Although Luzon was like summer all year round, temperatures in February were still a little lower, making the weather relatively comfortable.
Limanan City in southern Luzon Island.
At the headquarters of Haitian Agriculture, Zhang Wei flipped through the progress reports for the various projects, rubbed his temples, picked up the insulated cup beside him, and took a sip of Oolong Tea.
The work of developing 600,000 mu of paddy fields this year, along with projects such as insect farms, mushroom farms, and feed-processing plants, had put him under immense pressure.
Recently, the General Company had issued another directive, instructing Haitian Agriculture to prepare to establish an Agricultural Association.
He had read the Agricultural Association's proposal and knew it was a massive project. Its overall plan seemed to take inspiration from agricultural associations in Japan, while also differing from them in some ways.
According to the proposal, the first-phase goal was to establish 80 distinctive Agricultural Cooperatives this year, involving around 80,000 farming households.
He picked up the phone. "Man Ling."
"I'm here, Manager Zhang. What do you need?" his assistant Man Ling replied.
"Notify the department heads that we're holding a meeting in the fifth-floor conference room at 2:30 this afternoon to discuss the Agricultural Association. Have each of them prepare a proposal based on their own department."
"Understood."
Two-thirty that afternoon.
A dozen department heads gathered in the conference room.
When Zhang Wei arrived, he skipped the small talk and got straight to the point. "Let's hear your thoughts. How should we move forward with the Agricultural Association? The General Company has high hopes for us, so don't let us down at this critical moment."
The head of the Haitian Business Unit spread his hands. "Manager Zhang, I'm already busy with the project to develop 600,000 mu of paddy fields. I don't have the capacity to get involved with the Agricultural Association."
The heads of the Insect Farming Business Unit and the Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit also looked helpless.
Zhang Wei understood their position, but still reminded them, "It's understandable that the Haitian Business Unit doesn't have time, but the Insect Farming Business Unit and Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit still need to pitch in."
"Uh... Do you want us to promote insect farming and mushroom cultivation to the farmers?" the head of the Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit asked hesitantly.
Zhang Wei asked, "How many mushroom varieties does the Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit currently have cultivation techniques for?"
"Right now, we have six varieties: Paddy straw mushroom, Shiitake mushroom, oyster mushroom, Wood ear mushroom, button mushroom, and Enoki mushroom. They're all commonly found on the market."
Zhang Wei wrote down the names of the mushroom varieties in his notebook, then added the number 12. "The Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit will provide technical support to 12 cooperatives. You'll supply them with spawn, and the company will provide them with financial support and sales channels."
"Twelve cooperatives?" The head of the Mushroom Cultivation Business Unit frowned. "We have to build large-scale cultivation plants ourselves. These small farms won't have much of a cost advantage!"
Zhang Wei waved a hand. "Don't worry. The company isn't going to operate at a loss. Abundant Home will buy all these mushrooms. As long as the farmers follow our lead, we can make them designated suppliers to Abundant Home. Even if we have to subsidize them at first, we need to see this through."
In practice, Haitian Agriculture was pursuing economies of scale and market monopolization.
Even if other small farmers and families tried to do it themselves, they would have no way to compete with Haitian Agriculture.
Once the market was monopolized, everyone else would have no choice but to leave.
As for insect farming, Zhang Wei also instructed the Insect Farming Business Unit to provide technical support and starter stock, and to support 12 cooperatives specializing in six varieties: locusts, crickets, Mealworms, silkworms, scorpions, and earthworms.
The remaining cooperative slots would go to fruit, vegetables, and aquaculture.
Everything produced by these cooperatives would be purchased by Haitian Agriculture, processed, and then supplied to Abundant Home or used internally by Haitian Agriculture.
The areas around Limanan and Darte Port were the first to feel the impact.
In a small mountain town called Snake Mountain Town, people were already talking about the cooperatives that had recently expanded into the area.
Master Basa, the town's biggest landowner, was clearly resistant and hostile to the cooperatives' arrival.
A young man with yellow, crooked teeth asked, "Uncle, are we going to work with Haitian Agriculture?"
"Work with them for what? Do you think I'm short a few million? Tell everyone in the family that they're not allowed to work with Haitian Agriculture." Master Basa spat as he spoke.
His family was a local power, with connections in Manila. Basa himself owned over 3,000 mu of hillside land planted with rambutans and wax apples, which he could sell in Manila through his own channels. Naturally, he looked down on Haitian Agriculture.
But the farmers in town weren't all part of the Basa family. Although the family controlled around 33 percent of Snake Mountain Town's land, many of the other farmers were related to them, too.
But there were degrees of closeness. Some had good relationships with the family, while others had only casual ties or even bad blood.
The Basa family owned a great deal of land, but it wasn't very large in terms of population, accounting for only around 3 percent of the town's residents.
After hearing the cooperative's pitch, the farmers with only a small plot of land hadn't rushed to sign up, but many were already tempted. They were simply waiting for someone else to take the first step.
People often tended to follow the crowd blindly.
The Snake Mountain Town Agricultural Cooperative project focused on growing fruit and vegetables, as well as rice.
Soon, the first person to take the plunge appeared.
A farmer named Roller signed the first contract. The 1.3 mu of hillside mango orchard and 0.3 mu of paddy fields owned by his family were brought into the cooperative.
Farmers who signed up with the cooperative had to grow the agricultural products it specified. Prices were fixed and adjusted once a year.
The cooperative also provided insurance, ensuring that neither the farmers nor the cooperative would go bankrupt in the event of natural disasters or other circumstances beyond their control.
When the other small farmers saw that the price Roller had signed for was about 18 percent higher than what Master Basa had previously offered for mangoes, they were tempted, too.
When their livelihoods were at stake, the farmers didn't care. Even those with close ties to the Basa family ignored its ban.
The cooperative manager patted the thick stack of contracts in his hand and sneered, "Looks like Master Basa's words aren't worth a single peso when money's on the line."
"Boss, do you think those guys will cause trouble?" a sales rep asked worriedly.
The cooperative manager showed no fear. "Heh. Don't forget who's backing us. If he doesn't want to leave with dignity, we'll help him do it."
Just as the manager had said, the Basa family was only a small local clan. It wouldn't dare use violence against a colossus like the Fernando family.
Before long, those small families would find out what it meant to be targeted.
Abundant Home had a well-developed transport and logistics network and food supply chain. It quickly opened convenience stores in every town, taking over markets that those small families had previously monopolized.
Farmers who signed up also received discounts similar to employee discounts. The cooperative provided affordable pesticides, fertilizers, and farm machinery, along with professional technical support.
Now even more farmers couldn't sit still, and more and more wanted to join the cooperative.
Farmers who refused to join, meanwhile, faced higher production costs and had to find their own sales and transport channels and buy their own insurance. It was a recipe for financial disaster.
Even the big landowners were starting to buckle.
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