Chapter 287 Progress
Matadi’s fruit plantation, Guo Yang already had some general ideas in mind.
Banana, pineapple, papaya, mango, avocado...these are the main tropical fruits in the world trade market.
Among them, bananas occupy an absolute market share.
But the competition is also extremely fierce.
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean occupy the largest market advantage, followed by Southeast Asia.
Although many countries in Africa regard bananas as one of their staple foods, their share in the world market is very low in terms of unit yield, total output and exports.
And bananas can be put into production quickly.
Taking advantage of Matadi’s hot and humid climate, the first harvest can begin 10 months after the seedlings are planted.
It is undoubtedly one of the fastest varieties to recover investment.
The current market share of organic bananas is not high, but the potential is great, especially at the beginning of the new century, when the United States, the European Community, and island countries promulgated their own organic certification standards.
Countries around the world have different watch hands, and the quality and safety standards are also very strict. It is very difficult to achieve fair trade.
But it also brings opportunities.
‘Organic’ is a concept of the production process rather than the product itself.
Jiahe’s fruit production base in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is targeting Europe and the United States as its primary market, which is also the largest import market for tropical fruits and organic products.
Producers, exporters, and importers must accept certification from relevant certification agencies in accordance with EU procedures.
The prevention and control of pests and diseases and the use of pesticides are extremely relevant parts.
Tropical fruits are prone to diseases and insect pests, especially bananas. There are at least 15 common diseases and insect pests.
The use of chemical pesticides is quite severe.
It is extremely critical to use EU-approved biogenic pesticides such as tea bran powder, pyrethrin, rotenone, nicotine, allicin, and azadirachtin.
At the same time, it is also necessary to combine biological, agricultural, physical and other comprehensive prevention and control methods.
Jiahe’s tarantula and tarantula must also be certified in this area as soon as possible and obtain international recognition, which will be a new and important addition.
Not only bananas, but also other tropical fruits of Jiahe will be committed to organic cultivation.
Guo Yang was lying on the bed, but his thoughts had already drifted back to China.
In terms of organic certification, the group has also accumulated some experience.
For example, Hexi Dairy's milk, milk powder and other products have passed domestic organic certification and are currently seeking foreign certification.
There is also an organic soybean planting base that cooperates with Jiusan Grain and Oil. The soybean base in Northeast China has also passed the international organic certification
These can provide some assistance for the organic certification of orchards in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. .
Perhaps the group should set up a special department to pay attention to the agricultural product import policies of major consumer countries in the world, so as to avoid duplication of operations by each subsidiary.
Guo Yang kept this in mind.
Attention quickly returned to the seed store.
Botanical pesticides can only solve part of the problem, and the rest requires cultivating varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and have high yields.
Five kinds of tropical fruits, 25,000 hectares, the average area of each type is 75,000 acres.
And 2 million acres of oil palm.
Guo Yang has also decided on the varieties.
The remaining four grains are corn, cassava, wheat, and rice, which require further consideration.
Guo Yang slowly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Guo Yang took the lead in calling Yu Qin to discuss matters related to pyrethrum. There are related domestic industries in Yunnan.
Quanwang needs to develop pyrethrin products.
Guo Yang then contacted Ning Xiaojing and explained the organic product certification matters.
And a new department should be established to pay attention to non-tariff barriers in major importing countries and study response strategies to facilitate the entry of various products into the fiercely competitive international market.
After all this was done, it was still early, so Guo Yang browsed the international news for a while.
It was a coincidence that I saw a report on bioenergy.
Some analysts say that in 2006, the United States invested 42 million tons of corn in ethanol production.
Based on the global average food consumption level, it is enough to meet the food consumption of 135 million people for an entire year.
There really is no end to the hype!
At the same time, we also saw domestic customs statistics. my country's corn and wheat exports have increased a lot in the past two months.
"Grain and Oil Market News", "Seed Weekly" and other media also published some analyses.
“The domestic corn consumption market has strong demand, the field of intensive processing of corn is getting wider and wider, and the demand for feed remains high.”
“The planting area of cash crops has grown rapidly, and the cultivated land has become non-grain. Serious and threatening domestic food security”
"The cost of grain production is higher than that of the international market, but domestic grain prices have gradually leveled up with the international market, and farmers are not very motivated to grow grain."
"Farmers in the Northeast have a backlog of grain, and there is a price but no market..."
The domestic public opinion environment is still the same, emphasizing food security, but the increase in food prices is far worse than that in foreign countries.
Take corn as an example. In more than a year, the international market has risen from US$98/ton to US$187/ton, while domestic corn has only risen from 0.48 yuan/jin to 0.72.
The gap between the two is getting smaller and smaller.
In addition, the domestic grain export tax rebate policy has not been canceled at this time, and the exports will only increase in the future.
Guo Yang thought about what he tentatively said to Lin Bu yesterday about ‘cooperating with public opinion’.
Although Lin Bu kicked him out.
But in fact, the food policy has also been stabilized, and we are just waiting for the fish to bite in the second half of the year or early next year.
There are also other factors to consider, such as the increase in global grain production in 2007...
Jiahe wants to do something in Africa, but the promotion of improved varieties is not that simple and requires a supporting planting model.
Based on the climate conditions of the past two years, Guo Yang believes that production reduction is more likely.
After learning about the news, Guo Yang wanted to try to log in to Huinong.com, but at this time Luo Xiu, Yu Honghai and others also finished washing and went to have breakfast together.
"Want to spend a few days in Nairobi?" Yu Hong said while chewing bread on the beach: "There are quite a lot of attractions here."
Guo Yang thought for a while and said: " Wait and see, if you can follow Lin Bu to inspect other East African countries, this trip will really be worth it.”
Just Kenya has given him so many surprises, and several other countries must also have a lot of potential that can be tapped.
"Then shall we follow?" Yu Honghai asked.
"I will follow the boss." Luo Xiu said.
Guo Yang said: "Lao Yu and Hare can stay in Nairobi for a few more days, or go to Dar es Salaam."
"These two people in Dar es Salaam can Is it too hot? ”
"Have you been there?"
"Fengkai has a dealer there."
Dar es Salaam is the former capital of Tanzania and a famous port city in East Africa. Guo Yang fell Not too surprising.
Yu Honghai continued: "In addition to Dar es Salaam, there are also dealers or offices of Fengkai in Cape Town, Cairo, Lagos, Algiers, etc."
< br>Guo Yang nodded, East Africa, South Africa, North Africa, West Africa, and the coast of the East China Sea basically cover the African continent.
Just too spread out.
“We still need to send people!” Guo Yang stared at Yu Honghai and said, “You have to hurry up on recruiting people, especially for Congo (DRC). You can transfer a batch from China, but most of them are still "It's too difficult." Yu Honghai said, "We can only go to Lubumbashi University."
"Well, think about it from the school."
“There are also security issues.”
"I plan to set up a security company."
"This...this can make a lot of money." Yu Honghai was a little surprised. The money earned from agriculture is all hard-earned money. Even a mining company does not invest much in security. high.
“Money is not a problem.”
If it was just for money, maybe Guo Yang would not consider coming to Congo at all. Wouldn’t it be nice to change to a safer country?
Yu Honghai pondered for a moment and said, "Recruiting is also a problem. Luo Xiu, do you have so many comrades?"
"No."
Hare also said: "And there are restrictions on many veterans going abroad. They must meet certain time limits."
Guo Yang smiled and said: "There are so many veterans across the country. You can always recruit people, Luo Xiu, does your original security company have training tasks?"
"Yes"
Guo Yang thought for a while and said: "Then this matter. You should communicate first to see if there is any possibility of cooperation. It would be best if you could become a shareholder. ”
"Okay."
"As soon as possible, send someone here as soon as possible."
While chatting, several people also had breakfast quickly, and when they were about to leave, the secretary of the Forestry Department came over.
"Boss Guo, Ministry of Forestry asked you to go on an inspection together."
"Hey, I've been waiting for a long time."
In this trip, I visited Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan... In addition to countries with unstable situations such as Djibouti and Somalia, I traveled all over East Africa.
This also gave Guo Yang an overall understanding of agriculture in these areas.
Poverty is the main theme.
The staple foods are corn, cassava and potatoes, but the yield per unit area is also pitifully low.
In addition to the low level of agricultural production technology, factors such as land degradation, poor soil, serious pests and diseases, lack of chemical fertilizers, and drought have plagued this area all year round.
But it is precisely because of this that the crop yield in this area has a potential of 2 to 3 times.
This provides investment opportunities for seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, agricultural equipment, etc.
In addition, the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and other countries are gradually liberalizing investment policies and have formulated many preferential policies on land and taxation.
A market full of challenges and huge opportunities.
It is also a key implementation area for the future national strategy. At present, Africa aid experts have come here one after another.
To a certain extent, East African countries are similar to the northwest inland my country in that they both face water resources problems.
The difference is that East African countries are actually very rich in water resources, with numerous inland lakes scattered throughout the country, but the utilization rate is extremely low, less than 5%.
At the same time, there are obvious dry seasons and rainy seasons.
This has led to the difficulty of agricultural development here.
However, many planting techniques in the northwest region of China are very suitable for the conditions in East Africa with only slight adjustments.
This is Jiahe’s advantage.
Tianhe's technical service personnel can quickly adapt to the agricultural environment here. "How is it? It's a worthwhile trip!" Lin Bu smiled and looked at Guo Yang.
“I gained knowledge by following the leadership.”
“You saw the superstructure of East African agriculture, and others investigated the grassroots situation in the countryside, and the rest is It’s up to Jiahe himself.”
"Don't worry, leader."
Guo Yang is full of confidence.
This inspection lasted for more than 10 days, and the grain from Jiahe Grain and Oil was about to arrive in Matadi.
After bidding farewell to Lin Bu, Guo Yang and his party went straight back to Matadi.
This is the largest port in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, accessible to 10,000-ton sea-going ships. Due to the existence of waterfalls in the river upstream of the port, sea-going ships cannot reach Kinshasa directly.
When Guo Yang and others arrived at the port.
A ship marked with the eye-catching logo "COSCO" has docked at the berth.
Bulk carrier from China Ocean Shipping Group.
More than 50,000 tons of corn were loaded, and it also carried some small machinery and parts, as well as Tianhe seeds.
There is storage in the port, and this batch of corn will also be stored at the port first.
Forty thousand tons were used in exchange for licenses from the Congolese government for 135,000 hectares of land.
The other 10,000 tons were used in exchange for logs provided by Chief Eddie.
Chen Yanqiu is a Singaporean and currently the international grain trade director of Jiahe Cereals and Oils. She is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
I have 15 years of experience in Cargill, one of the four major grain merchants, from grain analyst to department manager.
I was hired by Jiahe with a high salary not long ago.
Guo Yang was deeply impressed by it.
This is the first grain trade for Jiahe Cereals and Oils, and it also involves the import of timber, so Chen Yanqiu followed it in person.
Guo Yang looked at the huge ocean-going transport ship and couldn't help but asked curiously:
"As fuel has gone up, freight rates have also gone up, right?"
"No. "Rise." Chen Yanqiu shook his head and said, "The freight has dropped a bit compared to the previous two years."
"Oh?" Guo Yang became interested. In the future, Jiahe will inevitably have to deal with warehousing and logistics, "Tell me in detail."
Chen Yanqiu thought for a while,
"2004 was a rare year in the international shipping industry During the peak period of 2006, all countries were investing in the shipping market. The supply of new ships was in short supply, and the prices of various ships were skyrocketing. "
"However, with the end of the 2006 shipbuilding cycle, market competition has intensified, with each other lowering prices and competing for each other. Supply of goods..."
Guo Yang instantly thought of the financial crisis, and the shipping industry will definitely be bleak in the next two years.
"Do you know about ocean shipping?"
"Know a little bit, Cargill has this business."
Guo Yang realized in hindsight: "Oh, Cargill seems to have the largest grain storage in the world Logistics."
"Yes, they now have more than 500 ocean-going grain transport ships, and their land transportation fleet should be the largest in the world." Chen Yanqiu said in surprise: "Is Jiahe also going to enter the shipping industry? ?”
“It depends on whether there are any suitable targets for acquisition or cooperation.” Guo Yang was also very honest.
Cargill started out as a grain warehousing business. Its huge transportation capacity and complete logistics network are Cargill’s core competitiveness.
In this round of financial crisis, Cargill’s trade in bulk commodities such as grain, oil, and coal will bring huge benefits to it.
"Well...there will definitely be an opportunity in the next two years." Chen Yanqiu smiled, indicating growth, "It just so happens that the company can make a lot of money from this."
"Hahaha...Director Chen I understand very well!”
“This is a general trend, unless the world’s food production increases”
"As expected of a grain analyst!"
While unloading grain, Guo Yang and others went to look at the timber at the port.
Chief Eddie owns a sawmill in Matadi and originally stocked some logs.
These days, another batch of precious timber has been transported from Equateur Province via rivers, railways and roads.
They are all fine rosewood.
Due to the hype of Hainan huanghuali wood, the price of some old materials has reached 18,000 to 22,000 yuan per kilogram, which is equivalent to tens of millions of yuan per ton.
The price of African rosewood is relatively low, but it costs hundreds of thousands of yuan per ton shipped to China.
This is a sure-fire deal!
In addition to the rosewood exchanged for grain, Chen Yanqiu also quickly purchased some logs through local government connections. The ocean-going ship was fully loaded before returning.
However, Chief Eddie’s 10,000 tons of corn are not so easy to transport.
Guo Yang could only lead his team to quickly complete land and food transactions with the Congolese (DRC) government.
Matadi has the largest flour mill in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Compared to Chief Eddie, most of the government's corn will be processed into flour and then sold externally.
When the government corn comes out of the warehouse, Jiahe is storing a batch separately, and the rest will be handed over directly to Eddie.
Guo Yang’s eyes returned to the land.
The first is the establishment of an organizational framework. Three projects can be divided into at least twenty or thirty plantations, or even more.
The person in charge of each project, the director and technical director of the plantation, each plantation must also be equipped with technicians, financial...
At least two to three hundred people need to be recruited from China in the early stage.
The remaining plantation managers, as well as other middle-level and grass-roots management positions, all choose to be localized.
Whether it is recruiting from within the country or the localization process, it will be extremely difficult.
At the meeting.
Guo Yang said to everyone: "It can be divided into numbers. Once a plantation team is in place, it will start building one."
In addition to the team, the rest are large agricultural machinery and engineering machinery, park roads, drainage ditches, land Flats, ditches.
In this regard, we need Fengkai Agricultural Machinery and Donghe Agricultural Machinery Services, but Yu Honghai is familiar with this sector.
The remaining focus is seeds and seedlings.
This area is mainly led by Tianhe Seed Industry, cooperating with the Institute of Thermal Sciences and Dry Farming Center to establish industrial seedling plants, fruit tree nurseries and breeding bases for tissue culture of fruit trees such as bananas and oil palms.
This is the only construction work currently available.
A wilderness overgrown with weeds.
Thatched cottages were built, and several new houses shaped like bread were built on the ground.
The 'bakery' is only 15 square meters and is very simple, but for the newly recruited black employees, it is good to have a house.
Only black administrators have this treatment.
Not far from the house, there is wasteland that is being reclaimed. However, the land is heavily stagnant, weedy, and uneven, and the efficiency of the land is extremely low with only simple tools.
In some towns and rural areas near Matadi and Kinshasa, Jiahe also sent special personnel to purchase oil palm, wild banana and other fruits.
Two experts, Li Yi and Deng Mingke, were also traveling around during this time.
When Guo Yang saw the two of them again, he only saw dark faces, rough skin, and scars left by mosquito bites all over his body.
Almost didn't recognize it.
Seeing this scene, Guo Yang couldn't bear it. He made the matter a bit complicated.
I immediately returned to the newly rented seed warehouses in Kinshasa and Matadi and cultivated all kinds of seeds.
Banana, pineapple, mango, avocado, papaya;
Corn, cassava, rice, wheat;
Oil palm.
There are 10 varieties in total.
Now that there is more natural energy, Guo Yang is not stingy in this regard. He cultivates some competitive varieties.
1523 points of natural energy were consumed.
The highest among them are banana and oil palm, which used up 311 and 336 points respectively.
Bananas mainly highlight quality and resistance to pests and diseases, and mainly impact the high-end organic agricultural products market.
Oil palm values palm oil yield and biodiesel conversion, while also taking into account some resistance characteristics.
The same logic applies to other varieties.
Tropical fruits focus on quality;
Food crops focus on yield and adaptability. They are all large varieties, focusing on one that is not bright in the east but bright in the west.
In addition to these, domestic vegetable and grain varieties will also be brought to Africa to test the waters.
After all the seeds were cultivated, Guo Yang directly captured Li Yi and Deng Mingke, who were still investigating farms and visiting tree farmers in various places.
Both of them have been dizzy from being exposed to the sun recently.
Guo Yang said: "Deng Laolat, you are the chief expert on the industrial system hired by Jiahe. What should we do if something goes wrong?"
"It's not that fragile." Deng Mingke waved his hand. , “The top priority now is to prepare the seeds, which can be started as soon as the tissue culture factory and nursery are built.”
“The seeds have been shipped from China.”
"Where are the oil palms and fruit trees?"
"Both."
Seeing that the two didn't believe it, Guo Yang didn't say much and took the two directly to the warehouse.
Deng Mingke and Li Yi were stunned on the spot when they looked at the classified seeds.
“Didn’t you agree to cultivate it yourself?”
"You can walk on two legs." Guo Yang smiled and said: "These seeds are not enough."
Deng Mingke said: "Then we have to look at Xiao Li's large-scale embryonic breeding. Technology is his specialty."
"Oh? How many seedlings can be produced in a year?"
"One production line can produce 1 million oil palm seedlings," said Li Yi. (Gold) There is a shortage of people, equipment and materials, so the investment may be a bit high.”
“I’ll find a way.”
Guo Yang pondered for a while and said, "Well, I'm going back to China soon. Make a detailed list of what you need and send it to me later."
"Mr. Guo is going back to China?"
"Well, the situation has now opened up. There are still a lot of things in the country, so we have to go back quickly." Guo Yang said.
“Okay, let’s try to get the list out today.”
“OK.”
(End of this chapter)