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In the cafeteria of the Nanjing National Agricultural Innovation Center
In the time it takes to cook a bowl of noodles
Song Kechao didn’t expect that it would lead to a whole series of events.
Cooperation spanning thousands of miles
“Are you also involved in agricultural technology? We have over 50,000 acres of sea buckthorn forests in Tacheng, Xinjiang. We have been cultivating them for many years. Now the fat content of the sea buckthorn fruits is getting lower and lower. I wonder if there is a problem with the soil.”
A casual remark from the neighboring table made Song Kechao immediately put down his chopsticks. “We are the Shen Qirong Workstation established by the Nanjing National Agricultural Innovation Center, specializing in soil health research and industrialization…” In just ten minutes of casual conversation, both parties reached an agreement on cooperation – for the Tacheng sea buckthorn, based on soil nutrient and microorganism testing, they would develop a functional organic water-soluble fertilizer.
Let’s get started. In April, soil tests were conducted. By mid-July, the pilot product was developed. In August, the first batch of organic water-soluble fertilizer specifically for sea buckthorn, which is based on enzymatically decomposed animal protein amino acids, was delivered to the 30-acre sea buckthorn planting base in No. 170 Team of Taicheng. It was officially put into trial use. After one season, the results were immediate. The fat and protein content of the sea buckthorn fruits significantly increased, successfully solving a long-standing problem. As a member of the Nanjing National Agricultural Innovation Center, Jiangsu Shashu Tree Under Biotechnology’s general manager Cheng Min was overjoyed. In 2026, there will be another 3,000 acres of sea buckthorn on the Gobi Desert in Taicheng, waiting for this exclusive “nutritious meal” from Nanjing Jiangbei.
This unexpected encounter
It is during Song Kechao’s journey of agricultural technology entrepreneurship
A vivid illustration
From the laboratory researchers in white coats
To the entrepreneurs who have taken root in the fields and fields of the countryside
Every step of his
All of them carry the original intention of “bringing scientific research to practical application and benefiting farmers”
Who would have thought that Song Kechao, who now gets along well with farmers in the fields, originally majored in environmental engineering. After graduation, he plunged into Sinochem Group and engaged in the research and development of organic fertilizers. At that time, he dealt with the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure every day, surrounded by doctoral students majoring in agriculture. This seemingly “cross-border” job allowed him to touch the essence of agriculture for the first time and also planted the seed for him to deeply delve into agriculture.
The true transformation began with a crucial job transfer. At that time, the Sino-National Research Institute jointly established by Academician Shen Qirong’s team and Sivabo Company was established. The leader assigned him to be in charge of managing the institute. From then on, Song Kechao stepped out of the environmental protection field and devoted himself entirely to the research of agricultural microorganisms.
“Whether it’s ginger, lily or tomato, crops come in all kinds of variations, but the core issue always revolves around the soil.” Song Kechao said. The book “The Farmer of Four Thousand Years” further solidified his direction. The ancient wisdom recorded in the book about how the ancients nourished a large population with organic fertilizers is exactly what he wants to pass on – using modern technology to return to the path of healthy fertilization.
From the laboratory to the fields and farmlands, it was a challenge spanning fifteen years, and it was also a complete reshaping of one’s mindset. In the first ten years, he wore a white coat and conducted research in the temperature-controlled and humidity-controlled laboratory, with every set of data being precisely controllable. But in the past five years, he shed his white coat, braving the sun and rain, and traveling between different places in the fields and farmlands. What he faced were uncontrollable weather conditions, unsmooth communication, and skeptical looks from the farmers. “The microbial agents grown in the laboratory may lose their effectiveness if it doesn’t rain for a week; the highly efficient powder agents developed by us cannot be spread on thousands of acres of farmland by the farmers.” This was Song Kechao’s most profound realization. The precision of research must align with the practical needs of the farmers.
The story of the ginger farmers in Weifang, Shandong Province, left the greatest impression on Song Kechao.
On the first visit, the farmer thought the young man wearing a shirt didn’t know how to farm and kept shaking his head to refuse; on the second visit, he explained in detail with a PPT, and even boldly added WeChat; on the third visit, he took the university professor along and went straight to the field to take soil samples for analysis. Eventually, the farmer proposed to pay 10,000 yuan as the experimental fee for two acres of land. He gritted his teeth and agreed. The team made over 30 trips to Weifang in a year, collecting over 200 kilograms of soil samples for testing. Eventually, the “Targeted Microbial Community Regulation Technology RTMC” adopted by the team effectively solved the problem of soil-borne stem base rot disease of ginger. Now, this young man wearing a shirt has become a regular customer of Weifang ginger farmers. Whenever they arrive at a plot, the farmers would pull him aside to ask about the results of the soil microorganisms.
Agricultural technology entrepreneurs need to possess two sets of skills simultaneously: not only to collaborate with academicians on research directions, but also to communicate with farmers and translate “controlling soil microbial communities” into “the difference between drinking milk and drinking yogurt”. Song Kechao said this is his daily routine and also a necessary course for agricultural technology entrepreneurs.
And the confidence to confront farmers’ doubts head-on and to take on the risks of experiments comes not only from years of scientific research accumulation, but also from the support of the Nanjing National Agricultural Innovation Center.
“Building a laboratory by an enterprise itself usually requires at least several million yuan. Now, the liquid chromatography equipment and other equipment worth tens of millions at the Agricultural Innovation Center can be directly used by us, significantly reducing the research and development costs.” Song Kechao expressed his thoughts with amazement. What’s even more remarkable is the collaborative ecosystem here – “going upstairs is the upstream and downstream, and the neighbors on the left and right are the left and right hands”. When developing the hygrophilus mold water-soluble fertilizer of Academician Shen Qirong’s team, it was through cooperation with the Jiangsu Xinsheng Agricultural Science and Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd., a company in the park, that the problem of the hygrophilus spore powder not being soluble in water was solved, and a soluble powder was produced, which has more efficient application scenarios.
From an accidental encounter over a bowl of noodles in the cafeteria, to the cooperative exploration in the Xinjiang sandberry forest; from precise research and development in the laboratory to hands-on practice in the fields, Song Kechao’s transformation journey embodies the perseverance and passion of an agricultural technology entrepreneur.
He said that the future of China’s agriculture cannot be achieved without large-scale operations and technological advancements, and it also cannot be achieved without the participation of “new farmers”. What he can do is to remain deeply rooted in the land, so that more scientific research results can be brought out of the laboratories and become the “calming assurance” in the hands of farmers, allowing every inch of land to rejuvenate.
