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Organic farm grows into successful business
By Xu Wenwen and Yu Ning |
March 21, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A group of graduates from Zhejiang University have hopped on board the environmental train and opened a business raising organic pigs. Demand has been strong and now they have expanded, growing organic apples and oranges. Xu Wenwen and Yu Ning report.
A group of Zhejiang University graduates have proven they are not afraid to get their hands dirty when it comes to work. The group of 30 graduates, plus one retired teacher, have decided to do something about the public's concern for food safety. They are raising organic pigs.
Pork is a staple food in China. The average price varies from 20 yuan (US$3.16) to 30 yuan per kilogram, while the organic pork produced by Nongbo Agriculture Company - formed by the graduates who have either a master's degree or PhD from Zhejiang University - costs more than 93 yuan per kilogram.
Despite the high cost, demand for the organic pork is high. The company sold 700 pigs last year and plans to raise 1,000 pigs this year.
The organic pork is labeled "no additives," "no antibiotics" and "no growth regulator."
Chen Guangjin, a biochemistry master's degree graduate, is a shareholder in Nongbo Agriculture and is responsible for biochemistry technology at the company.
"Food crises occur frequently in China, driving us to do something," Chen says.
Last year, "lean meat powder," a substance used illegally to stimulate muscle growth in pigs, was found in pigs in Henan Province, arousing widespread concern around the country.
Nongbo Agriculture now mainly sells organic pork although they are also producing organic fruit.
"Our core technology is the organic feed for pigs and fertilizer for fruits, these are the subjects we all specialized in," Chen says.
Initial idea
Organic pork refers to meat from pigs that eat organic food and live in an organic environment. It takes 300 days for a piglet to become an adult this way, twice as long as other pigs.
Organic pigs mainly eat organic corn grown in Heilongjiang Province, a place known for great soil for corn.
The pigs also get walked for two hours every day.
Organic fruit refers to fruit growing in an environment with little pollution and where no pesticides are used.
The initial idea to set up Nongbo Agriculture came from Tan Qiwen, a 68-year-old retired computer teacher at Zhejiang University. Tan discovered the business opportunity of organic food and started making speeches on campus to lobby students to invest in the venture.
Tan's speeches inspired several students, who joined the retired teacher to establish the company in 2009.
"We identified the demand, satisfied it and have reaped what we've sown," Tan tells Shanghai Daily, adding that their produce targets high-end customers and athletes.
None of the shareholders in Nongbo Agriculture are from a city.
Fang Qiao, a shareholder in the company with a master's degree in agricultural promotion, says: "Kids from the city seldom choose majors related to agriculture. But for those from a farmer's family, they know how diverse the market is and how fun the industry is."
Although the company's headquarters is in Hangzhou, its farm is in the mountains of Xianju, Zhejiang Province.
Beside advanced agriculture technology, the shareholders have also worked out a systematic management system and monitoring method.
Real-time video
Liu Wei, an IT specialist, is developing a system to record infomation such as production date and area so every piece of pork and fruit can be traced online by scanning a bar code.
He and his peers are also working on a monitoring network at the farm so everybody can watch real-time videos of the farm on the company's website.
The farm covers 670,000 square meters and currently raises pigs, and grows apples and oranges. The fruit is also costly, for example, an apple is priced at about 10 yuan.
So, can citizens afford it?
"I will buy one occasionally, but will not buy it daily due to the high cost," says 29-year-old Xu Dalu, a white-collar worker whose monthly salary is around 5,000 yuan.
Jiang Baozhen, a 58-year-old housewife, says: "Organic food only works when people keep eating it all the time. Since I cannot afford it all the time, I would rather not buy it."
Liu says the price of organic produce is high due to the costs of making it. Once costs are reduced, prices will drop.
Other university graduates are not afraid to get their hands dirty either.
In 2008, Zhejiang University graduate Yang Xinwu developed a farm in Deqing County near Hangzhou, exclusively gardening dendrobium, a rare and beautiful flower species.
In Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, four university graduates, including one who quit a job with an annual income of 80,000 yuan, built an "Organic Vegetable Kingdom" in 2008.
Doctor Shi Yan, who graduated from Renmin University of China, has devoted herself to studying new farm management models at Earthrise Farm in Minnesota, USA.
Now, she is the ambassador of Public Nutrition and Development Center at the National Development and Reform Commission of China.
A group of Zhejiang University graduates have proven they are not afraid to get their hands dirty when it comes to work. The group of 30 graduates, plus one retired teacher, have decided to do something about the public's concern for food safety. They are raising organic pigs.
Pork is a staple food in China. The average price varies from 20 yuan (US$3.16) to 30 yuan per kilogram, while the organic pork produced by Nongbo Agriculture Company - formed by the graduates who have either a master's degree or PhD from Zhejiang University - costs more than 93 yuan per kilogram.
Despite the high cost, demand for the organic pork is high. The company sold 700 pigs last year and plans to raise 1,000 pigs this year.
The organic pork is labeled "no additives," "no antibiotics" and "no growth regulator."
Chen Guangjin, a biochemistry master's degree graduate, is a shareholder in Nongbo Agriculture and is responsible for biochemistry technology at the company.
"Food crises occur frequently in China, driving us to do something," Chen says.
Last year, "lean meat powder," a substance used illegally to stimulate muscle growth in pigs, was found in pigs in Henan Province, arousing widespread concern around the country.
Nongbo Agriculture now mainly sells organic pork although they are also producing organic fruit.
"Our core technology is the organic feed for pigs and fertilizer for fruits, these are the subjects we all specialized in," Chen says.
Initial idea
Organic pork refers to meat from pigs that eat organic food and live in an organic environment. It takes 300 days for a piglet to become an adult this way, twice as long as other pigs.
Organic pigs mainly eat organic corn grown in Heilongjiang Province, a place known for great soil for corn.
The pigs also get walked for two hours every day.
Organic fruit refers to fruit growing in an environment with little pollution and where no pesticides are used.
The initial idea to set up Nongbo Agriculture came from Tan Qiwen, a 68-year-old retired computer teacher at Zhejiang University. Tan discovered the business opportunity of organic food and started making speeches on campus to lobby students to invest in the venture.
Tan's speeches inspired several students, who joined the retired teacher to establish the company in 2009.
"We identified the demand, satisfied it and have reaped what we've sown," Tan tells Shanghai Daily, adding that their produce targets high-end customers and athletes.
None of the shareholders in Nongbo Agriculture are from a city.
Fang Qiao, a shareholder in the company with a master's degree in agricultural promotion, says: "Kids from the city seldom choose majors related to agriculture. But for those from a farmer's family, they know how diverse the market is and how fun the industry is."
Although the company's headquarters is in Hangzhou, its farm is in the mountains of Xianju, Zhejiang Province.
Beside advanced agriculture technology, the shareholders have also worked out a systematic management system and monitoring method.
Real-time video
Liu Wei, an IT specialist, is developing a system to record infomation such as production date and area so every piece of pork and fruit can be traced online by scanning a bar code.
He and his peers are also working on a monitoring network at the farm so everybody can watch real-time videos of the farm on the company's website.
The farm covers 670,000 square meters and currently raises pigs, and grows apples and oranges. The fruit is also costly, for example, an apple is priced at about 10 yuan.
So, can citizens afford it?
"I will buy one occasionally, but will not buy it daily due to the high cost," says 29-year-old Xu Dalu, a white-collar worker whose monthly salary is around 5,000 yuan.
Jiang Baozhen, a 58-year-old housewife, says: "Organic food only works when people keep eating it all the time. Since I cannot afford it all the time, I would rather not buy it."
Liu says the price of organic produce is high due to the costs of making it. Once costs are reduced, prices will drop.
Other university graduates are not afraid to get their hands dirty either.
In 2008, Zhejiang University graduate Yang Xinwu developed a farm in Deqing County near Hangzhou, exclusively gardening dendrobium, a rare and beautiful flower species.
In Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, four university graduates, including one who quit a job with an annual income of 80,000 yuan, built an "Organic Vegetable Kingdom" in 2008.
Doctor Shi Yan, who graduated from Renmin University of China, has devoted herself to studying new farm management models at Earthrise Farm in Minnesota, USA.
Now, she is the ambassador of Public Nutrition and Development Center at the National Development and Reform Commission of China.
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