At 85, pioneering agri scientist still works in the field

On the Chinese solar term of Grain Rain, or gu yu, in April, the first rice transplanters of the season rolled across the paddies of Daizhuang village in eastern China's Jiangsu province.

Villagers had planned a celebration for Zhao Yafu's 85th birthday. Instead, they found him standing on a muddy embankment in rubber boots and a straw hat, watching each machine with practiced eyes.

"Get the water into the fields as soon as the seedlings are planted," he reminded farmers. "If the irrigation is done well, you've already won half the battle."

For more than six decades, Zhao, a recipient of this year's Communist Party of China's highest honor, the July 1 Medal, has measured time by planting seasons. Long after most people would have retired, he still spends his days walking the fields and testing new techniques. "My health isn't what it used to be. But as long as I can still work, I want to do a little more for farmers," Zhao said.

Born in 1941, Zhao studied agronomy before joining an agricultural research institute in Zhenjiang in 1961. Working alongside farmers convinced him that China's rural areas could change only if scientific advances reached the fields instead of remaining in laboratories.

In 1982, he was among the first researchers from his institute sent to Japan to study agricultural techniques. He returned with 13 boxes of agricultural books and technical materials, along with 20 strawberry seedlings.

Zhao taught farmers everything from propagation and fertilization to disease control. The first strawberry harvest generated an impressive income for the time, transforming local farming.

In 2001, when he was due to retire, Zhao volunteered to work in Daizhuang, then one of the poorest villages in Zhenjiang. Annual per capita income was below 3,000 yuan ($442), and the village collective was burdened with debt.

He persuaded villagers to establish a cooperative and convinced Party members to take the risk of planting organic peaches. The harvest quickly attracted eager buyers. Later, Zhao allowed farmers to use his name for the Yafu agricultural brand and helped them connect directly with urban consumers.

Today, Daizhuang is nationally known for its organic agriculture. Average annual income has risen to more than 47,000 yuan, while collective village revenue exceeds 5 million yuan.

The village's rice paddies have gone two decades without synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizer use has fallen from about 300 kilograms of pure nitrogen per hectare to zero, while rice yields have remained stable, according to local agricultural officials.

Dragonflies, frogs and birds are common around Daizhuang's rice paddies in summer.

"There are about 150 kinds of small animals living in these rice fields and nearly 100 bird species," Zhao said. "That's extraordinary for a village this size."

His influence now extends well beyond Daizhuang. The cooperative model and ecological farming practices he helped pioneer have spread across Jiangsu and into provinces including Anhui and Jiangxi.

Through agricultural service teams and technology stations that bear his name, younger technicians continue to introduce new methods to rural communities.

"The responsibility of a Party member and an agricultural scientist is to turn technology into skills farmers can truly use, and into harvests they can count on," Zhao said.