The generosity of a large-scale pig farmer in Babu District, Hezhou City, warms people's hearts
Setting out from the city proper, a two-hour drive brings you to Guiling Town, long known as "a place where one step takes you into three provinces."
Zhong Huan, manager of the Zhong Huan Pig Farm in Guiling Town, Babu District, was found instructing poor householder Zhang Liuying on disinfecting the pig pens when we met him.
"Boss Zhong is such a good man, he helped me so much..." After learning why we had come, the quick-spoken Zhang Liuying was the first to open up. Zhang Liuying told this writer that she had started working at the pig farm early this year. There are 5 people in her family; her husband cannot do heavy work because of illness, and of her three children, the two older ones attend primary school in the village while the youngest attends kindergarten. She herself is also disabled, with limited mobility in her limbs, a grade-four disability, and life is extremely hard. After learning of her family's actual situation, Zhong Huan took the initiative to arrange for her to work at the pig farm, and she now receives a fixed monthly wage of 1,800 yuan, helping her get through her difficulties. Zhang Liuying also told us that because her family situation is rather special, she often has to ask for leave to go home and take care of family matters, and every time Zhong Huan agrees readily, never asking "what for," and never making things difficult for her. As she spoke, Zhang Liuying was filled with gratitude toward Zhong Huan.
In 2009, with his family's support, Zhong Huan set up the pig farm that now stands. At the start, lacking support in technology, capital and talent, and with pork prices riding a "roller coaster" in recent years, the farm had weak capacity to withstand risk and struggled to move forward, and for a time was not seen as promising.
After several years of development, the pig farm has grown from just a few tile-roofed houses and a few dozen pigs at the beginning to a modern large-scale pig farm with nearly 5,000 head on hand and an annual slaughter of more than 8,000 head. It also has Hezhou City's first pig feeding system, a breeding pig production information management database, and facilities for sewage treatment and harmless disposal of dead pigs. It has passed the standardization certification of the autonomous region, and the pollution-free agricultural product certification and place-of-origin certification of the Ministry of Agriculture and the autonomous region, becoming a major pig reserve unit of Hezhou City and a demonstration base for targeted poverty alleviation through industry assistance and a pig breeding poverty alleviation base in Guiling Town, Babu District.
Speaking of the next step in development, Zhong Huan's face was full of hope. He told this writer that, in response to the government's call, he plans to apply to take in microcredit funds from 200 poor households to further expand the scale of the farm. The farm's expansion project has already broken ground, with plans to add 400 sows and strive for an annual slaughter of 20,000 head. At the same time, to make it easier for farmers, especially poor households, to develop pig breeding, he plans to reopen a feed store on Guiling Street, continuing to provide feed on credit to poor households who cannot currently afford to buy feed but want to raise pigs, with the feed bill paid after the pigs are sent to slaughter. The feed store has now also entered the renovation stage.
At present, Zhong Huan's pig farm has taken in 9 poor households to work on site, and for poor households willing to learn pig breeding techniques and with the ability to work, they can combine shareholding dividends with working and learning at the pig farm; besides receiving a fixed annual dividend of 10%, they can also earn 1,800 yuan a month in labor pay, while learning breeding techniques. Once their skills are mastered, they can develop their own businesses by setting up cooperatives or raising pigs at home on their own, ultimately achieving a self-"blood-making" capacity.
One person getting rich does not count as being rich; only when everyone is rich does it count as being rich. Now wealthy, Zhong Huan has not forgotten his fellow villagers, and with his help and support, a large number of farming households in Guiling Town have found the road to prosperity through pig breeding.
Chen Yunming of Aimin Village, Guiling Town, quit his job in Guangdong and returned to Guiling several years ago, always wanting to start his own business, but he suffered from having no capital and no technical know-how. Later, with Zhong Huan's help and support, he set up a pig farm. With no money to buy feed, Zhong Huan let him take feed home on credit first; when the pig farm ran into technical problems, Zhong Huan provided help free of charge. Now Chen Yunming's pig farm has more than 500 head on hand and an annual slaughter of more than 1,000 head; his family has built a Western-style house and bought a car, and life is flourishing.
When drinking water, remember its source, and take pleasure in doing good. Zhong Huan's good deeds have also won widespread praise from all sectors of society, and he himself has been named a major breeding household of Hezhou City, a science and technology leader of Hezhou City, and one of the top ten economic talents of Guiling Town.
During the interview, in response to the praise from coworkers and peers, Zhong Huan appeared low-key and plain, saying: "Now that my own conditions are good, I just want to do what I can to help the fellow villagers who are facing difficulties, so that they can live a good life together!"