Tan Junping Gets Rich Raising Rabbits

Tan Junping observes the rabbits' growth every day.

"Little rabbit, be good, open the door." For Tan Junping of Group 5, Jinbao Village, Maguan Town, the long-eared, red-eyed rabbits have opened the door to prosperity.

From 2013 to 2016, Tan Junping's rabbit farm marketed more than 30,000 meat rabbits annually, with profits of more than 400,000 yuan, making rabbit farming a promising "money prospect."

"Rabbits eat only twice a day, and they get few diseases, so they are relatively easy to raise," Tan Junping said. The farm mainly raises meat rabbits, including breeds such as the Harbin White rabbit, Angora rabbit, and New Zealand rabbit.

In 2013, Tan Junping, then 45 years old, returned to his hometown from working in Zhejiang. After learning about the rabbit breeding base of A Xing Ji in Zhong County, he made up his mind to return home and start a business.

Afterward, Tan Junping spent half a month in Bishan District and other places learning rabbit-raising techniques. He carefully took notes on rabbit hutch construction, rabbit disease prevention and control, feeding methods, and even how much energy a rabbit consumes each day. This training cost Tan Junping several thousand yuan out of his own pocket, but it was still worthwhile, because he not only learned breeding techniques but also solved the problem of selling the rabbits, finding buyers in the catering industry in Bishan District of Chongqing and in Zigong City and Neijiang City of Sichuan.

After the training ended and he returned to Jinbao Village, Tan Junping immediately coordinated land transfers, opened up the road up the mountain, renovated the rabbit sheds, and established the Zhong County Huadi Meat Rabbit Farm.

"Starting with small-scale farming as a trial, our family has a very clear division of labor. My parents are now important feeders, my wife is responsible for caring for female rabbits and breeding rabbits, and I am responsible for disease prevention and young rabbit breeding, as well as marketing and sales," Tan Junping said with a smile.

The road back home to start a business was not smooth. The first year's small-scale farming of 5,000 meat rabbits was very successful and made money, and the whole family was full of confidence, so the second year they immediately expanded the scale of farming. "Due to a lack of experience in large-scale farming, management could not keep up, and losses appeared one after another. I am very glad we chose to persist. After summarizing the lessons and improving our farming techniques, things are getting better and better now," Tan Junping said. His rabbits sell very well, and buyers have to pay half a month in advance to place orders.

"Agriculture has high risks, large investment, and a long cycle." In response, Tan Junping also summed things up: first, one must persist; second, one must ensure the capital chain does not break; third, one must master technology; fourth, one must aim at the market and pay attention to marketing. Tan Junping also believes that his success depended not only on mature farming techniques but also on the support given by the local Party committee and government in securing farming sites and providing subsidized loans. Tan Junping said that his success is ultimately due to the country's good policies and the nourishment of his native land.