Zhang County, Gansu: Quitting his job to return home and start a pig farm, keeping his hometown in his heart while seeking development
In the depths of winter, walking into Jinzhong Village, Jinzhong Town, Zhang County, a sign for the Liqing Livestock Breeding Farmers' Cooperative stands out conspicuously by the roadside. Following the directional signs to the farm, after exchanging pleasantries with the young and capable college graduate Zhao Liqing, he opened up and began to talk.
In 2010, Zhao Liqing was admitted to Huazhong Agricultural University to study Animal Science, becoming a "golden phoenix" flying out of the mountains. He majored in animal disease studies and modern breeding technology. He was diligent and studious, and during his 4 years at university, he was named an outstanding "three-good" student for many years. From September 2013 to June 2014, he studied in the Huangling area of COFCO Group, where he served as deputy factory manager. After graduating in July 2014, he was recruited by Wuhan CP Group as an area manager, responsible for work at large-scale farms. When he returned home on vacation and saw the villagers in his village struggling to make ends meet, he felt very distressed and conceived the idea of leading the villagers to escape poverty through breeding. When he told his parents about his idea, he immediately met with opposition. Zhao Liqing was not discouraged and patiently explained to his family the relevant national policies encouraging college students to start businesses, and the significance of starting his own farm. His determination and forward-thinking vision ultimately won his family's understanding and support. After careful consideration, in November 2015, he resigned from his manager position with an annual salary of 120,000 yuan. Together with his family, he raised funds from various sources, self-raising and borrowing from relatives and friends a total of more than 400,000 yuan as capital for starting the pig farm.
As the saying goes, the beginning of a business is the hardest. In February 2016, just as spring began, construction of the pig farm started. With the careful help of the town Party committee, government and county livestock technicians, the pig farm broke ground in the cold wind. In May, 2 fattening barns, a farrowing house and a feed processing facility were completed. He introduced 10 binary crossbred sows, 30 local breed pigs, and 100 commercial pigs, including 1 breeding boar, with an investment of 470,000 yuan. In accordance with the requirements of the pig improvement demonstration, it was built to high standards, achieving cleanliness and tidiness without pollution. He processed feed, disinfected the pig pens, and administered vaccinations for disease prevention. Using the techniques he had learned, he raised piglets that grew quickly, had strong disease resistance, and grew sleek and shiny. Villagers from surrounding areas came to visit and learn. The county livestock department sent more than 30 pig farmers from across the county to Liqing Farm, letting him teach techniques hands-on and guide pig raising.
Hard work pays off. In just over 4 months, the farm sold 120 commercial pigs, earning more than 200,000 yuan. There were also 160 fattening pigs on hand worth 350,000 yuan, 20 sows worth more than 70,000 yuan, and 40 piglets already born worth 25,000 yuan. He embarked on the road to prosperity through scientific pig raising, driving more than 30 local farming households to raise pigs, and established the Liqing Livestock Breeding Farmers' Cooperative, adopting the "base + cooperative + farmers" model, providing free breeding technology to farmers, artificial insemination for sows, and leading 20 impoverished households to raise sows, increasing every household's income and helping them escape poverty.
Zhao Liqing has made plans for future development. In 2017, he will build a 600-square-meter gestation barn so that local farmers' sows can be bred in a unified manner with unified disease prevention and control, improving local native pig breeds. With more than 200 sows on hand, he will drive more than 100 impoverished households to raise pigs, achieving rolling development for the cooperative and farmers, and prospering together.