Wider benefits

While authorities mainly focused on village broadcasts' economic benefits, such content has a far wider significance.

Ding Xiwu, a student of traditional Chinese medicine at Yunnan Agriculture University, joined the ranks of a growing cohort of rural-themed broadcasters in 2022. Like many of his peers, Ding sold herbal medicines and other farm produce on his channel on Kuaishou. However, he went a step further, attempting to challenge the stereotypes facing agronomy students and bolster the appeal of such practical and interesting majors.

In one of his clips, Ding encouraged followers in high school to apply to his alma mater as a plowing machine roared to life in the distance, a scene defying the conventional image of a college campus. "We do not have to till the land every day," he assured them. The clip amassed more than 1 billion views across multiple platforms.

Ding, who has almost 300,000 followers on Kuaishou, said he never expected to become an internet celebrity when he started. "In the beginning, I was just trying to keep a record of my life and bring happiness to people around me. But it is a pleasant surprise that many people learn more about my university because of my vlog," he said, in tacit acknowledgment of the recruitment difficulties faced by many agricultural universities.

Ding has tried to make the most of his newfound fame. He worked with the university's authorities and rolled out a series of clips offering technical help to farmers grappling with a wide range of problems, such as a sick cow or a patch of underperforming wheat. "I hope more students studying agriculture can join me in the new generation of farmers," he said.

According to a survey by Kuaishou, there are about 216,000 vloggers on the app sharing know-how in areas including planting, animal raising and fishing. Such content adds up to 500,000 hours a day, and the app proudly proclaims itself a next-generation farming tool.