As the Chinese saying goes, a year’s plan starts in spring—and spring plowing is the first battle of the year for agricultural production. Just after the Spring Equinox, the season has kicked into high gear across Hangzhou. From farmers bustling through tea gardens at dawn, to delivery trucks racing along rural roads, and agricultural technicians checking crop conditions in the fields, a vibrant picture of spring farming is unfolding.
From March to May this year, Hangzhou’s supply and marketing cooperatives will launch a series of initiatives to support spring plowing, including delivering agricultural supplies directly to rural communities. Through concrete, farmer-friendly measures, the system aims to help farmers get the season off to a strong start, strengthen the resilience of agricultural production, and reinforce the foundations of food security and rural revitalization.
A restructured supply system and robust emergency reserves are key to ensuring reliability. Hangzhou’s supply and marketing cooperative system has built a distribution network that connects city, county, and township levels while integrating online and offline channels. The network now includes 13 agricultural supply enterprises and 621 service outlets, enabling full coverage and efficient delivery. In response to risks such as late cold snaps and heavy rainfall, the system has prepared ample emergency stockpiles to ensure supplies can be mobilized, delivered, and put to use when needed. Currently, the system has stockpiled over 22,000 tons of fertilizer and nearly 950 tons of pesticides—with some areas capable of supplying double the anticipated demand. A price monitoring mechanism is also in place, with centralized procurement and direct sales helping stabilize prices at the source and giving farmers more predictable cost expectations.
Bringing services closer to farmers, the cooperatives are also delivering practical support to rural households. During this spring plowing season, the municipal supply and marketing cooperative will give away over 1.2 million yuan worth of agricultural supplies to farmers free of charge, with total giveaways across the system expected to reach around 3 million yuan—putting real money back into farmers’ pockets. At the same time, agricultural technology services are being brought directly to the fields, helping farmers shift from relying on luck to making informed decisions based on weather and conditions. In Fuyang, for example, authorities have rolled out a unified selection of high-quality seeds and developed seedling cultivation substrates. The Tianmu Granary project has stepped up equipment maintenance and crop monitoring, while organic fertilizer companies are offering door-to-door delivery to support green farming. Local agricultural service teams and so-called “crop doctors” are also out in the fields providing one-on-one instructions, helping farmers tackle challenges on the ground.
A representative from the municipal supply and marketing cooperative said the organization will continue to focus on critical moments in the spring plowing season, making sure supplies, expertise, and services reach farmers in a timely manner. By continuously improving the agricultural supply and service system, the cooperative aims to play its part in safeguarding food security with concrete actions and high-quality support—contributing to Hangzhou’s push for agricultural modernization and rural revitalization.