Annual pig farming output value reaches 6 million, the diligent "Spring Swallow" forges a path to prosperity
When people mention Li Chunyan, the villagers of Xinfaobao Village, Quanyanling Township, Lishu County, Jilin Province, vividly describe her as a diligent “Spring Swallow.” In 1993, Li Chunyan began small-scale backyard farming, raising just one black sow at the time. Today, it has grown into a large-scale farm with over 800 fattening pigs and over 170 breeding sows, and she has registered and established the “Lishu County Quanyanling Township Xinfaobao Mutai Pig Farm.” She is a well-known pig farming expert in the area. Driven by her example, starting in 1994, more than a hundred households in the village gradually embarked on the path to prosperity through household pig farming. Villager Lu Juan, who works away from home, said: “If it weren't for Sister Chunyan's warm help back then, my family would never have become well-off, and I wouldn't have the courage I have today to go out and explore the world.”
In 1991, when 24-year-old Li Chunyan married into her husband's family, the household had not a single decent piece of furniture or appliance, and was instead burdened with debt from her father-in-law's illness. The clever and capable Li Chunyan tried farming the land with her family, but what pained her was that after a year of hard work, the grain harvest only brought back meager income, and the whole family lived very frugally. Li Chunyan thought: living like this won't do; only by thinking and doing can life have joy and can one feel fulfilled. She needed to rely on existing advantages, find ways and seek a path to prosperity. After investigation and feasibility analysis, she decided to develop the breeding industry, borrowed some money from here and there, and began pig farming.
Li Chunyan said: “When I started preparing to build the pig farm in 1992, I spent almost every day in the pigpen with the pigs. I also had to diligently study pig farming techniques, consult materials, and master all kinds of knowledge about pig epidemic prevention, which increased my confidence in pig farming. Now I can say I'm both boss and technician. Never mind my own pigs getting sick -- even if pigs at other nearby farms get sick, I can go help treat them.”
Li Chunyan told the reporter: “In 2010, my family built a new pig housing facility. We started bringing in piglets on the fifth day of the first lunar month, about 200 of them, and within less than half a month they all died. At that point I was so devastated I didn't even want to live. After calming down and investigating the cause, I felt that pig farming must be self-breeding and self-raising to ensure epidemic prevention safety. So I started raising 17 breeding sows, then also raised breeding boars, and learned artificial insemination for breeding sows, piglet delivery, and epidemic prevention. At most, one of my breeding sows could produce 21 piglets. Now we've embarked on the path of large-scale farming. This year the pig market is very good, and I expect to earn over 1 million yuan in profit. I am full of confidence in pig farming.”
After 23 years of effort, Li Chunyan has built a modern, large-scale pig farming base. There are currently five standardized pig houses with a building area of 10,000 sq m, producing 4,000 pigs annually, with an annual output value of 6 million yuan. She has successively obtained the National Female Agent Professional Qualification Certificate and has been awarded titles including Siping City Rural Women's “Double Study, Double Compare” Expert Woman and Lishu County's “Double Study, Double Compare” Prosperity Champion Woman.