Specialty farming helps Ren Fengjun weave his dream of escaping poverty

Ren Fengjun, 29, is a villager of Pangou Village in Xishuba Subdistrict. His family has 6 members, and his mother is disabled. The family fell into poverty because of illness. Under the guidance and help of the government, Ren Fengjun changed his approach and began raising breeding pigs. After overcoming one difficulty after another, the couple finally, through their hardworking hands, became a model in the whole village for escaping poverty and becoming better off.

In a simple courtyard halfway up the mountain in Pangou Village, Ren Fengjun raises nearly 10 pigs, and Ren Fengjun's family also lives here. Every morning when he gets up, he gives the pigs water, cleans the pigsty, and checks whether the herd has any signs of disease... Ren Fengjun and his wife have repeated this series of tasks for nearly half a year. Watching the sows in the pen give birth to piglets and the piglets grow up, their family has seen hope in life, and smiles have appeared on their faces more often. Ren Fengjun said: "This year the live pig market is still decent, and the pig price has stayed at 13 yuan per jin. Calculated this way, life will only get better and better."

Going from poverty to being about to escape poverty is not just one step away. Ren Fengjun said that "hard work" is his magic weapon for escaping poverty and becoming better off. A few years ago, Ren Fengjun had always raised pigs in the village. Because he had no technical skills, he lost everything overnight. Because his children were still young, he had to work harder than others. In order to increase income, he had to go out to work during the day and still had to plow the fields by flashlight after returning home at night.

"As a poor household, the government gives us corresponding policy support, but I cannot rely entirely on the government to give me help. To escape poverty, I still have to rely on my own hands and find a path suited to my own actual development," Ren Fengjun said.

This year Ren Fengjun discussed it with his wife and decided to raise live pigs. With the help of the government, he was given 5 breeding pigs for free. In order to save costs, the couple chose their own courtyard as the pigsty.

At first, the live pig market was not very prosperous. The pens they had worked hard to build did not bring them benefits, and they even made the whole family more financially strained. "These pigs have to eat every day. The grain we feed them ourselves is far from enough, and we still have to spend money to buy grain. At that time, each pig was not even worth the cost by the time it was ready for market," Ren Fengjun said.

This year, the live pig market gradually improved. After the Chinese New Year, Ren Fengjun will welcome his first bumper harvest year, and he has also gradually realized that he can live a good life in the village too. "Next year, I will continue to contract some land in the village to grow vegetables, melons and other crops to increase income. At this rate, our family will be able to escape poverty and live a good life next year!" When talking about the beautiful life in the future, Ren Fengjun felt very happy inside.