Chen Xiumei: Using "ecological donkeys" to pull farming households onto the road to prosperity
As the saying goes: "Dragon meat in heaven, donkey meat on earth." This is probably the highest praise people can give to donkey meat. Because donkey meat has the "two high, two low" characteristics of high protein, low fat, high amino acids and low cholesterol, it has a good health-protecting effect on arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. At the same time, donkey hide is also the raw material for making Ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicinal material. Therefore, it is no exaggeration at all to say that the whole donkey is a treasure.
Data shows that because donkey products are in short supply, the current supply gap in the market has already reached more than 70%, and the scarcity of the products has also sent the price of donkey meat rising all the way, with an average annual increase of around 30%.
It was precisely because she had her eye on this market that Chen Xiumei, who used to be in pharmaceutical sales, decisively chose to "change careers" and devoted herself fully to her donkey-raising business.
After nearly a year of preparation, in August 2015, Guizhou Dingwang Industrial Co., Ltd. (Dingwang Industrial for short) was officially established at the provincial-level ecological animal husbandry demonstration zone at the foot of Fanjing Mountain in Songtao County. After the company was established, the first-phase investment meat-donkey breeding base, with an investment of more than 60 million yuan and an area of more than 2,000 mu, was quickly completed, and to date it has about 300 breeding donkeys on hand.
"Later I found that we had no trouble selling our donkeys at all." Chen Xiumei, chairman of Guizhou Dingwang Industrial Co., Ltd., told reporters with a smile that in order to meet development needs, in 2016 she continued to inject capital to expand the office building as well as the breeding pens and production workshops by more than 30,000 sq m.
"By the end of 2017, the base's meat-donkey slaughter volume will be able to reach more than 3,500 head, and by then it will be able to help 500 farming households escape poverty and become prosperous," Chen Xiumei said.
As a native of Chongqing, why would she put her business in Songtao, Guizhou? Chen Xiumei gave her own answer. She told reporters that relying on the natural pasture and beautiful scenery of the "Qiandong Grass Sea," the company simultaneously possesses the two development conditions of "agriculture and tourism." At the same time, Songtao is located at the junction of Guizhou, Hunan and Chongqing, two provinces and one municipality, and has long been known as the "Gateway to East Guizhou," with very convenient transportation. In addition, preferential policies are another major advantage that attracted her.
"We have enjoyed the government's preferential policies, and we should also share part of the benefits with farming households, so that local people can share in this dividend." During the interview, Chen Xiumei told reporters that since the company was established, it has always adhered to the purpose of "using science and technology to farm, and bringing prosperity to farmers," and has devoted itself to building a regularized and standardized agricultural breeding group. To this end, the company has made a clear positioning since its establishment, namely, taking ecological meat-donkey breeding as the foundation, scientific fattening as the means, and the "company + cooperative + farming household" model as the link, keeping files and cards for cooperative farming households, with fixed annual dividends, thereby driving more farming households to join in and helping more impoverished households escape poverty, become prosperous and strive for a moderately prosperous life.
"Under normal circumstances, if a farming household raises 20 donkeys for us on a contract basis, calculating on the basis that meat donkeys can be slaughtered in 8 months, each donkey can achieve a net profit of 1,500 yuan, and each household's income from raising donkeys alone would be more than 30,000 yuan." At the breeding base site, Liao Xiao, general manager of Dingwang Industrial, told reporters that at present the company has already set up 3 cooperatives under it, involving hundreds of farming households. Next, the company will continuously extend the development of the industrial chain, develop a system integrating feed processing, breeding-donkey reproduction, meat food processing and market development, shape a green and environmentally friendly high-quality donkey meat brand, establish a nationwide restaurant chain franchise system, and achieve the company's three major goals of production, ecology and efficiency.