12 Years a Farmer

At 6：30 a.m.， before the sun was high， Little Donkey Farm in suburban Beijing was already bustling. That day， the cabbage looked good. A woman picked up a head and bit into it after peeling off the outer layer covered in dirt. She remarked that doing so was fine because of a lack of chemical fertilizer used in the field.

Wen Tiejun serves as dean of School of Agriculture and Rural Development at Renmin University. Founded by Wen， Little Donkey Farm is a field project sponsored by the school. In 1968， Wen was sent to a rural area to live and work. Since then， he has continued rural work for 22 years. In 1996， he proposed that farmers， agriculture and rural areas were China’s most pressing issues.

First Try in Zhaicheng Village

In 2003， in Zhaicheng Village of Hebei Province， Wen founded Yan Yangchu Village Construction Institute， a school named after a famous Chinese practitioner of rural construction， to continue his rural construction experiment. Covering four hectares， the institute utilized a deserted middle school as its base to help farmers organize cooperatives and gain better production skills. Actually， the farmers expected Wen to “open a factory or attract investment.” They couldn’t comprehend Wen’s aim of subverting their basic ideas about agricultural production.

“I didn’t care about other places， but the field on our campus was free from chemical fertilizer and herbicides，” recounts Wen.“We were developing organic agriculture.” According to Wen’s“green products” idea， the farmland on the campus was supplied a small amount of fertilizer and no pesticides. Although volunteers used chili and tobacco water as substitutes， pests still abounded. Neighboring farmers even tried to spray insecticide for them， because the worms were infesting their own land.

When harvest season arrived， the campus fields yielded frail wheat and fist-sized watermelon， inspiring laughter from local villagers. In their opinion， applying more fertilizer and pesticides to increase output was more profitable than so-called “green products.”

“The use of chemical fertilizer throughout the years made the productivity of the soil drop，” Wen explained. “The soil has been hardened and even salinated. So， of course， we had a meager harvest the first year. But after three years of organic agricultural practices， the field became rehabilitated and gradually reached detoxification. And the yield of our farmland almost matched common fields. But the quality was totally different. Our products were organic.”

The institute also built an ecological architectural complex， featuring sustainable agriculture. It was the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland， with a vegetable greenhouse， a marsh gas pool， an ecological toilet， a pigsty， a fishpond and farmland. Their waste could be recycled and the entire system produced no stress on the environment. This agricultural model is called permaculture in southeastern Asia. However， Zhaicheng villagers had little interest in such a project， sated with macro-theories too complex for them to understand. By 2006， Yan Yangchu Village Construction Institute had gained fame in circles of academia both domestically and globally， which considered it a research base. At the same time， the institute gradually distanced itself from the villagers.

Results in a New Field

In 2007， Yan Yangchu Village Construction Institute closed， but Wen did not consider it a failure. He believed that the institute actually suited the situation and demands of rural areas but could not survive in the atmosphere prevalent in the 1990s， which encouraged rapid exploitation of resources and quick turnaround on profits. Also Wen expressed dissatisfaction with farmers’profit-centric mentality and considered them too obsessed with short-term gains.

The next year， Wen reorganized colleagues from Yan Yangchu Institute to found Little Donkey Farm and appointed his former student， Dr. Shi Yan， who had studied agriculture in the U.S.， as its president. In terms of planting methods， Little Donkey Farm employs traditional agricultural techniques， applying no chemical fertilizer or pesticides. In terms of a business model， the farm adopted Community Supported Agriculture （CSA）， a concept introduced from the U.S.， which emerged against the backdrop of more serious food security and greater distance between people and land. CSA practitioners pay at the dawn of planting season for a share of the anticipated harvest， meaning growers and consumers share both risks and benefits. Farmers use a sustainable agronomic method for food production. Because of the removal of middle men separating consumers and farmers， farmers gain greater profits and consumers receive organic food based on mutual trust.

“Modern agriculture in market economies is profit-driven，”remarks Wen. “So we see genetically modified crops and food security problems. Little Donkey Farm promotes safe socialized agriculture or socialized eco-agriculture. It is a joint project connecting urbanites and rural residents. Eco-agriculture is optimal for the environment， sustainable development and food security. Little Donkey Farm is actually a scientific research program for agricultural development. In recent years， we have been endeavoring to optimize its structure.”

After six years of operation， Little Donkey Farm has begun developing steadily， approaching Wen’s goal of “fair trade between a small-scale farmer’s economy and the mass market.”But its promotion in other locales still needs time because not all cities share the same environment as Beijing： Recognition of the benefits of organic produce and massive consumption capacity， two key contributors to Little Donkey Farm’s growth.

Since 2002， Wen has led or pushed the establishment of several rural construction organizations engaging in farmer training and organic agriculture promotion， as well as aiding agriculturesupporting professionals and volunteer training. Along with Ground Urban and Rural Cooperative and Ground Green Union， Wen has launched two more countryside construction institutes at Southwest University and Fuzhou City. After a decade of experimenting with rural construction， Wen has faced considerable criticism. Many believe the situation for Chinese farmers doesn’t fundamentally change and even worsens， and that Wen and his team are just “intellectuals entertaining themselves.”

“China is developing， so are rural issues，” rebuts Wen. “Previously， we emphasized increasing agricultural yields， improving rural development and increasing farmers’ incomes. But now we attach importance to protecting farmers’ rights， maintaining rural sustainability and developing eco-agriculture. Frankly speaking， I don’t know how to solve most countryside problems， so I launched an experiment. At least I don’t confine myself to governmental offices or universities. I am in the field – and fields– trying. I am practicing.”