1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 554 Township Finance and County Management (2)

As we all know, the supply of vegetables and non-staple foods in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou is not something you can supply just because you want it.

On the one hand, they need to have supply qualifications and supply indicators, just like the Xialiu Marketing Agency in the past. Even if their purple sweet potatoes were rare at the time, they could not enter the imperial capital market without supply qualifications and indicators.

On the other hand, it is a bit heartbreaking to say that the vegetables and non-staple foods circulated in these first-tier cities must undergo strict quality inspections - this standard is obviously much higher than the requirements of second- and third-tier cities. Many vegetables that can be circulated smoothly locally cannot even pass the first quality inspection procedure when they arrive there.

This is the case for ordinary first-tier cities, not to mention the two central cities of Beijing and Shanghai.

So the answer is obvious. Since Linyi County has been designated as a "production base for vegetable market access into Beijing", there is no problem with the qualifications of the vegetables produced to be supplied to the imperial capital market... Not only are there no problems with qualifications, there is even supply priority.

Under such circumstances, the cucumbers grown in Shahe Village, Yingkou Village, Lihe Village and other villages could not even get through the supply channels in the imperial capital. So there was only one possibility...the quality did not meet the standards, and it could basically be determined that the pesticide residues exceeded the standard.

This is not surprising.

From 1988 to the end of 1993, which was the first phase of the vegetable basket project, the focus was more on output. In addition, greenhouse technology had just begun to be widely used at that time. Therefore, under the guidance of the three ideas of facility-based (greenhouses), high productivity (new varieties) and scale (mass planting), excessive use of pesticides has always been a prominent problem.

Do you know why people like Liu Laogen secretly planted a large amount of cucumbers and broccoli without the knowledge of Dahua Company?
In addition to the good current prices of these two vegetables, it is also because Dahua Company wants them to mainly grow bean sprouts and tomatoes this time, which makes them feel that the input-output ratio is not very cost-effective!

Some people may be surprised. Although the prices of bean sprouts and tomatoes are not as high as those of cucumbers and broccoli beans, their output is large. Once the unit output increases, even if the overall income is a little lower, it will not be that different. After all, the prices of various vegetables have not collapsed (remember this word, the reason why the prices of vegetables and fruits in China in later generations are so low, and even become the only exception in the world, is that output is not the only reason at all, and it is even just a superficial reason).

Well, if it is normal, this view is not wrong.

But the problem is...

The requirements in Dahua Company’s “planting guidelines” are too strict.

Fertilizers cannot be limited to chemical fertilizers. Organic fertilizers, water-soluble fertilizers, and chemical fertilizers must be reasonably combined according to requirements, and only fertilizers from manufacturers specified by them can be purchased;

Pesticides cannot be used indiscriminately. Except for a limited number of two or three mainstream herbicides, all those used must be alkaloid insecticides, plant hormone bulking agents, mineral oil inhibitors, low-toxic pest control agents, etc. that have just been developed by designated research units.

In addition, thermometers, humidification equipment, semi-shading equipment, ventilation equipment, and beneficial insects must be equipped or purchased separately, and then operated regularly according to the requirements in the manual.

In short, following Dahua Company's approach is both time-consuming and expensive. Something that can be done for one dollar will cost at least two dollars if you fully comply with their requirements.

Therefore, with these two factors offsetting each other, the yield of crops such as tomatoes and bean sprouts is indeed good and the price is reasonable, but the profit is not that attractive.

Therefore, out of comprehensive considerations and some other reasons, Liu Laogen and his colleagues agreed on the surface, but privately used half of the greenhouses to grow cucumbers and broccoli beans... And the other half of the greenhouses were used to grow bean sprouts as required, the yield was not low, and since everyone was from Linyi, they could plead for mercy and the matter would probably be resolved.

But as a result, this kind of thing happened in private, and problems arose.

You know, although Liu Laogen and his team also planted cucumbers and broccoli last year, they were planted in the autumn and winter. The temperature, humidity, and light in the greenhouse are different in different planting seasons, and the specific management requirements are also different. If they follow the planting guidance procedures from last year's autumn and winter, there will definitely be problems.

Moreover, students who have grown vegetables in greenhouses know that in a sealed growing environment like a vegetable greenhouse, it is best to rotate different varieties of vegetables. Otherwise, the imbalance of trace elements in the soil will not only affect plant growth, but there will also be serious risks of disease.

Therefore, Liu Laogen and his colleagues planted the second crop of cucumbers and broccoli beans in the greenhouse in spring and summer. At the beginning, the cucumber seedlings looked thick and strong, but after mid-to-late April, as the temperature in the greenhouse rose rapidly, various diseases and pests began to break out. Downy mildew, powdery mildew, cucumber blight, anthracnose took turns to appear, whiteflies and aphids popped up every now and then, and even American leafminers appeared in the greenhouses of some villages.

Those who know something about greenhouse agriculture know that whether it is a disease or an insect pest, we are not afraid of you attacking them one by one, but we are afraid of you attacking them all at once. If the diseases, pests and diseases break out at the same time, then the medicines recommended in Dahua Company’s original instruction manual will not work... So there is no way. Seeing that the situation of crops is becoming increasingly pessimistic, Liu Laogen and his team can only grit their teeth, give up those "delicate" drugs, and instead directly use traditional strong pesticides including diazinon.

It has to be said that although these old-fashioned pesticides have ten thousand disadvantages, they have only two advantages: 1. They are cheap. 2. They are effective.

So after several consecutive sprayings, the diseases and pests of cucumbers and broccoli were quickly under control. Although there were inevitably some losses in yield and quality, it was much better than having no harvest at all.

But this way, we are faced with another very embarrassing situation.

One of the important reasons why old-style strong pesticides such as DDT and paraquat have been eliminated by history is that they are highly toxic and have a long natural degradation cycle.

So even if they didn't send them for testing, Liu Laogen and his team knew that this batch of cucumbers and beans would definitely not pass the pesticide residue test if they were to supply the capital.

………………

Lv Yingying listened to Liu Laogen's shy description of the embarrassing situation of the cucumbers, nodded as if she understood, then thought for a moment and enthusiastically helped them find a second way out: "The vegetable export business in Qilu is very hot right now. Aren't there many small bosses here who are collecting vegetables from the fields? It's just about one or two thousand tons of cucumbers and broccoli. Can't we just find a vegetable export company and get it done?"

There is nothing wrong with this statement. In the first 20 years of reform and opening up, China's compensatory trade was more inclined towards resource-based commodities. Therefore, in Qi and Lu, as long as there are enough vegetables and non-staple foods, there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them.

Liu Laogen's face turned bitter when he heard this: "Well, although it's easy to find companies that export vegetables, we can't sell them at a high price! If we really sell them to them, we will lose a lot." A situation that people in later generations are not very familiar with is that although Japan and South Korea in Northeast Asia have always been important importers of Chinese vegetables and agricultural and sideline products, there is even a joke in later generations that "the price of Shouguang cabbage has risen, and South Korea can't even afford kimchi"; but in fact, before the middle of the millennium, Japan and South Korea were extremely repulsive to most of China's vegetables and agricultural and sideline products; if it weren't for the compensatory trade rules, they were not even willing to import large quantities of Chinese vegetables and agricultural and sideline products;

Therefore, this has created a phenomenon that is heartbreaking for the Chinese people. For a very long period of time, even though Japan and South Korea had to import large quantities of vegetables from China due to compensatory trade rules and other reasons, both the purchase price and the retail price in their own markets were pitifully low, definitely at the lowest end of the ecological niche.

There are many reasons for this phenomenon, but the most direct one is... before 2009, before the third phase of the vegetable basket project was completed, the problem of agricultural residues in China's agricultural products had never been well controlled, which seriously affected the export value of China's vegetables and agricultural and sideline products, and they could only take a completely low-price route.

Think about it, if the products cannot be sold at a high price in the local terminal markets after being shipped to Japan and South Korea, how high can the purchase price be in the fields in Shandong?
And those who are familiar with the vegetable export industry know that the more of this kind of thing is exported, the lower the purchase price in the field, even much lower than the purchase price of local middlemen... There is no way, who can blame them for the large purchase volume?
Therefore, if the vegetables are grown in greenhouses in other places, it would be fine. The purchase price will be lower in the first place, so you can still make a profit, and the profit is not small.

But this is not the case for the greenhouses in the two areas of Lanling, Texas.

It's nothing. Dahua Company, which also has several overseas trade lines, has opened up these resources to vegetable farmers in both places free of charge. However, from the very beginning, they have no intention of letting the vegetables and agricultural and sideline products they handle take the low-price route as in the past. The reason why they have linked up with so many agricultural research institutes to launch so many new drugs and technologies, and forced growers to invest more costs and energy in managing greenhouse vegetables according to their manuals, is to improve the quality of vegetables and reduce pesticide residues in vegetables as much as possible, so as to sell them at a satisfactory price in some overseas markets including Japan and South Korea, and reserve room for brand premium.

In fact, at least for the island country today, "agricultural products imported from China" and "agricultural products supplied by Dahua Company" cannot be equated.

But this brings up a fact that is easily overlooked for growers in Lanling, Texas...If you cannot sell the vegetables you grow through Dahua's channels, then you will most likely have to sell them at a loss, because your actual input costs are much higher than those of growers in other regions.

Classmate Tugou was naturally well aware of the small trap designed by a certain Yang Shidan that was both a welfare and a shackle. In fact, when the employees found that more than 30 villages including Shahe Village, Yingkou Village, Lihe Village, etc. had violated the agreement and secretly planted other varieties of vegetables, the reason why Dahua Company did not rush over to persuade them with words as usual was to make them a negative example... Judging from various clues, this matter was definitely not as simple as the farmers wanting to make more money.

Therefore, seeing Liu Laogen's unwillingness to part with the cucumbers, Lu Yingying could only sigh with regret: "There is nothing we can do. Since we can't send them to the capital, and you are reluctant to sell them to those export companies, we can only take these cucumbers to the vegetable market and the village streets to sell them ourselves... You have more than a thousand people in Shahe Village. If you assign more people to sell them, you should be able to recover a lot of losses."

When Liu Laogen heard this, he immediately became anxious: "This won't do! Manager Lu, you are from Linyi County after all, you can't just stand by and watch someone die!"

If the growers can solve the sales channel problem themselves, they will not suffer so much losses in the next 30 years, and there will not be so many messes in the agricultural products field.

Lu Yingying looked at him in amazement. "How can you say you watched someone die without helping him? Didn't the county build a large vegetable market last year? Although it's the season for cucumbers now, they can't sell for two or three yuan per pound like in autumn and winter, but they can still sell for one and a half yuan, right?"

"If it really doesn't work, we can help you coordinate with the county and apply for more temporary stalls for you. Then you can send more villagers over. Even if they are slightly cheaper than other stalls, and they can sell for two or three days, as long as we can sell half of them, we can break even."

At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with this statement.

After all, there is a huge price difference in the circulation process of agricultural products from the field to the table. Even if the planting cost of Liu Laogen's batch of cucumbers and broccoli is much higher than before, if he can really sell half of them, not to mention breaking even, he can make a lot of money... Today's county town is not like abroad, nor is it a city like the imperial capital. People basically don't have any obsession with pesticide residues. If these cucumbers and broccoli beans are circulated in the local farmers' market, there is no quality inspection for them.

But Liu Laogen had no way of saying it. If only their few villages violated the agreement and planted cucumbers and beans, then Lu Yingying's suggestion might be a feasible approach.

But the problem is that there are far more villages than just theirs that are secretly expanding the planting of cucumbers and cabbage beans. They came here today just to set up a vanguard. If they really follow Lu Yingying's advice, the remaining twenty or so villages will immediately panic and follow suit. Even the dumbest person knows that once so many cucumbers flood into the market at the same time, the price will immediately drop to a rock-bottom price... Instead of doing this, it is better to sell these cucumbers to export trading companies at a low price!
Thinking of this, Liu Laogen immediately straightened his neck and acted like a rogue: "No! No! We can't do this job. I don't care. We are all from Linyi, and we are related to each other in the surrounding area. No matter what, you have to help collect these dozen carts of cucumbers today!"

Classmate Tugou looked at him with disdain.

Harvest these dozen truckloads of cucumbers?

I’m afraid that after collecting these dozen cars today, there will be dozens of cars blocking the door tomorrow?
He shook his head without hesitation: "No, the company has regulations. We cannot purchase vegetables and fruits that are not grown according to the guidance specifications or are not within the agreed scope... Besides, the vegetables purchased by our Dahua Company are either directly supplied to government agencies, enterprises and units in the city, or exported to overseas cooperative channels, or made into canned food and mainly targeted at overseas markets. These channels have strict requirements on quality and pesticide residues. What do you want us to do with these dozen trucks of cucumbers from you!?"

Liu Laogen suddenly became anxious and thrust his body forward: "Hey~ You girl, why are you so unreasonable? We are from the same place, and according to seniority, you should call me uncle. What's wrong with doing me a small favor?"

"What's wrong with the pesticide residue not meeting your requirements? It's just a dozen truckloads of cucumbers. Your Dahua Company has so many canning factories and food factories, and you use so many vegetables every day. If you divide these dozen truckloads of cucumbers into several batches and mix them with cucumbers collected from other places, wouldn't the pesticide residue be reduced?"

"You are the owner of so many subsidiaries of Dahua Company. Is it that difficult to open your mouth?"

Lu Yingying shook her head: "I'm sorry, I can't help you with this. Why don't you look for the county and see if they can help you in any way?"

Hearing her resolute tone, and after glancing at the nearly 100 faces with different expressions behind him, Liu Laogen, feeling greatly humiliated, became furious;

Seeing that Lu Yingying began to turn around and walk out, obviously not intending to deal with today's matter anymore, Liu Laogen suddenly remembered something, and a fierce light flashed in his eyes. He kicked Lu Yingying to the ground with his left foot, and then raised the plaque in his arms and smashed it hard: "You ungrateful little girl, you don't even help your uncle with such a small favor, I will beat you to death!"

Seeing that Lu Yingying was attacked and the wooden plaque was about to fall on her, the security captain, who had been standing outside and watching quietly, was suddenly scared out of his wits and rushed over.

"Hold!!"

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PS: It seems that I have contracted the new pneumonia. Not only am I coughing and feeling uncomfortable, but my throat also suddenly became hoarse today and I can hardly speak normally. Teachers also need to pay attention to this. I suggest you take some medicine to prevent it.

(End of this chapter)