2hectares)andearnedatotalincomeofaround100,000yuan($14,493).
Acoupleofwomenfarmersinhervillageworkwithhertogrowsnakegourds.“Iworked20dayseverymonthandearned1,600yuan($232).Iearnedmorethanmysonwhoisworkinginthecity,”saidHuangShibi,awomanfarmerwhoworkswithLuo.“Igrowcrops,makemoney,andalsotakecareofmygrandchildren,”shesaidproudly.
“Today,inruralareas,womenfarmershavebecomethemainforceofcropproduction,thereforetoenhancetheirfarmingskillsandincreasetheirknowledgeisapriority,”saidXuJing,DeputyHeadoftheLiuyuVillagers’Committee.
LikeLuo,therearemorethan100suchwomenfarmerswhobecamewelloffthroughlearningnewskillsandhardwork,thankstotheestablishmentofWomen’sHomeinthevillagebythegovernmentin2012.Sincethen,ithasbecomeatrainingandskillsdevelopmentcenterforlocalwomenfarmers.
Techniciansandfarmingexpertsareinvitedtoprovidetrainingcoursesregularly,whilefieldvisitsareorganizedtootherplacesforwomenfarmerstolearnadvancedagriculturaltechnologyandpractices.Thishashelpedincreasetheirknowledge.
“Everyyear,morethan1,000womenhaveparticipatedinthetrainingprograms,andtheiragriculturalproductionskillshavebeengreatlyimproved,”saidXu.
SupportedbyWomen’sHome,thevillagehasbuiltaproductionbaseofsnakegourdswithmorethan30womanfarmerson300mu(20hectares)ofland,generatinganannualproductionvalueofmorethan10millionyuan($1.45million).Inaddition,thevillagenowhasalsoestablishedseveralplantingbasesforvegetablesandfruitsincludingtomato,potato,chili,plumandstrawberry.
Commentsto
WomenfarmersdrycornsinthesunXINHUA