In late April, the Li family of Team Four had a relatively quiet spell.
By then, all the wasteland and farmland that needed plowing had been plowed, and all the crops that needed planting had been planted. Most had already sprouted, and some had even received their first watering and fertilizer application.
The Li family's high-horsepower tractors, seeders, and other equipment had gone from busy work to maintenance and storage. The year's first busy season for farm machinery was over.
In the courtyard, Li Jianguo led a group in servicing a high-horsepower tractor while discussing this year's situation with Li Long. "We've reclaimed another thousand-plus mu of wasteland this year. Nobody used to want any of this wasteland on the Team.
"As you know, it was all saline-alkali land. Nothing would grow. But after these two years of our cooperative's work, the wasteland is worth something now. Everyone wants to reclaim it to plant either cotton or goji berries."
Li Long smiled. "That's a good thing. Since we farmers adopted the household responsibility system, getting enough to eat hasn't been a problem. But if we want to make money, with yields as they are now, we can't do it with small plots. We can only expand the cultivated area."
In fact, the authorities and the public had always held differing views on adopting the household responsibility system and disbanding the People's Communes. The specific arrangements for the household responsibility system also varied from place to place.
Overall, the experience and lessons of later years showed that, at least here in Team Four, the future of agricultural development ultimately lay in cooperatives and collective farming. Going it alone really did make it easy to come unstuck.
Li Jianguo was quite pleased. Just putting the big machines to work this spring had