Then, there was a pest infestation. In June 1972, as the farm was nearing harvest time an army of worms invaded the corn fields, eating half of the crops before they could be controlled.

In the spring of 1973, there was an ice flood when the Songhuajiang thawed. The flood left a mess and destroyed almost everything on the farm.

"This flood made it imperative to reinforce the levee alongside Songhuajiang," said Gu. Supported by the Central Government, the Songhuajiang levee project was finished in 1976, and Puyang Farm has never been hit by a flood since.

In 1977, Puyang Farm began to develop mechanized agriculture, and between 1977 and 2000 imported 300 machines from the United States, Germany and Japan. With these and 1,200 machines bought in China the farm achieved "totally mechanized production." In 2005, the farm imported 540 intelligent tractors with satellite positioning systems and digital remote control functions from the United States, and the following year invested more than 7 million yuan to update old machinery.

An airfield was also built at the farm to accommodate planes for weeding, pest control, fertilization and monitoring the growth of crops.

"Mechanized operations have greatly enhanced the farm's efficiency," said Cui Lijun, head of the farm's agricultural production section. "Today, six workers can finish the work that used to be done by 20 workers."

"We had basically realized standardized production by the end of 1984," added Li.

Mechanized and standardized production has led to increasing levels of grain production. The farm produced only 1,000 kg of rice or 750 kg of soybeans per hectare when it began, and now produces 7,500 kg of rice or 3,250 kg of soybeans per hectare. Puyang Farm reaped 193,000 tons of grain last year, accounting for 10 percent of total production in Beidahuang.

Cozy place

After dinner, residents of Puyang love to go for a walk in the square, which, the size of 50 basketball courts, and with its public gym equipment, is a popular place to hang out.

The farm has all the facilities to make it a cozy place to live, with two Internet bars, a kindergarten, a primary school, a middle school, a library, a bank, a hospital, a hotel, a restaurant and a shopping center. It also enjoys convenient transportation, with sleeper buses heading for Harbin every day.

Some Puyang residents live in villas, some in apartments and a small portion in single-storey houses. Many households use marsh gas and only senior residents remember the days when the locals slept in horse sheds.

"Urbanization is the focus of our job today with emphasis on the service industry," explained Gu.

The development of mechanized farming in Puyang Farm has liberated two thirds of the agricultural population. In order to provide employment for the surplus agricultural labor force, there are plans to develop agricultural product processing companies and the service industry over the next five years.

There are also plans to build housing projects to move residents still living in poor single-storey blocks into new high-rise buildings.

According to Gu, the farm still has production teams separated like villages far away from the town, making it inconvenient for them to seek medical care and education, and this group of people will move to the town in the near future. The farm is also experiencing an influx of migrant workers who will also need accommodation.

According to Gu the farm has invested 10 million yuan into the urbanization project. "You will see huge changes if you come back in a couple of years," he said.