On April 10, Zhao Jianbo, a post-1995 villager in Hexing Village, Zifu Town, Ningxiang City, got up early and went straight to the nursery fields to transplant  seedlings.

"By growing rice alone last year, the farm made a profit of 350,000 yuan. This year, we have increased the leased farmland to over 700 mu (about 46.67 hectares), including over 500 mu (about 33.33 hectares) of double-cropped rice and over 200 mu (about 13.33 hectares) of regenerated rice. We expect our net income to exceed 450,000 yuan," he said.
 
A car salesman turns into a new farmer

Zifu Town is a major grain-producing area in Ningxiang City, with a total of 91 large planters operating on 16,500 mu of leased land. Additionally, the town boasts 13 agricultural machinery cooperatives, making it a leader in terms of both the number of cooperatives and agricultural machinery in the city.

Zhao Jianbo's father, Zhao Hongbing, is a well-known local farmer who leases hundreds of mu of farmland each year and was named the city's grain production master in 2022.
 
Zhao Jianbo, born in 1998, graduated from college and worked as a car salesman in Zhuzhou City, but returned home in 2019 to join his father on the farm and establish the Hong'ai Family Farm in Zifu Town.

Technology helps increase production

Thanks to his flexibility and hard work, Zhao Jianbo has become the backbone of the family farm after attending various training programs. Currently, the farm has been recognized as a provincial-level demonstration family farm.

According to Zhao, the widespread use of agricultural drones, rice transplanters, cultivators and grain dryers has not only improved the efficiency of grain production, but also increased farmers' income.

"Government subsidies plus the profits from grain sales have led to considerable returns in recent years," Zhao said.

Taking 2022 as an example, after deducting the cost of seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, labor, and rent, plus government subsidies, he made a net profit of about 350,000 yuan from growing rice alone.