Zhang Senlin of Wuzhuang Village, Shangzhou: Getting Out of Poverty and Becoming Prosperous Mainly Depends on Yourself
"Now that the country's poverty alleviation policies are so good, we have to buck up and work hard too. Getting out of poverty and becoming prosperous mainly depends on ourselves." On the afternoon of May 25, at Zhang Senlin's pig farm, he told the reporter this while adding feed to the trough.
Zhang Senlin, 47 this year, is a villager of Wuzhuang Village, Yangyuhe Town, Shangzhou District, Shangluo City, Shaanxi Province. His daughter is in her third year of university, and his son is in middle school. After his wife injured her left leg in a fall in 2008, she could no longer do heavy work, and the family's entire income depended on him alone. "I used to do odd jobs in the city, and after a whole year I couldn't earn much money. Life was tight."
In 2015, Zhang Senlin returned to the village and, with policy support, grew Salvia miltiorrhiza (red sage), Schizonepeta tenuifolia (Japanese catnip) and Jerusalem artichoke, which gave him a certain amount of income security. But Zhang Senlin had always had a thought in his heart: poverty alleviation officials came to his door time and again to explain poverty alleviation policies and tried every means to solve the people's difficulties, putting a great deal into helping poor households escape poverty and become prosperous. If he himself still took no action to escape poverty and become prosperous, that would really be inexcusable. With policies so good now, he had to do something. So, at the beginning of this year, through a poverty alleviation subsidized loan and self-raised funds, he built a pig farm and began his own entrepreneurial path.
The pig farm has a total of 24 pens, and when fully stocked it can raise more than 200 live pigs. Affected by funds and recent market conditions, Zhang Senlin is currently raising only 28, including 6 sows. "Filling the pens would still require an investment of more than 100,000, and the market hasn't been good recently. I don't have extra money on hand either, so I'll just raise these for now; the risk can be a bit smaller. Once these piglets are grown and ready for market, I'll slowly expand the scale. Getting out of poverty and becoming prosperous isn't something that happens all at once," Zhang Senlin said.
In addition to the influence of funds and market conditions, Zhang Senlin believes that his own breeding technology has not yet reached the level of large-scale breeding, and improving his technical level is something that needs to be solved as soon as possible. On ordinary days, Zhang Senlin learns pig-raising techniques through the internet on the one hand, and learns experience from the village's veteran breeders on the other. He hopes to receive more technical support in the process of escaping poverty, improve his scientific breeding level, and lay a good foundation for future large-scale breeding.
"There are a few other households nearby raising pigs too, and none of the scales are very large. I'm thinking that the few of us should really put in the effort to run our pig farms well, first get ourselves out of poverty, and then strive to lead everyone in starting businesses together." As for the future, Zhang Senlin has his own long-term plan: start steadily, gradually grow and expand, form a joint force with other pig farmers, and drive the masses to develop together...
By the time he finished handling matters at the pig farm, it was already past 2 p.m. After Zhang Senlin and his wife hurried home and finished lunch, they picked up two baskets of Schizonepeta tenuifolia seedlings and headed to the field. "It rained yesterday so we couldn't do it. Today the weather is so good, we have to get the Schizonepeta tenuifolia seedlings planted quickly." At the foot of the slope not far from home, Zhang Senlin's family has a little over four fen of sandy soil, part of which had already been planted with Schizonepeta tenuifolia seedlings. Zhang Senlin's wife used a hoe to dig holes at a certain spacing, and Zhang Senlin inserted the seedlings into the holes. Working in coordination, the two quickly planted the Schizonepeta tenuifolia seedlings across a large patch of land. After some guidance from Zhang Senlin, the reporter tried to help them plant seedlings. Because the terrain was rather steep, just standing there already felt strenuous, and planting the seedlings felt even more difficult.
"This year we planted a total of 7 mu of Salvia miltiorrhiza (red sage), Schizonepeta tenuifolia (Japanese catnip) and Jerusalem artichoke. When there's a harvest, our income can increase a bit more. As long as we work steadily, I believe there's always hope for good days." Looking at the Schizonepeta tenuifolia planted before him, Zhang Senlin told the reporter.