Cooperative farmers

This method of cooperation is the one Niu Xiaoxin and his wife Xu Yan adopted when setting up their farm to produce chrysanthemum tea in Zhangjiaweizi village, Linyi, East China's Shandong province, when they were seniors in horticulture at the Shandong Agricultural University in 2016.

Following their teachers' recommendation, and with years of research in chrysanthemum cultivation, their agricultural career started smoothly when a company invested in their business plan.

Although quite familiar with modern farming practices, they still encountered various challenges they couldn't find solutions for in textbooks or classrooms.

"At school, everything is there, but building a farm means starting from scratch on barren land," 31-year-old Niu says, adding that every detail has to be designed, such as where to install water pipes and how long they need to be.

After four-and-a-half years of building up their farm, which covers about 6 hectares, they have cultivated 10 kinds of edible chrysanthemum for use in tea and have provided jobs for more than 40 villagers. To help promote their chrysanthemum tea, they took to Douyin, and their account has attracted more than 112,000 followers. On Bilibili they boast 19,000 followers.

"These days, there is a misunderstanding about agriculture, that we focus too much on how to grow tasty, good-quality products, but ignore the importance of sales," Niu says.