Corn harvester inventor reaping rewards

Jilin man shucks big city life to help farmers in hometown find success

Since Wang Kun founded Jilin Shunkun Harvester Company in Panshi city, Jilin province, in 2016, he has obtained 39 national-level design and utility patents for its self-developed corn combine harvester and achieved annual sales of 450 million yuan ($62.3 million).

Born in 1983 in Dangshi village in Panshi, Wang began learning welding techniques at age 18 and spent two years honing his skills.

He then found work at a company producing security doors in Changchun, the provincial capital.

While he was striving to make a better life for himself in the big city, his hometown was never far from his thoughts.

"Despite the colorful lifestyle and more opportunities in the city, I still considered myself a farmer," he said.

"Therefore, I eventually decided to return to the farmland a year later."

Wang left his job in Changchun and began farming to help support his family in Dangshi. He spent his spare time trying to make small agricultural tools.

"I found that some villagers, especially the older ones, were still working on farms, while most of the young adults had left in search of work in cities.

Due to the region's hilly topography, most of the farmwork in my village had to be finished by hand," he said.

"My fellow villagers kept busy from spring to autumn. They seldom saw real harvesters, which are usually used on the plain regions."

Wang dreamed of doing something to make work easier for his fellow villagers. But right from the start, he encountered difficulties, beginning with his lack of theoretical knowledge.

"I hadn't studied at a college, so I had to learn as I went, making and remaking prototypes over and over again," he said.

"Moreover, I had very little money to buy materials. I eventually succeeded thanks to my parents, who unconditionally supported me."

Wang used money that his parents gave him and that he borrowed from relatives and friends to establish a small factory producing conveyors, which provided jobs for his fellow villagers and helped increase their incomes.

All the while, he never forgot his dream of making advanced machines to help make farm work easier.

He set up a research team consisting of 20 people from nearby villages to develop a self-propelled corn harvester and put it into production in 2016.

"Our core technical team is composed of farmers, who frequently study the performance of the machine in fields," said Li Shengli, director of the general affairs department of the company. "Every time a new machine rolled off the assembly line, Wang would drive it on his own farmland to test its performance."

The huge machine can be operated on various terrains, including in hilly areas and muddy fields, according to Li.

"It only takes about 20 minutes to assemble a harvester, and it's easy to learn how to operate it," he said. "In addition to harvesting corn in a clean manner, the machine is particularly efficient and practical and has a lot of power."

Their products have been sold to over 20 provincial-level regions, including the provinces of Yunnan and Gansu and the Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions.

The machines have also played an important role in harvesting farmland in mountainous areas.

The annual sales of the machines have ranked first among similar products in China for three consecutive years. "Our products have been warmly welcomed by farmers across the country and practically dominate the market in China's main corn-producing areas," Li said.

For Wang, the future of his company looks bright.

"Currently, we have established 16 supporting enterprises and have provided over 1,600 job opportunities to nearby villages. In the future, we will strive to expand to overseas markets such as Africa, as we have started working on updating the machines," he said.

"Meanwhile, the research and development team is studying unmanned driving and new energy harvesters. It is expected to create new energy harvesters next year and unmanned harvesters in 2025."