On 05 March, the DCZ hosted a visit by experts from German NGO Farm-Food-Climate to Little Willow Farm (小柳树农园) on the eastern outskirts of Beijing. Jointly organized by DCZ and Beijing-based think tank Foodthink, the trip aimed to offer insights into the situation of organic agriculture in China and facilitate exchange on sustainable agricultural practices.
Guiding us from one greenhouse into the next, Mr. Liu, the owner of Little Willow Farm, shows us the dozens of leafy greens and fresh vegetable varieties he produces in carefully planned rotations on the farm. Protected by a thick wall of mud against the cold northern winds and a black cover that is rolled down at nighttime, Mr. Liu can produce vegetables all-year around—despite Beijing’s frosty winter climate and without additional heating.
Mr. Liu has been running Little Willow Farm for about 10 years. Together with his wife and five farm workers, he farms a total of 87 mu (approx. 6 hectares), using a mix of greenhouses and outdoor farm areas, which, during the warmer season, are used for growing corn and tomatoes. On his farm, Mr. Liu uses zero synthetic fertilizer and pesticides. Instead, he opts for sustainable agricultural practices, such as using compost, cover crops, crop rotations, and beneficial microbes to improve soil health. Biological pest control methods such as soil solarization are also part of his repertoire. During the hot and wet summer months, he explains to us, he covers the ground with plastic sheeting to create a hothouse effect within the soil that kills horticultural pests and weeds.
Images: © Matteo Bizzarri
Little Willow Farm is part of a growing network of smaller farms around Beijing engaged in uncertified organic production. These farms seek to tap into growing consumer demand for organic and sustainably grown food.
Sustainable agriculture on the rise
China’s total grain output has grown from 83 million tons in 1961, when the great famine ended, to 683 million tons in 2021. But its success has come at a heavy environmental cost: China uses more than twice as much fertilizer per unit area than Germany and more than three times the amount of pesticides. The overuse of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides has led to soil contamination, algae blooms, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Chemical residues in food and nitrogen infiltration into groundwater are increasingly seen as a health risk.
As awareness about the environmental implications of China’s agricultural model is growing, sustainable farming method are on the rise. In recent years, China advanced to the fourth largest market for organic products worldwide. In 2021, the planting area of organic crops was 2.76 million hectares, out of which 1.4 million hectares were used for the planting of organic cereals, ranking first in the world. With a share of 13%, China is also the leading trade partner for organic agricultural products to the EU. [1] [2]
Top-down and bottom-up initiatives
Concerns about the effects of unsustainable farming methods have led to the development of a formal organic sector, created by top-down government standards and regulations. Various local governments now also provide a range of support measures to organic farms, ranging from subsidies for certification to infrastructure investments or marketing support.
Alongside this, an informal organic sector has sprung up, based on bottom-up movements aimed at providing better, healthier foods to consumers [3]. In Beijing, a growing network of food activists has established an organic farmers’ market held every week at different locations in the city. The network has also introduced community-supported agriculture (CSA) principles that directly connect producers and consumers. Built on networks of personal trust, farms don’t need to rely on costly organic certification, instead sharing information about their production methods with consumers directly.
Little Willow Farm belongs into the latter category. Mr. Liu regularly informs his customers via social media about work at the farm and the sustainable practices he uses to grow his crops. Healthy soils and plants are the best protection against diseases and pests, he tells us during our visit. Well-planned crop rotations, the use of soymeal residues for nitrogen fixation, compost tea for irrigation, and the application of a self-made kombucha aid with symbiotic bacteria cultures ensure that his crops remain strong and healthy.
Challenges ahead
Next to individual and group orders that are shipped directly from the farm to consumers in Beijing, Mr. Liu supplies a number of fixed farm shops connected to the Beijing Organic Farmer’s Market. But business is not as easy as it used to be a decade ago. The capital investment needed is high and farm management complex, making it difficult for newcomers to enter the sector.
In addition, consumers have been changing. A number of food safety scandals in the mid-2000s meant that scared consumers were happy to pay high prices for safe food, but recent improvements in the regulation of the conventional food sector has eased concerns. The Covid-19 pandemic has not helped either, with many foreign customers leaving Beijing.
“Today, the only way to impress my customers is through the variety I offer and the quality of my produce”, Mr. Liu says.