Overseas Returnee in Fujian Raises Pigs, Driving Old Revolutionary Base Area Villagers to Prosperity
The sow guards her newborn piglets.
Today, both the government and consumers attach great importance to food safety. Five years ago, "overseas returnee" Chen Yizhong returned to his hometown of Shouning County to become a pig farmer. Under the guidance of experts, he successfully bred the Xiangtun pig through crossbreeding and raised them in the wild. Today, the company Chen Yizhong founded has become a local leading agricultural enterprise, and its good returns have attracted villagers to join in one after another, helping them embark on a path out of poverty toward prosperity.
The sow leads her piglets to forage.
"Overseas Returnee" Becomes a Pig Farmer
Wild pigs roam all over the mountain; adult pigs lead the piglets through the grass, either grazing leisurely, chasing and playing, or lazily basking in the sun. On November 11, a reporter walked into Huangqi Natural Village, Tingxi Village, Da'an Township, Shouning County, and witnessed this amusing scene.
The wild pigs have a lovely name: Xiangtun pigs. Chen Yizhong, head of Shouning County Chaolv Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., explained that this new breed can be raised in the deep mountains like cattle and sheep, feeding on the zinc- and selenium-rich grass unique to Shouning. Combined with ample exercise, the meat has excellent texture and flavor and can be eaten blanched in hot pot like beef and mutton. "We supply mid-to-high-end restaurants in cities like Fuzhou and Shanghai, where 1 kg sells for 120 yuan to 160 yuan, and it's often in short supply!"
Chen Yizhong is a native of Shouning. He graduated from Xiamen University in 1984 and emigrated to New Zealand in 2001 to settle down. In this major agricultural country, Chen Yizhong developed a strong interest in local agriculture. "I helped out on a friend's farm with agriculture-related projects. There, farming can also be very profitable, because local agricultural products are of good quality and sell well around the world," he said.
In 2008, Chen Yizhong returned to China and felt that although people's living standards had improved tremendously, green products were not plentiful. He keenly sensed the huge market for green and healthy food. "I made up my mind to venture into ecological agriculture and bring New Zealand's green and healthy agricultural production methods back to China."
That year, after multiple surveys and comparisons, Chen Yizhong found this virgin land in his hometown - Huangqi Natural Village, Tingxi Village, Da'an Township. At an altitude of 1060 m, the air, soil and water quality here are all excellent, and the local soil is rich in the two trace elements selenium and zinc. "New Zealand's animal husbandry is very developed; their cattle and sheep are all free-range and grass-fed, so the quality is very good," he said. The free-range environment in his hometown is no worse than New Zealand's.
After more than a year of preparation, he established Shouning County Chaolv Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., carrying out comprehensive ecological agricultural development through a "company + farmers" model. At the beginning, he planted a variety of crops, insisting on no pesticide spraying, no chemical fertilizers, and only using farmyard manure, and he raised more than 20 kinds of poultry with grass and coarse grains.
At that time, most pigs sold on the market ate feed, and truly free-range pigs were few. "Feed pigs generally have a gamy smell. I was thinking, could I use the ecological environment resources of my hometown's deep mountains to raise grass-eating pigs without a gamy smell? If the research and development succeeded, it could replace imported high-end pork." After extensive investigation, he set his sights on the Bama Xiang pig from Guangxi.
In January 2010, under the guidance of experts from Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, he successfully crossbred Bama Xiang pigs with wild boars, breeding 8 breeding pigs with good meat quality, wildness and no gamy smell, naming them Xiangtun pigs.
Afterward, he made Xiangtun pigs a key development project and gradually expanded the breeding scale. At present, Huangqi Farm has more than 300 Xiangtun pigs on hand, including more than 100 breeding sows used for reproduction. In addition, he has established ecological bases in Zherong, Gutian, Fuzhou, Lianjiang, Changle and other places, with an annual slaughter of 2000 commercial pigs, achieving an output value of 10 million yuan.
Ecological Agriculture + Ecological Restaurant
Combining ecological agriculture with an experiential ecological restaurant is Chen Yizhong's dream. In 2010, he opened Huangqi Farmhouse at the Huangqi farm base. Starting in 2013, he brought the experiential restaurant to Fuzhou. Today, in Fuzhou, he has opened 3 self-produced and self-sold ecological restaurants, each integrating functions such as an experiential restaurant and a product showroom, providing dining experiences and sales services for all the company's products.
At the Beifengyuan Health Mountain House in the urban area of Fuzhou, in a space of more than 1000 sq m, there are functional areas such as an experiential restaurant and a product showroom. At the entrance of the experiential restaurant, a monitor is particularly eye-catching. On the screen, Xiangtun pigs are running joyfully or grazing with their heads down all over the mountain. In the showroom, agricultural products produced by the company such as selenium-rich and zinc-rich red rice, houttuynia cordata, and potatoes are displayed in different categories.
It turns out that Chen Yizhong installed surveillance cameras in every corner of the farm base. When customers come to the restaurant, they can see a live broadcast of the free-range Xiangtun pigs on site, making them feel more assured when tasting the pork. In addition, customers can also visit his website or WeChat official account to view the pig farm site through their mobile phones.
"All the ingredients in the restaurant, except salt, are produced at our own base. Many customers buy more agricultural products after dining at the restaurant. At present, Xiangtun pork has entered high-end restaurants in Fuzhou, Shanghai and other places, and has also driven the sales of other agricultural products from the base," Chen Yizhong said.
For agricultural enterprises newly entering the industry, the most troublesome and urgent problems are the market and branding. Chen Yizhong's solution is to focus on one center and make one flagship product. Once this product succeeds, it can drive the entire brand and industry chain.
In addition to relying on physical sales, Chen Yizhong has also spent considerable effort developing online sales models. At present, his team has completed the research and development of the client, set up the company's micro official website, and the registered "Yinsang Technology" has been listed on the Shanghai Q Board. With the current physical sales model becoming increasingly stable, the company is gaining greater development space through online marketing.
Driving Old Revolutionary Base Area Villagers to Prosperity
"Since Chaolv Company entered our village, my family can increase its income by about 30,000 yuan a year by selling agricultural products." On the 11th, in Huangqi Natural Village, Tingxi Village, Da'an Township, Yang Shulian was drying sweet potato rice at her doorstep. They not only raise Xiangtun pigs, but now also make various Shouning specialty agricultural products. She and her husband dry the sweet potato rice and sweet potato buttons they make at home and sell them all to Chaolv.
Tingxi Village is a village in an old revolutionary base area, only 13 km from the county seat, with a permanent population of 292. In the past, villagers relied only on a few thin fields and tea planting to make a living. After Chen Yizhong entered the village, he brought many changes to the villagers' production and daily life.
"In addition to working long-term at the Chaolv planting and breeding base and earning wages, villagers can also choose to raise Xiangtun pigs or grow agricultural products according to the company's needs, and the company is responsible for sales," said Xu Huiping, a cadre from Da'an Township. "In Huangqi Natural Village alone, more than 10 particularly poor households can increase their annual income by more than 20,000 yuan each by growing specialty agricultural products such as houttuynia cordata, potatoes, red rice, and vegetable tea."
Moreover, the highly profitable Xiangtun pig breeding has attracted many villagers to come and learn from him. Chen Yizhong has always kept his doors open to them, providing various positions for returning villagers so that they can learn skills while working.
"Villagers with good skills at the breeding farm can now earn more than 5,000 yuan a month in wages, and villagers with mature skills can also choose to start their own businesses by adopting Xiangtun pigs, with the company responsible for purchasing all adult pigs," Chen Yizhong said. Next, he will use Shouning's unique selenium-rich and zinc-rich land to develop more highlight products. At present, he is starting to build a food processing plant to extend the industry chain even longer and let Xiangtun pigs run even farther.