Small pigeon farming lifts up the dream of escaping poverty and becoming prosperous

Ding Junwu (left in the photo) is guiding Xu Guoxi (right in the photo) in raising pigeons

In the early morning in Shanggusi Village, Lijiaji Street, Huangpi District, Wuhan, with mist still lingering over the hilltops, Ding Junwu from the Qiaokou District targeted poverty alleviation village task force arrived at the pigeon farm early. Last year he came to Shanggusi Village to carry out poverty alleviation work. Through his persistence, the formerly abandoned primary school has become today's spacious and bright pigeon farm. Now, a new batch of meat pigeons is about to leave the coop, and Shanggusi Village has new hope on its path out of poverty.

Identifying demand and targeting the meat pigeon market

Because Shanggusi Village, Lijiaji Street, Huangpi District, is located in a remote area with inconvenient transportation, it has long been a well-known impoverished village. The village has 178 households and 812 people, including 22 poor households and 45 poor people. The village has nearly 10,000 mu of land, but most of it is hillside forest land, and the cultivated land area is less than 10%. To make a living, most young people have gone out to work, leaving only "the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled" in the village.

How to lead the villagers out of poverty and toward prosperity? Ding Junwu, who had just arrived, set his sights on raising pigeons. Pigeons grow quickly and can generally be sold in 25 to 28 days, with a favorable meat-to-feed ratio. In addition, pigeons themselves have strong disease resistance, giving them obvious advantages. "More importantly, raising pigeons does not require very intense labor. Feeding generally takes only more than an hour, and the rest of the work is usually cleaning the pigeon cages, which is relatively suitable for the older poor households here." Ding Junwu, who had past farming experience, acted as soon as he decided and quickly conducted research on the pigeon market.

Since Wuhan banned the sale of live poultry, pigeons have basically disappeared from ordinary vegetable markets and are rarely seen in supermarkets either, yet demand in the meat pigeon market is huge. "I contacted local catering companies in Wuhan, and they all said that as long as the quality of the meat pigeons is up to standard, they will buy as many as are available." After a round of investigation, Ding Junwu felt even more confident.

Ding Junwu quickly found Xu Guoxi, the "capable man" of Shanggusi Village, and explained to him in detail the benefits of raising pigeons. Xu Guoxi is a villager of the village. Because he had taken on construction projects, he had saved a little money. He had long wanted to do something for the village but had been troubled by not finding an opportunity. After hearing the introduction to the pigeon-raising project, he became very interested. With the support of the targeted poverty alleviation team and the village committee, in May of this year Xu Guoxi invested nearly 200,000 yuan of his own money and built the pigeon farm.

Golden pigeons take wing for poverty alleviation

More than half a year later, the pigeon farm now raises more than 300 pairs of white-feathered pigeons. Xu Guoxi did a detailed calculation: "A pair of pigeons generally hatches 10 to 20 squabs a year. Calculating by 12, the market price of a squab is about 17 yuan, which means the squabs bred by one pair of pigeons can be sold for more than 200 yuan a year. Now the pigeon farm has more than 300 pairs of pigeons, so the annual gross profit is more than 60,000 yuan. After deducting more than 20,000 yuan in feed costs, the net profit is 40,000 yuan."

With just more than 300 pairs of pigeons bringing in so much net income, Xu Guoxi, after this small trial, decided to go all out and expand boldly. He decided to renovate and upgrade the abandoned primary school and expand the breeding scale. "The building site, once expanded and fully used, can raise at least 1,000 pairs, and with the standardized workshop on the playground, at least another 2,000 pairs can be raised." Xu Guoxi counted on his fingers as he planned next year's new targets.

While becoming prosperous, he did not forget his fellow villagers. While the targeted poverty alleviation team was helping Xu Guoxi, Xu Guoxi also promised confidently to provide livelihoods for 4 poor households. The workers feeding pigeons at the pigeon farm are all local poor households. Wang Shaotang, now in his 60s, has always lived alone. In the past he worked away from home, but now that he is older and his legs are not as nimble, he has had to return home to farm. As soon as the pigeon farm was established, he came here. "Raising pigeons is good. Here there is food and lodging, and there are wages too. Besides, it is close to home, which is convenient."

Xu Guoxi's pigeon farm has also received concern and support from all sectors. This year alone, the Qiaokou District Government Office donated more than 30,000 yuan, and also contacted the Qiaokou Branch of the China Guangcai Program Wuhan Promotion Association, which contributed 20,000 yuan to purchase breeding pigeons. The counterpart poverty alleviation unit, China United Insurance Qiaokou Branch, also put in a lot of effort. Ding Yong, the person in charge of the company, ran to the pigeon farm frequently. "This year I will first order 10,000 yuan worth of pigeons from the farm. I will give you the money first, but you must deliver the goods to me properly when the time comes." Ding Junwu from the poverty alleviation team was also running around, helping Xu Guoxi contact lenders for a loan for the expansion of the pigeon farm.

Before the pigeons even left the coop, orders had already been placed. With attention and support from all sectors, Xu Guoxi's pigeon farm has developed rapidly. The pigeon farm is getting better and better, and Shanggusi Village's dream of escaping poverty and becoming prosperous is getting closer and closer.