By Wang Fengjuan

Field to Market Yunnan’s plateau agriculture booms thanks to local geographical advantages

By Wang Fengjuan

In the new development of plateau specialty agriculture, producers look to rid themselves of dependence on traditional methods and find new, innovative production methods.

On Dec. 16, more than 200 enterprises from 16 prefectures and cities of Yunnan Province were in attendance at the China Agriculture Exhibition Hall in Beijing to demonstrate the unique charm of China’s southwestern plateau’s specialty winter agriculture. On display were sweet and delicious flower cakes, fragrant tea from the Yunnan city of Dali, fresh vegetables from provincial capital Kunming, steamed cakes from Qujing, the province’s second largest city, and other products.

“Many people are familiar with Yunnan thanks toYunyan[a brand of Yunnan cigarettes]. TheYunhua[Yunnan flower] has given them further understanding of the region, and many have developed a love for Yunnan through its plateau specialty agricultural products,” said Lei Rui, vice president of the Yunnan Agricultural Reclamation Group.

As consumers are attaching greater importance to health and fitness, and caring more about the origins of the food they eat, specialty Yunnan products are attracting more attention.

Yunnan is the largest coffee production and export base of China. It also provides raw ingredients to a number of internationally famous cof f ee brands. According to Lei, with the cof f ee trade, the Yunnan Agricultural Reclamation Group will seize the opportunities of the Belt and Road to build a Southeast Asia coffee industry circle on the basis of its current connections with Laos and Vietnam, reaching out to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Agriculture on Red Soil

Yunnan is geographically located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau at low latitude but high altitude, with distinct weather conditions featuring variety and instability. You can see fresh flowers in winter and snowy mountains in summer. This unique climate provides a number of ecological advantages, favorable to planting and harvesting all year round.

There are frequent exchanges between Yunnan and South and Southeast Asian countries. With the development of infrastructure, especially transportation networks, Yunnan is enjoying more geographical advantages in international trade. Currently, most of China is in the depths of winter. In Yunnan, however, agricultural production continues vigorously. This differentiation has given Yunnan an edge in agriculture.

Ecological agricultural products on the plateau, such as tea, vegetables, fungi, flowers, oil and coffee, have long been famous Yunnan products. The province leads China in the production of walnut, natural rubber, cut flowers and coffee. Its vegetables and flowers have been exported to Hong Kong SAR, Japan and ASEAN countries.

The Yunnan Agricultural Reclamation Group has determined that plateau specialty agriculture should be its strategic core business, next to natural rubber. In recent years, with the integration of internal resources, the group has made up its mind on the development of specialty agriculture for Yunnan products, and aims to build itself into a“standard framer, brand manager, technology provider, channel integrator and market operator” of Yunnan specialty agriculture.

In the new development of plateau specialty agriculture, producers look to rid themselves of dependence on traditional methods and find new, innovative production methods. Modern materials, modern technologies and sound agricultural industry systems will upgrade the scale and quality of the plateau specialty agriculture.

On the basis of what has already been achieved, the province has worked on steady growth with higher quality and efficiency. In 2015, its gross output value of agriculture and animal husbandry reached 326.1 billion yuan (US$50 billion). This represents an increase of 114 percent compared to five years ago. The province’s added value of agriculture reached 199.1 billion yuan (US$31 billion), an increase of 105 percent. Its output value of agricultural products reached 195.1 billion yuan(US$30 billion), an increase of 87 percent. The province’s rural economy has successfully doubled its total value in 2011, and the growth rate of the rural economy has been higher than the province’s overall growth rate.

Yunnan artists perform at the China Agriculture Exhibition Hall in Beijing on Dec. 16, 2016.

‘Internet-plus’ Boosts Modern Agriculture

On Dec. 15, the Agriculture Department of the Yunnan Provincial Government, Yunnan Agricultural Reclamation Group and Jingdong Group (JD.com) signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on“Internet-plus modern agriculture”. The three parties will utilize their respective advantages to explore new opportunities for further development of the plateau specialty agriculture and rural e-commerce in the province.

“Yunnan is in a leading position in China in the production of fresh flowers, coffee, rubber and other products,”explained Zhang Zulin, the province’s vice governor. “We hope Jingdong will integrate its business with Yunnan’s production and processing of agricultural products. Jingdong has the advantage of sales and distribution, which can help bring Yunnan’s specialty products to more markets.”

Xiong Qingyun, senior vice president of Jingdong Group, said that his group is willing to build a modern agricultural demonstration project and seize the cooperation opportunities of Internet-plus modern agriculture. The group is ready to help Yunnan further develop its plateau specialty agriculture, as well as the quality of its agricultural products. It will also help with the implementation of practices related to agricultural big data, agricultural financial innovation and agricultural information services. In the future, Jingdong is going to upgrade its network in Yunnan by building logistics centers and establishing cloud services, therefore facilitating Yunnan’s ef f orts to grow.

The three parties of the framework agreement will make joint efforts to promote the development of Yunnan’s modern agriculture by means of joint procurement of agricultural products, intelligent agriculture and traceability system projects, pilot rural financial cooperation, pilot rural e-commerce cooperation and the establishment of a rural e-commerce ecological service center.

The Yunnan Agricultural Reclamation Group will rely on its marketing network and modern Internet-plus technology to speed up the building of O2O marketing platforms for its specialty products. The group is set to strengthen its cooperation with the partners of the China Agricultural Reclamation Group and connect its marketing network with that of the China Agricultural Reclamation and other reclamation companies, therefore fusing the market distribution system.

Meanwhile, Yunnan has planned to build a bulk specialty agricultural products trading center for natural rubber, coffee, tea, dried fruit and wild mushroom. The province has also explored ways to improve the marketing platform system for its specialty products, including the establishment of a futures exchange for coffee and other agricultural products. All these efforts aim to further promote its quality plateau specialty products to the domestic and international markets.