Before Xu Shang came, he naturally did his homework and learned about the geographical environment of Jiagoutun.
The terrain here can only be described in four words.
Easy to defend and difficult to attack!
This ditch has a very rugged path that goes through the mountains. Imagine that in ancient times, it would definitely be feasible to use this path to launch a "Ziwu Valley surprise attack".
But it is a bit troublesome now. Cars cannot drive in, and the maximum path can only allow donkey carts to pass.
So poor, very poor!
Even poorer than the former Tianya Village!
Most of the houses in the village are thatched houses or bamboo stilt houses. Some of the houses have been abandoned for who knows how long. The adobe walls have turned reddish-brown and are covered with colorful flowers.
The only bright and beautiful thing in the village is the ancestral temple.
It is like the glory that has not faded in the past six hundred years.
Chairman Xu did not feel any more sad, but started working directly and came to the largest vegetable field in the village.
"Sixth Uncle! The chairman is here!"
Chief Xu immediately called out to the old man who was tending vegetables in the vegetable field, and a gray-haired old man hurried over. Chief Xu had gone to great lengths to prepare for this meeting, and even went to the Tianya Village canteen to get a meal for Old Sixth Uncle.
It must be said that the lunch box strategy is really effective. The old man greeted Chairman Xiao Xu respectfully:
"Chairman! You are here!"
"Sixth Grandpa, you are so polite!"
Chairman Xiao Xu quickly and respectfully responded with "Grandpa", and then began to handle his business in a businesslike manner, examining whether this vegetable field could be directly incorporated into the Farmers' Alliance system.
After inspecting the vegetable fields, Chairman Xiao Xu stopped in front of a celery field and asked:
"Sixth Grandpa, how much is the purchase price of celery here?"
"It's worth a lot when it's just listed because it's small. Now that everyone's crops are ripe, they're not worth much." The old man sighed and said, "There's no road here. If I carry it outside and someone else buys it, I can get 7.6 cents per pound."
"How many?"
"7 points 6."
Chairman Xiao Xu then looked at the reserve manager of Tianya Food Store who was traveling with him and asked, "What is the price of celery that we use in the provincial capital now?
"We are now selling at 6.8 cents per pound, compared to less than 5 cents before."
So, the purchase price of this land is less than a fraction of the price he used?
The store manager explained: "It's like this. Although the purchase price at the farm is very low, the cost of transportation is more than 0.1 yuan per pound, and the cost of storage in the cold storage is more than 0.1 yuan. The dealers also have to make more than 0.1 yuan. When it comes to us, this is the price."
Xu Shang nodded, this made perfect sense.
If we go a step further and send it to a large supermarket in the provincial capital, the celery special price today is only 0.99 yuan.
That is to say, city dwellers have never understood this. Not to mention in 2006, even a dozen years later, it was not uncommon to see vegetables purchased from the farm at a few cents per pound. Of course, citizens would definitely not pay this price.
Vegetable logistics, cold storage, and store rental are the big expenses, and the most important thing is that the middlemen also have to make money.
This makes perfect sense! That is—
Very awkward.
Because in the entire process, the producers who spend the most time and work the hardest get the least.
We are the nation that loves to grow vegetables the most and consume the most vegetables per capita in the world, which is a good thing.
In fact, if you look at most developed countries in the world, you can find one surprising thing - vegetables are more expensive than meat, eating meat is very cheap, but it is difficult to eat vegetables.
Not to mention far away, just look at the people next door and the Koreans, their vegetables are much more difficult to come by than ours.
But why can't vegetable farmers make money...it's still the same question.
If you don't grow vegetables, there are people who do.
The ancients said——
"Expensive grain makes farmers hungry, cheap grain hurts farmers," is exactly what Ye Shengtao said in his poem "Three or Five More Bushels of Grain."
So, is there really no cost?
Of course not!
All the gifts from fate have already been secretly marked with a price, and in the long run -
There are fewer and fewer people making the cake, but more and more people sharing the cake.
The piece of cake that everyone can share is getting smaller and smaller, and the amount of cake that can be shared is getting less and less.
No one will feel happy or not anxious as they watch the amount of cake on hand getting smaller day by day. Over time, everyone will feel that life is hard or even painful.
Xu Shang patted the dirt off his hands and said, "If there is no problem with your batch of vegetables, the Farmers' Alliance will buy them all. But the price is the same as others. Are you willing to accept it?"
Xu Shang did not raise the price.
Because there must be a reason for raising the price!
You can never be wishful thinking when doing business, especially if you want to ensure long-term sustainability!
If we want farmers to make more money, we have to do it based on some feasible principles. Subsidizing farmers out of kindness is definitely not a long-term solution.
But even so, the old man was very happy.
Due to inconvenient transportation, he often has trouble selling his vegetables.
Making money is secondary. The old man can't bear to see food go to waste, so he carries the food on his shoulders and delivers it door to door in the village. It's great that Principal Xu is willing to accept it all.
After discussing the ownership of this vegetable patch, Chairman Xu began to discuss the merger into the Farmers’ Alliance.
Expert Xu did not hold back and spoke bluntly:
"To be honest, you guys really take good care of these vegetables, but the quality is basically average!"
"If you want to make money, this won't work!"
"The Farmers' Alliance is always willing to purchase higher quality vegetables at a higher price, but to be honest, I don't have that strong desire to purchase low-quality vegetables. Either don't do it, or do it better!"
The old man, who had been a farmer all his life, asked nervously, "Chairman, what is the difference between me and you?"
"In many places, the quality, presentation and other aspects are all average!"
"But I came here this time just to solve this problem!"
Expert Xu briefly explained the plan of the Farmers’ Alliance. Although he tried to be brief, he still talked for quite a while.
Brief summary:
It means selecting better quality seeds; using more reasonable planting plans, such as companion planting and vegetable rotation; adjusting fertilizer ratios based on soil test results; and planting high-profit vegetables.
Take tomatoes for example. Most people think that tomatoes nowadays are not delicious.
That's right.
Because the mainstream tomato varieties have changed a lot, the current varieties are easier to transport and have a longer shelf life. They are picked when they are as green as bananas, and then ripened with ethylene after being transported.
This is definitely not as tasty as the previous quality.
But Xu Shang mainly does catering rather than selling in the vegetable market. He does not care about the appearance but more about how delicious the vegetables are, so he allows villagers to grow more delicious vegetables that have high transportation losses and short shelf life.
He also doesn't mind offering a higher purchase price for it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
