Combining Planting and Breeding Helps Returning Farmers Find a Path to Prosperity

In Group 4, Guangming Village, Yaodu Town, Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu, 60-year-old Deng Mingfu is a well-known breeder who has raised tens of thousands of ducks. However, just when business was booming and big money was coming in, environmental inspections forced him into a difficult choice. Faced with the prospect of "shutting down the farm," Deng Mingfu changed his approach and found a new path combining planting and breeding. Now, there is no more pollution, and the fish are fat and the fruits and vegetables are thriving.

Gaining both environmental protection and industry, with even broader channels for making money - this was something Deng Mingfu had never imagined before.

Deng Mingfu's duck farm

Developing Breeding to Get Rich Through Hard Work

More than a decade ago, Deng Mingfu was still a traditional farmer. Aside from the busy farming seasons, he worked odd jobs at construction sites, earning little - just enough to support his family.

One day, while carrying two buckets of concrete at a construction site, Deng Mingfu accidentally fell from a building under construction more than 10 m high. After treatment, he managed to survive, but from then on, his family would not let him go out to work no matter what.

"If I don't work, and only grow grain, how will we live?" Deng Mingfu was deeply worried. Just then, the village encouraged breeding. "Brother Deng, you're a Party member - take the lead in breeding." "Alright, I'll give it a try." Considering the actual situation at the time, Deng Mingfu felt that breeding was a good way to make a living.

Deng Mingfu took out the family's modest savings, bought 100 ducklings, put up a fence behind the house, and began breeding. At noon he drove the ducks to the river to "exercise," and in the afternoon he herded them back home and fed them corn... Deng Mingfu cared for them attentively, hoping this flock of ducks would bring improvement to his family.

A year passed, and to Deng Mingfu's delight, his ducks had a particularly high egg-laying rate - he could collect more than 80 duck eggs every day. That year, the family's income was actually higher than ever before, and duck raising became their main source of income.

Ecological Protection Is Urgent

100, 500, 1,000, 2,000... Having tasted success, Deng Mingfu gradually expanded his scale, and the space in front of and behind the house could no longer meet the needs of breeding.

In 2010, Deng Mingfu transferred more than 3 mu of collective sloping land by the Pi River, dug ponds, put up fences, and built a new home for the ducks. There was water, grass, and ponds... Looking at the scene before him, Deng Mingfu was quite satisfied.

With funds and a site, and relying on his rich breeding experience, Deng Mingfu went all out, and in those two years the number of ducks reached as many as ten thousand. "At that time, just selling duck eggs brought in seven or eight thousand a day," Deng Mingfu said. He had indeed embarked on the road to prosperity, and thought he could keep going this way forever.

Fortune is unpredictable. "Old Deng, come quick - why have so many ducks died?" One day, his wife's shout woke Deng Mingfu from his nap. Without time to put on his shoes, he ran in panic to the river. Hundreds upon hundreds of ducks lay on the ground, and Deng Mingfu was stunned. That day, he lost nearly 50,000 yuan.

Later, agricultural experts said the ducks died from drinking polluted river water and silt. Only then did Deng Mingfu realize the pollution caused by his duck raising, and the direct discharge of manure made him uneasy.

"Combining Planting and Breeding" Turns Waste into Treasure

Deng Mingfu's ecological vegetables are growing promisingly

This perplexing situation was completely broken in 2017. "Deng Mingfu, you can't raise ducks like this. You must move away from the river and take corresponding measures to treat the manure, otherwise we'll shut you down." One day, leaders from the district, town, and village all came and issued a clear rectification notice to Deng Mingfu's farm.

That night, Deng Mingfu couldn't sleep, turning over the matter of the farm again and again: if it was shut down, how would the whole family make a living? If he moved, he would have to transfer land again to build a farm and buy equipment - demolition and rebuilding would cost at least 200,000 yuan, not a small investment. "At first I raised ducks to improve our lives, then I made money, but the environment got worse. I was a victim too - every year large numbers of ducks died because of the sludge..." Tossing and turning, scenes from years of duck raising replayed in Deng Mingfu's mind.

Early the next morning, Deng Mingfu took the initiative to find village Party secretary Hu Xianjian. "Secretary, I've made up my mind. I'll move the farm. I can't destroy the environment of our hometown just to enrich myself. But you have to help point me to a way out so I can continue breeding well." "As long as you're willing to change, the village will definitely help coordinate. Combining planting and breeding is a very good solution - we can give it a try," Hu Xianjian said.

With the village's help, Deng Mingfu quickly backfilled the original site and transferred more than 20 mu of land in the village to build a new home for the ducks. This new site was no simple matter: in the middle was a large fish pond for the ducks to play in normally, and the duck manure happened to be a "delicacy" for the fish; around the fish pond were various vegetables and fruit trees, whose needed nutrients came precisely from the fermented duck manure.

More than a year passed, and the advantages of combining planting and breeding became more and more obvious. "The small fry released last year have now grown as big as a palm, and by the end of the year they'll sell for at least fifty or sixty thousand yuan. The vegetables are growing especially well too - no other chemical fertilizers are needed at all." Deng Mingfu said happily that duck manure is a treasure, and he can no longer bear to discharge it.

The transformation of the duck farm brought Deng Mingfu both prosperity and peace of mind. "The more than 200,000 invested last year can be earned back this year!" (Lin Jie; photos provided by the Propaganda Department of the Qingbaijiang District Party Committee)