Farmers in rural areas stand to benefit from broadband access as e-commerce will allow them to better sell their crops. (Photo : Reuters)
One hundred and eighty-two Shaanxi Province farmers, with hundreds of thousands yuan-worth of annual income, received their high-level professional certificates, according to a Chinese Business View report on Sunday.
The local media report also stated that one of the requirements for the farmers who wish to receive such certificates is a four-year government training. Knowledge on modern agricultural techniques and managerial know-how as well as an Associate Arts Degree are also prerequisites.
Furthermore, the newspaper mentioned that the top certificate aspirants should also have an income that is 20 times higher than that of local farmers. Their target annual income should be hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Of the 182 certificate recipients, about 55 percent is aged below 40. The oldest to receive such credential is 55 years old, while the youngest is a 22-year-old pig farmer named Jiang.
According to Jiang, "the development of the agriculture industry must rely on young adults." He also cited that conventional farming technology is already outdated.
Jiang recounted that his family only used to own a dozen of pigs back in 2013. Now, the high-level professional farmer owns around 800 to 1000 pigs a year. His income amounts to 100,000 to 200,000 yuan annually.
The Shaanxi government officials unveiled the agricultural training initiative as part of its agricultural industry development policy. The scheme is geared at encouraging the people of Shaanxi to partake in the agricultural industry.
The provincial government eyes to have 10,000 farmers be trained this 2015.
In 2014, the local authorities handed out high-level professional certificates to 84 farmers. Nearly 4,000 people were also recognized as professional farmers.
