Pig-farming whiz Zuo He leads villagers to prosperity
In Group 4 of Fengjia Village, Qitamu Town, Jiutai District, 34-year-old Zuo He is a locally well-known "pig-farming Xi Shi." She not only started her own business and found prosperity, but also motivated farming households in the village to take up pig farming, becoming a leader among rural entrepreneurs. Recently, Zuo He was named a Changchun Good Person pacesetter for entrepreneurship and innovation. "I owe what I have today to the help of my fellow villagers, and even more to the country's good policies. From now on I will keep leading the villagers to raise pigs together and get rich together."
After graduating from high school, Zuo He went out to work, and during that time she met Ding Lifu, who was also a rural kid. In 2004, not long after they married, the two decided to go home and go into farming. Zuo He asked someone to buy more than 10 sows, but the venture got off to a bad start: the sows she bought did not give birth and died off one after another, and not only did she not earn a single fen, she also lost tens of thousands of yuan. "It was really hard back then, but we could only keep going, because if you fall down, you can never stand up again," Zuo He said.
In 2005, the couple took the money they had scraped together by borrowing from relatives and friends, boarded a train to Gongzhuling, carefully observed operations at local farms, learned techniques and management, and brought back two high-quality young sows. Under her careful care, the piglets slowly grew up, were mated 6 months later, and then gave birth one after another; each pig could produce at least 12 young, and the young kept for breeding became high-quality sows in turn. Gradually, the pigsty filled up, and Zuo He also raised the pigs in batches according to age and breed. This time, Zuo He earned her first pot of gold in entrepreneurship, and she felt joy beyond words.
Starting a business is hard and cannot always go smoothly. In 2006, the national pig market fell sharply, and on top of that came a sudden epidemic; more than half of Zuo He's pigs died, and she again became penniless and deeply in debt. Many pig farmers tore down their pigsties and gave up farming, but Zuo He did not lose heart. She calmly analyzed the market situation and decided to continue pig farming. "As the old saying goes, nothing stays expensive for more than three years, and nothing stays cheap for more than three years; the law of market supply and demand is still there!" The couple worked from dawn to dusk and fed the pigs carefully. At last they held on until the second half of 2007, when pork was in short supply and the live pig market soared; Zuo He's farming business welcomed a second spring, and she not only paid off her debts but also reserved ample funds for expanding the scale of farming.
In 2009, the provincial government issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Pig, Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle and Poultry Industries." Zuo He seized the opportunity to establish Fukang Farm, which smoothly passed review and acceptance, was rated a provincial-level livestock farming community, and became a leader in the farming industry of Qitamu Town.
Today, Fukang Farm has 500 breeding pigs on hand, sells about 2,000 commercial pigs a year, and by conservative estimate can earn more than 200,000 yuan a year. After more than ten years of entrepreneurship, Zuo He has achieved modest success, but she has not forgotten the villagers around her; she and her husband taught the pig-farming techniques they had mastered, hand by hand, to many pig farmers. Thanks to her "passing on, helping and guiding," the villagers of Fengjia Village are full of enthusiasm for raising pigs, and many have become rich through the farming industry.