Chongqing- It's time for late-ripening citrus to bear fruit in this lovely season of thriving green. Farmers are busy pruning the branches of their trees in a citrus orchard in Zhongxian county.

Wu Yanjie, the general manager of Chongqing Paisenbai Orange Juice Co., Ltd, talks to the farmers; she is also deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature. 

The quality of the citrus has always been a focus for the company leader. More than that, the NPC deputy thinks of the big picture and is keen on agricultural industrialization.

Smart agriculture

After field trips, Wu learned that pests and plant diseases in citrus cultivation are a major concern for farmers.

"We still hope that deputies to the NPC will help us improve the current situation," said Tang Zuoxiu, a fruit farmer in Zhongxian country.

How to find a systematic solution to improve the output and quality of citrus significantly? As an NPC deputy, Wu proposed strengthening the industrial technology systems of modern agriculture and building a big data system for smart agriculture.

"Through bringing modern technology and scientific systems, we can teach the farmers to test the leaves," said Wu. "If the leaves need nitrogen, and we only use the nitrogen for the fertilizer instead of using the compound fertilizer."

Wu thinks with the application of smart agriculture farmers can increase their production and reduce the management fee. 

Oranges from Zhongxian County were presented in agricultural product trade and distribution. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

At the same time, Wu thinks that establishing an agricultural science and technology system requires not only advanced technologies but also training for the fruit farmers to help them master these technologies.

"We really want them to know we have a better way to grow citrus, and farmers can get the better incomes," said Wu. "So we really want them to change the idea (through) training them so that they can get more professional skills."

Collected feedback

As an NPC deputy, Wu pays great attention to the investigation and research at the grassroots level.

Wu Yanjie (left), NPC deputy and the general manager of Chongqing Paisenbai Orange Juice Co., Ltd., collected feedback at the grassroots level. (iChongqing/ Vivian Yan)

She communicated with fruit farmers and agricultural technicians, summarizing the feedback collected at the grassroots level and forming her suggestions for the NPC.

She also managed to gain support at the national level by proposing those suggestions.

"I got great attention from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs," said Wu. "They invested 2.3 billion yuan (about 360 million U.S. dollars) in training to improve the farmers' professional skills. I'm very happy to see this."

The suggestion proposed by this NPC deputy brought tangible project funding and strong support plans. 

Relying on Wu's own company, she has led her team to build over 36000 acres of standardized citrus orchards and trained more than 60,000 fruit farmers for free.

As a result, the coverage of the citrus industry has driven 130,000 fruit farmers to become rich.

"I hope that the citrus industry will grow stronger in the future," said Huang Wanlie, another fruit farmer in Zhongxian country. "I also hope our income will be higher."

Agriculture standardization system

This year, Wu suggests that further support should be applied through establishing the agriculture standardization system in the whole industrial chain to improve the quality of the grading system and promote the standard to be in line with international standards.

"Meanwhile, we need to increase our financial support for the construction and promotion of the standard system," said Wu. "We really hope the farmers understand the benefit brought by the standard, and they will get a continuous increase in their income and a better life."