In June, the State Council, the Chinese Government's cabinet, issued a plan to accelerate agricultural and rural modernization during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The plan seeks to accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas to drive Chinese modernization, and it has identified key tasks and policy measures for this purpose during the period.
Women in China are truly "holding up half the sky" in advancing agricultural and rural modernization. With their wisdom and tenacity, they have been injecting sustained momentum into rural development.
This article focuses on the story of Tian Shuxian, director of Xianzi Ecological Planting and Breeding Cooperative, in Chibi, a city in central China's Hubei Province.
Tian Shuxian, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, is director of Xianzi Ecological Planting and Breeding Cooperative, in Chibi, a city in central China's Hubei Province. By tapping into her agricultural and technological knowledge, she has helped locals achieve prosperity by developing a modern eco-agriculture industry in her area.
Tian, who grew up in Anfeng, a village in Chibi, decided to dedicate herself to farming when she was in high school. She has since earned a bachelor's degree, in biotechnology, and a master's degree, in fishing science. "I chose my major to prepare for farming," she says. In 2017, she quit her job, in east China's Zhejiang Province, and returned to her hometown, to engage in agriculture.
Tian established an ecological-agriculture laboratory, with microbial-culture and water-quality-testing rooms, near the fields. Through repeated experiments and practice, she developed the "fungi-algae-rice-shrimp-duck" ecological circular farming model.
"In the same paddy field, water quality is regulated through microorganisms, to support intensive crayfish farming from January to June, followed by rice cultivation and duck rearing from July to December. The ducks help with weeding and pest control, while their manure fertilizes the field, thus creating a highly efficient, green-circular chain that yields three harvests from one field," Tian explains.
The model has been successful, and an increasing number of locals have been adopting the model. In 2018, Tian established Xianzi Ecological Planting and Breeding Cooperative.
Thanks to Tian's model, area residents have achieved a per-mu (a unit of land area in the Chinese system of units, 1 mu equals about 666.67 square meters) yield of 100 kilograms of clean-water crayfish, 500 kilograms of high-quality rice and 30 antibiotic-free ducks, with an income reaching about 6,900 yuan (US $1,014.71) per mu. That is more than a fivefold increase when compared with traditional farming.
"Even more remarkably, the use of chemical fertilizers has been reduced by 60 percent, and pesticides and fishery medicine by 80 percent. Soil microorganisms are effectively being protected, and soil fertility is enhancing year by year," Tian says.
In 2024, the model was included in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Ecological and Low-Carbon Food Systems Project.
"In the past, we relied on old experience for farming. The yields were low, and it was exhausting. Since we started working with Tian, and using her new methods, it has become much easier, and our incomes have increased," says an elderly villager. His depiction is a vivid portrayal of the agricultural transformation and upgrading that has taken place in Anfeng. "She has been leading us to do things together. We trust her, as she really works for the benefit of us all," says Chen Honghu, another villager.
Today, Tian's cooperative provides services to more than 200 farmers or agricultural enterprises. The cooperative has constructed an 8,200-square-meter integrated greenhouse, for rice-seedling cultivation and duck brooding, a 260-square-meter poultry egg-processing plant, and a 690-square-meter grain-storage and -processing center.
The cooperative has developed a smart farm management system, embedded with green and low-carbon concepts, and it has established an integrated model that brings together farms, the market, a smart-agriculture system and socialized services. In addition, the cooperative has created a modern farm, which connects with and benefits farmers through shared interests.
The cooperative also works with various research institutions, including the National Biopesticides Engineering Research Center, the Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Huazhong Agricultural University, to bring cutting-edge agricultural technology to the communities. So far, the cooperative has provided technical training to more than 1,000 farmers annually.
Under the guidance and support of the local women's federations, a women's federation for rural livestreamers has been established in Anfeng, and it has arranged for women to learn various skills, such as livestreaming and marketing. Tian has helped more than 200 women find employment and increase their incomes. With her help, some of the women have become livestreamers, local experts and/or skilled pest-control-drone operators.
Tian believes intelligent techniques will drive agricultural development. She currently is working toward her PhD, in artificial intelligence and smart governance, at Renmin University of China, in Beijing.
She never hesitates to share her practical experiences, so she can help more people. "I feel happy and fulfilled, when I see elderly villagers master techniques, like raising ducks in rice paddies, and as I witness more young people as they return to their hometowns to start businesses," Tian says.
Last year, the team of students, from Wuhan University of Technology, and mentored by Tian, won first prize in the rural revitalization category of the National College Students E-commerce "Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship" Competition.
Tian was named a National March 8th Red-Banner Holder, and her cooperative was named a National Civilized Women's Post in March. Previously, Tian was named a Top 10 National Farmer and a National Model Worker.
"I hope more women farmers will use new farming tools to demonstrate women's strength, and to promote rural revitalization through science and technology. We will write a new chapter of women's achievements in advancing Chinese modernization," says Tian.
Photos from Interviewee
(Women of China English Monthly September 2026)
Editor: Wang Shasha
