Gentleman farmer
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Free-range geese in Wang Shenfu's Lohas Village in Miyun county, Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily] |
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Photos:Mr.Lohas's farms |
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All these combine to make a relatively sizable income for Lohas Village, but Wang insists money is not and never will be his sole motivation.
His teaching experience at the China Agricultural University and a later tenure with an agricultural company exposed him to some major problems in China's agricultural practices, like the over-use of pesticides.
"It's a very serious problem in either the breeding or growing. I wanted some real practice so I could help find ways to reduce the use of pesticide," he says.
One key value of agriculture is its diversity, Wang says, and every piece of land has its different nature, everyone has different tastes. In the pursuit of greater output and production, standardized agriculture is killing its own diversity, something that is against nature and the consumer's eating habits.
"I really cannot agree with some experts who say nutrition is all the same. Judging from lab results, they are the same, just like water from whatever sources is still H2O.
"Still you have different tastes, and people may prefer water from Evian, Nongfu Spring, and Robust. You drink different water. Why should you expect the whole country to eat the same eggs?" he argues.
"Many people take nutrition from purely the physical or chemical definition. That's outdated."
Free-range chickens and eggs are currently the main products from Lohas Village. The birds are fed with locally grown corn and soybean cakes that the farm produces, up until they are three months old. Then they are let loose to forage naturally in the surrounding hills.
A couple of years ago, Wang planted 200 rose trees as a gift to his wife, and they have turned into an attractive supplementary source of income - rose essence and rose jams made when the flowers are in season.
