Jiang Gaoming has an inherent respect for the laws of nature. He utilizes natural forces to restore balance to the agricultural ecology, under the principle of maximum ecological effect with minimum waste. The farm’s name “Hongyi” appears in The Analects of Confucius: It denotes, “An educated gentleman [who] cannot but be resolute and broad-minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course.” Hongyi means “resolute and broad-minded.” Jiang grew up in the countryside. Having attended school for many years, he is now an ecologist.

Established in July of 2006 in Jiang’s hometown, Hongyi Eco-Farm covers 150 mu (15 mu = 1 hectare). It was initially a test base for research, but after maturation of the ecological organic mode and snowballing development, it now has more than 20 branch farms nationwide. Its supply of organic agricultural products nevertheless falls short of demand.

Jiang Gaoming leased his farmland from the village. Local farmers were only willing to rent him barren, rather than what they regarded as good farmland. But even the latter smelt to Jiang Gaoming of latent death, as it was saturated in chemical pesticide. During the periods farmers sprayed their crops they stayed at home till the smell dispersed. The pesticide killed both beneficial and harmful insects, and some developed a resistance to it. Taken as a whole, spraying crops seriously damaged the food chain’s natural balance.

To local farmers, weeding is a troublesome, time-consuming business. Although aware that herbicide is harmful to humans as well as to soil, they use it nevertheless, as it costs just RMB 36 to spray one hectare. Hongyi Eco-Farm practices manual weeding, and contracts this work out to experienced farmers for good wages. The cost works out to around RMB 360 per hectare. This has strong appeal for local seasoned farmers, who take just one day to weed a mu of land. Weeds are consequently diminishing as their provenance dwindles.

Besides weeding, the farm needs also to contain grass seeds that blow in from outside. “We have installed isolation belts, including shrubs, arbors and perennial grass lawns. This inhibits grass seeds blowing in from outside,” Professor Jiang Gaoming said.

The farm has successfully eradicated harmful insects, which are generally nocturnal, by installing a lamp that lures and kills them. “Catching one pair in the spring is equivalent to killing hundreds or even a thousand insects in the autumn. Harmful insects having become fewer, they have more natural enemies, birds in particular, so we’ve so resolved this problem,” Jiang Gaoming said. One night, he reaped five kilograms of beetle exoskeletons – prime chicken feed that also signified the non-birth of 200,000 harmful insects.

“I found that farmers had been felling trees growing in their fields to prevent their, rather than crops’, absorption of sunlight in the photosynthesis process. But such losses amount to less than five kilograms of grain. So we’ve planted trees again, and the birds that help protect crops have come back. As this has increased the yield of grain by more than five kilos, we’ve created a stretch of bird wetland,” Jiang Gaoming said.

Reeds grow in the wetland, so both dragonflies and birds have returned. “We’ve set aside a stretch of land purely for nature. It’s beautiful, if not economically efficient, and farmers appreciate being able to take a rest in the cool shade. If we can get more land, I hope to set aside one-tenth for greening, so that the farm has flowers, shrubs, arbors, and wetland. This could attract tourists,” Jiang Gaoming said.

Straw Equals Meat

The farm has an independent research laboratory where a dozen or more researchers work in rotation. They conduct research on organic cultivation techniques that produce high-yield, quality products, use of organic feed to fatten cattle, and in-depth development of clean energy. They also carry out greenhouse gas sequestration.

In the nearby ox stall, 200 beef cattle munch straw and more than a dozen pigs scoff organic feed. Scientifically processed straw is the raw material for both. Eighty percent of the cattle feed is straw and 30 percent of the pig feed is roughage, of which straw constitutes 70 percent.

The direct accumulation of crop straw or compost is an effective way of increasing soil fertility. Owing to high labor costs, only 40 percent of straw is treated in this way in China. It is instead mainly burnt, which causes serious air pollution.

To utilize straw effectively, Jiang Gaoming and his research team built a 500-ton storage capacity silage pool. Fresh maize straw is crushed and placed in the pool and biological bacteria added. When thoroughly decomposed, it is used as cattle and pig feed. Known as “bread forage,” this feed plus one kilo of concentrated corn, bran and soybeans can add 300 kilograms to the weight of one cow within 10 months. Every seven kilos of straw is thus equivalent to one kilo of beef.

Cattle and pig manure is used to make mature compost, which tractors transport to grain-producing areas and add to the soil. After years of organic fertilization, the soil is extremely fertile. Such land makes up 80 percent of the grain-producing area. The per mu yield of corn and wheat can reach 600 kilograms, as compared to the 300 to 400 kilograms that land using chemical fertilizers produces. “The nutrition in the soil mainly comes from the concentrated feed in the manure that the animals do not absorb,” Jiang Gaoming said.

Surplus organic fertilizer is used to produce methane, so providing villagers with clean fuel. Any other leftovers are used to breed earthworms and yellow mealworms that small-bodied chickens feed on, so producing chicken meat and eggs. Almost 100 chickens run randomly in the five-mu apple orchard.

Harmonious Coexistence

Hongyi Eco-Farm has thus achieved a virtuous circle of “low input, high yield, and zero emissions.”

Labor input makes up 80 percent, and that of machinery and fuel oil 20 percent. “Human power is also a biological force, and is environmentally friendly,” Jiang Gaoming said.

The price of wheat flour is five times that of the standard product. “The high price is due to more labor. But an able-bodied man needs only five yuan’s worth a day – less than the price of two packets of instant noodles. So it’s affordable for anyone earning a middle-income,” Jiang Gaoming said.

The farm has eliminated such pollutants as chemical fertilizer and plastic sheeting, and uses organic farming to carry out carbon dioxide sequestration in soil. “Although part of the carbon is released and absorbed by crops, by stepping up the use of organic fertilizers, we can effectively increase the soil’s carbon sequestration,” Jiang Gaoming said. The farm has arranged for researchers to conduct relevant studies, and the initial results are promising.

“To farmers, the farm increases employment. To urbanites, it supplies excellent agricultural products. The consumption of organic products has also enhanced environmental protection,” Professor Jiang Gaoming said.

At the end of 2013 the farm set up a Taobao store, its brand name “Liu-buyong” (non-usage of six unsustainable technologies – chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, plastic sheeting, additives and transgenosis). It deals in the staple grains of wheat and rice, miscellaneous cereals, meat, eggs, and vegetables. The green food’s texture, shape, and nutritional level differ considerably from supermarket products. Although Liubyong apples are priced at RMB 27.9 per kilo and millet at RMB 44 per kilo, the supply nevertheless falls short of demand. The Taobao store has 500 subscribers. Other than Tibet, its customers are from all around the country, although the majority live in the more developed areas. They include Jiang Gaoming, who spends more than RMB 20,000 per year on green food. This scientific phenomenon is thus now a brand.

The commercialization of agricultural products has benefited farmers. They do farm work and animal husbandry under a friendlier environment, enjoy the freshest organic food, and earn more. Statistics show that Shandong farmers’ net income is less than RMB 1,000 per mu for wheat/corn, plus watermelon or garlic under the modern agricultural mode, the Hongyi Eco-Farm organic farming income can reach RMB 5,000 per mu.

Jiang Gaoming has been an honest person since childhood. After joining the workforce, his propensity for telling the truth put him under considerable pressure. Active in academic circles, he has never forfeited this right.

After many years of research and practice in eco-agriculture, Jiang Gao-ming is convinced that organic agriculture is an effective way of resolving the agricultural ecological environment problem. However, Chinese law does not give due weight to the eco-compensation system. It hence lacks legal safeguards, which prejudices the popularization of organic agriculture. The government has begun implementing the eco-compensation system on grasslands, and enforcing protection of natural forests, which receive direct subsidies. But organic farming has yet to receive such support.

Jiang is nevertheless confident about the future of China’s eco-agriculture. The country now uses 1.8 billion mu of farmland to produce grain, but only one third is for humans; the larger portion is for animals. Since eco-farming uses less land and produces greater yields, it would take only 200 million mu of arable land to produce staple cereals sufficient for all Chinese people to enjoy eco-food. This land-saving, environmentally friendly agricultural development mode provides the basis for a healthy life and at the same time offers broad development space.