Farming in South Africa

By Chen Yong,Song Junchu & He Songtao

In 2015,28-year-old Wang Mingchuan traveled all the way from his hometown Xiaochang,a county in Central C hina’s Hu be i Province t o Johannesburg in South Africa with a dream.He investigated the local market and decided to run a vegetable farm here.Four years later,the vegetables he planted are popular among the folks,and the farm has expanded from a leased plot of 4 hectares to a selfowned 16 hectares of farmland.The agricultural department of the locality organized a group of farmers in the neighborhood to visit his farm and learn from him.

Discovering the Market

Wang’s father used to be a teacher of a primary school in a small town,where Wang learned to plant vegetables from his parents since he was a child.During his childhood,he developed a strong interest in agriculture.

After graduating from China Three Gorges University in 2009,Wang started his career in a Shengzhen-based Hong Kong company,where he came across the idea of agricultural globalization and kindled a dream of running a farm abroad.

In 2015,Wang went to Johannesburg.He found that,despite the fertile land and abundant rainfall in South Africa,few locals planted vegetables or had a farm.The price of vegetables was high and there was a huge market for green vegetables there.Therefore,he decided to open a farm and make it an organic vegetable production base.Wang leased a plot of land of 4 hectares in Johannesburg and built 20 vegetable greenhouses with an investment of 1.5 million yuan.

2015年，28歲的中國湖北省孝昌縣的小伙王明川，懷揣夢想來到南非約翰內斯堡。一番考察后，他決定留下來，在這里辦農場種蔬菜。4年過去了，他種的蔬菜一直是當地的搶手貨，農場從最初租地60 畝發展到買地240 畝。當地農業部門組織各地農場主，到他的農場學習。

發現市場

王明川的父親是王店鎮小學老師，從小跟著父母在學校旁邊的菜地種菜，王明川對農業一直很有興趣。

2009年，王明川從三峽大學畢業后，在深圳一家港資企業上了幾年班。其間，他在網絡上了解了一些農業國際化的知識。到國外去做農場主，這個夢想在他心里悄然萌芽。

2015年，王明川來到約翰內斯堡。他發現，南非大部分土壤都很肥沃，雨水也比較豐沛，但當地人很少種菜，農場也很少，而綠色蔬菜在南非很有市場，且價格較高。他暗下決心：“我要做一個名副其實的農場主，把這里建設成有機蔬菜生產基地。”經過考察后，王明川在約翰內斯堡租了60 畝地，投入150 萬元人民幣，建起了20 個簡易蔬菜大棚。

開拓荒地

王明川不懂種菜技術，從國內高薪聘請了一位蔬菜技術專家，負責種植各種蔬菜。

就這樣，卷心菜、土豆、茄子等第一批蔬菜，帶著王明川的憧憬，在南非這片肥沃的土地上開花結果。

王明川說：“南非的蔬菜很少，而我們的蔬菜品種多，又新鮮，當地人很喜歡吃。”蔬菜供不應求。

Farming on the Vacant Land

At the very beginning,Wang Mingchuan wasn’t so professional in planting techniques,so he hired an expert from China to be in charge of all sorts of vegetable planting issues.

With the joint efforts,the first batch of vegetables,including cabbage,potato,and eggplants,grew well and had a good harvest in the fertile land of South Africa.

According to him,“The variety of local vegetables is limited,but we offer a wide range of fresh vegetables,and the locals like them very much.” The demand for the vegetables outgrew his production.

After two years of farming,Wang had better knowledge about the local climates and was more familiar with the farming process,ranging from planting,selling,and the marketing,which greatly boosted his confidence.The 4 hectares of land could not satisfy the ever-growing market demand.Therefore,Wang raised 7.5 million yuan in 2018 and purchased a 16-hectareplot with permanent ownership in Johannesburg to expand his vegetable production base.

This new farm opened in May 2019.It was a deserted land where the grass was taller than an adult.To fix the porous soil and low water holding capacity of the land,he hired workers to dig a deep well for irrigation.

The prices of materials are quite high in South Africa—for example,steel bars cost more than double the price of the same ones in China.To reduce costs,he ordered 1.5 million yuan of galvanized steel from China,and shipped them in six containers to Johannesburg in June of 2019 to build a 21-meter wide greenhouse.He hired 45 workers to help him plant vegetables while building the greenhouse.

Strengthening Sino-African Friendship

The new greenhouse attracted huge attention.Local agricultural department again organized farm owners to visit his farm and learn from him.“It’s well known that Chinese are good at growing vegetables.A lot of farm owners in the locality came to learn advanced techniques from them.”Wang Mingchuan was not the only Chinese national to begin a farm in Africa.Li Weichong and Li Weijin are two brothers from Nantong City,Jiangsu Province.They run the Xinyuan Farm in Johannesburg.In 2011,a local farmer named Sifeso came to the Embassy of China in South Africa and expressed his idea of learning farming from Chinese farmers.The Embassy officer recommended the Li brothers to him.

The Li brothers patiently taught Sifeso planting techniques and gave him a lot of seeds before he left their farm.Afterwards,they even paid a visit to Sifeso’s farm and provided on-site support there.With their help,Sifeso had a good harvest that year and his eggplants sold out very quickly.Later,the Ministry of Home Affairs of South Africa heard about it and sent a letter of gratitude to the Embassy of China in South Africa.The story was reported on People’s Daily,an official newspaper of the CPC,and was widely circulated among the Chinese in South Africa.

Although Wang Mingchuan has encountered a lot of difficulties in his business,he is still hopeful for the future.“I will keep working and learning by summarizing my experiences and combining the best practices of China and Africa.I will become a modern farmer.”

(Translation:Li Li)

經過兩年種植實踐，王明川掌握了南非的氣候條件，也摸清了蔬菜從種植到銷售中間的各個環節和市場規律，更加胸有成竹了。先租下的60 畝地已經無法滿足市場旺盛的需求。2018年，王明川籌款750 萬元，在約翰內斯堡購買了240 畝永久產權的土地，擴大蔬菜生產基地。

2019年5月，蔬菜基地動工。這片土地一片荒蕪，野草比人還高。南非的土地，土質疏松，存不住水，為了灌溉，他花錢打了一口深水井。

在南非，物價奇高，鋼筋型材價格是國內的2 倍多。2019年6月份，王明川從國內訂購了150 萬元的大棚鍍鋅鋼材，用6 個集裝箱發到約翰內斯堡，建起了跨度21米的蔬菜大棚。他招聘了45 名工人，讓技術人員帶著他們邊建設邊種植。

加深友誼

王明川的冬暖式大棚建起來后，在當地引起了轟動，當地農業部門還組織各個農場主，到王明川的農場觀摩學習。“這在當地很常見。中國人善于種菜，技術先進，經常有其他農場主來學習。”

而王明川也很樂于跟當地人分享自己的經驗。“我們很明白，大家發展蔬菜事業，都是為了改善民生，能幫忙的就幫忙。我們和周邊的鄰居處得很融洽。”

像王明川一樣在非洲種菜的不在少數。江蘇南通的李衛沖、李衛錦兄弟也在約翰內斯堡經營了一個鑫源農場。2011年，南非一位叫斯費索的農民來到中國駐南非大使館，提出向中國菜農學習種菜的請求，使館便向他推薦了李氏兄弟。

斯費索來到他們農場，兄弟倆給他耐心傳授各種農業技術。斯費索臨走時，兄弟倆還送給他不少蔬菜種子。后來，兄弟倆還特意到斯費索的農場進行現場指導。在兄弟倆的幫助下，斯費索的農場獲得了好收成，種出的茄子很搶手。南非內政部知道此事后，給中國駐南非大使館發來感謝信。這件事還上過人民日報，在南非的華人圈子里廣為流傳。

雖然經歷諸多困難，王明川仍然懷揣夢想。“我會一如既往地實干、學習、創造、總結，并且將非洲與國內最先進的農場經驗相結合，讓自己成為現代農場主。”