Raising Shrimp for Ten Years, She Built a Fortune from Scratch

In Binhai Village, Xiaocaoe Town, Yuyao City, Ningbo, Zhejiang, there is a woman named Xu Lijuan. More than ten years ago, she started from nothing and founded a white shrimp (Pacific white shrimp) farm. Through hard work, she has now become a widely known leader in getting rich. On the eve of this year's March 8th Festival, she was named one of Xiaocaoe Town's "Top Ten Entrepreneurial Women" and received a grand commendation.

Xu Lijuan, now 53 years old, once repaired watches and also ran a grocery store. In 2004, at the age of 40, she learned that farming Pacific white shrimp was very profitable, so she invested more than 500,000 yuan and leased 204 mu of land from the local Ningbo Jiujiuhong Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., founding "Old Xu Family Farm" and devoting herself to Pacific white shrimp farming.

Xu Lijuan said: "In 2004, if you farmed Pacific white shrimp even slightly well, you could harvest 1,000 jin per mu, and the profits were high too. Earning 5,000 yuan per mu was easy money, so I thought about starting to farm Pacific white shrimp."

For many people, Pacific white shrimp is a delicacy, but for Xu Lijuan, Pacific white shrimp changed her life. Digging shrimp ponds, purchasing shrimp fry, selecting feed... For the high profits of Pacific white shrimp, Xu Lijuan worked like a tough woman, doing all kinds of work that men do. Although Xu Lijuan was a high school graduate in 1979, she knew nothing about Pacific white shrimp farming techniques. So she sought advice on farming techniques everywhere, but the result was still that however many she raised, that many died, and she lost more than 300,000 yuan in the first year alone.

There is no turning back once the arrow is shot. In order to farm shrimp well, Xu Lijuan visited shrimp farming enterprises inside and outside the province many times and often sought advice from well-known nearby aquaculture experts. At the same time, she lived right by the sea and did all the work herself. Testing water quality, observing shrimp fry diseases, turning on aeration equipment... Whenever people were already sound asleep at night, Xu Lijuan was still busy, inspecting all the shrimp ponds once every one and a half to two hours to ensure the shrimp fry were absolutely safe.

"The most critical thing in shrimp farming is water quality," Xu Lijuan said. "Now all the water we use for farming must be tested. You must believe in science. When we farmed in the past, because we had no way to test, when the shrimp fry died, it was a huge batch. Now four indicators in the water -- pH value, nitrite, ammonia nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide -- all have to be tested. If testing shows any indicator does not meet the requirements, the shrimp will die, and you cannot farm them."

Now, when talking about Pacific white shrimp farming techniques, Xu Lijuan speaks with great familiarity. She said that feeding Pacific white shrimp is very particular: you cannot feed too much. No shrimp has ever starved to death; shrimp only die from overeating. In addition, patrolling the ponds is also very important. Whether day or night, you must patrol the ponds once every one and a half to two hours. Once hypoxia is found, you must immediately increase oxygen. Even if the aeration pump breaks down, it must be repaired immediately overnight, otherwise all previous efforts will be wasted...

Hard work pays off. Starting from the second year, Xu Lijuan was able to make money every year from farming Pacific white shrimp. Especially in the marketing season, distributors would come to her door to purchase. With smooth farming and no worries about sales, Xu Lijuan became even more confident in her original choice. At present, Xu Lijuan's shrimp ponds have expanded to 750 mu. The Pacific white shrimp she farms are sold as far away as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Jiangsu, Shaoxing, Ningbo and other places, with annual sales reaching more than 6 million yuan. Even more gratifying is that she has also helped 6 nearby villager households start Pacific white shrimp farming.

"I am currently leading 6 households. Whatever they need, such as equipment and feed, they can all come to me to get it. If there is any problem with the shrimp ponds at night, such as a lack of oxygen, I will go help them. My hope is that everyone walks the road to prosperity together," Xu Lijuan said.