Photos of Yang in a straw hat wading through rice fields, accompanied by men armed with rifles, drew nearly 40 million views on Chinese social media Weibo, Global Times reported.
Yang, 50, is a farmer from Guizhou Province, China. He has no formal academic degree but he has spent nearly 20 years working in hybrid rice seed production, according to local outlet China Daily.
In 2017, he was sent to Jigawa State, Nigeria, to provide locals with agricultural technical guidance. At the time, they used outdated cultivation methods so rice yields were low and food shortages were common.
Farmers on a rice field in Nigeria. Photo by Pexels |
Despite the language barrier and scalding temperatures, Yang spent most of his time working in the rice fields. He often started work before sunrise and continued late into the night.
Yang taught himself the language of the locals and meticulously demonstrated each step of his farming techniques.
He said local farmers were skeptical at first but gradually began observing and following his methods.
Rice yields in Jigawa have risen from about 200 kilograms per mu (0.067 hectares) to 650-700 kilograms per mu since he started working there. “It has now exceeded 700 kilograms per mu,” Yang said.
Many local farmers that previously faced food shortages now produce enough rice for their families and sell surplus harvests to build houses or buy vehicles.
Yang said the local government had assigned armed police to protect him and his colleagues due to safety risks and food security concerns.
Recognizing his contributions to local agriculture, the Nigerian government raised Yang’s security protection to the highest level. One or two armed officers accompany him while he works in the fields and later stand guard at a post outside the compound after work, Beijing News reported.
“He is a very important expert we invited here. We must protect him at all costs,” a Nigerian government official said.
Yang has also trained a group of local technicians to maintain his farming techniques. With his help, the hybrid rice cultivation area in Jigawa has reached about 20,000 hectares.
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