Pig-Farming Expert Zhao Changfen: Donating Blood and Building Blood: Leading Fellow Villagers to Prosper Together
"Village clerk Zhao not only gave me piglets, but also bought them back at a high price, letting me earn more than 7,500 yuan in just four months..." On August 15, when Liu Wuyou, a poor household in Group 1 of Gonghe Village, Dadukou Town, Naxi District, Luzhou City, talked about how raising pigs had increased his income, his gratitude to village clerk Zhao Changfen was beyond words.
Zhao Changfen is a deputy to the Dadukou Town People's Congress, as well as a pacesetter in women's entrepreneurship and a pig-farming expert in the town. After becoming wealthy through pig farming, Zhao Changfen always kept the idea that "one family being rich is not true wealth; only when everyone is rich is it true wealth" in her heart. She not only encouraged surrounding villagers to develop large-scale pig farming, but also provided piglets free of charge to disadvantaged people nearby, and unreservedly passed on her disease prevention and treatment techniques to them, combining "blood donation" and "blood building" assistance and moving forward hand in hand with villagers on the road out of poverty.
Starting Her Own Business: A Farm Woman Builds a Brand Through Large-Scale Pig Farming
Zhao Changfen is 42 years old this year and has always been engaged in backyard pig raising in her rural hometown, accumulating rich pig-breeding techniques and experience. Years of experience in pig farming told her that raising pigs in a scattered, backyard way kept her busy all year yet earned little money, and when the market was bad she would even lose money. So she decided to seek excellent piglet breeds and start her own business to build a brand. In 2013, spurred by the state's increased support policies for pig farming, Zhao Changfen resolutely invested more than 1 million yuan to build a standardized pig farm covering an area of 2 mu, and introduced 108 sows able to farrow and 1 New Canadian line boar, currently the finest among pig breeds, for large-scale raising, achieving integration of pig farming and piglet breeding. Because the pig breeds were good and standardized farming was strictly implemented, Zhao Changfen's piglets were deeply welcomed by surrounding farmers and were in short supply. The next year, Zhao Changfen established Xianglong Livestock Co., Ltd. and registered the Lvyuan Animal Husbandry Family Farm. After three years of development, the benefits of Zhao Changfen's branded pig breeds became prominent, achieving annual market sales of 4,000 piglets and nearly 1,000 pigs, with annual net income of more than 1 million yuan. At the same time, Zhao Changfen's company also bought back pigs raised by farmers at a guaranteed minimum price, allowing surrounding villagers to achieve "worry-free farming." Under Zhao Changfen's demonstration and leadership, pig farming in Dadukou Town not only gained scale but also created a brand. The whole town built 2 large-scale pig farming communities with annual market sales of more than 4,000 head, 2 large-scale pig farms with annual market sales of more than 4,000 head, developed 9 specialized farming households with a scale of more than 1,000 head, and 83 large farming households with more than 50 head. Zhao Changfen has been rated as a pacesetter in women's entrepreneurship by the Dadukou Town Women's Federation.
Helping Fellow Villagers: Piglets at a 20 Percent Discount to Benefit Struggling Farmers
"For disabled villagers, households receiving the minimum living allowance, and registered poor households who want to develop pig farming, I will not only provide technical guidance throughout the whole process, but also give them a uniform 20 percent discount on the piglets they need." At the beginning of this year, Zhao Changfen made this promise to villagers at the village representatives' meeting. A 20 percent discount means one piglet is more than 300 yuan cheaper than the market price, equivalent to Zhao Changfen selling one piglet at "zero profit."
"At present, my pig farm is running smoothly. I have not only tasted the sweetness of brand pig farming, but also gained experience. Next, I will also encourage more villagers to raise pigs with me and prosper together." Zhao Changfen said that being rich herself did not count as being rich; only when everyone was rich was it true wealth. In the past, villagers were unwilling to develop crop farming and livestock raising mainly because they feared taking risks. Now that villagers have seen Zhao Changfen succeed in pig farming, everyone has confidence.
"As a deputy to the town People's Congress, if I do not handle the masses' affairs well and just follow what others say and go along with the crowd, I will not only let my fellow villagers down, but also have no prestige among the villagers, and it will be my own dereliction of duty." This is a sentence Zhao Changfen often says. In fact, now, with Zhao Changfen's help and encouragement, more than 10 households in Gonghe Village have begun raising pigs, including 3 large pig-farming households with annual market sales of more than 500 head.
Demonstration and Leadership, "Blood Donation + Blood Building," Hand in Hand Out of Poverty
"Boss Zhao, today I sent more than 200 finished pigs to market, and now I've come to repay the 100,000 yuan you lent me back then to build the pig farm." On August 11, Zhao Wenping, a large pig-farming household in Group 3 of Gonghe Village, sent his first batch of pigs to market. When talking about the gains from large-scale pig farming, the first person Zhao Wenping was grateful to was Zhao Changfen.
Zhao Wenping and his wife had previously worked away from home for many years and had no pig-farming experience at all, and a large area of their family's fields had also been left fallow. In the spring of 2015, Zhao Changfen calculated for Zhao Wenping an account of her own pig-farming experience and economic income, letting him see the pig-farming market and become tempted. In July 2015, with Zhao Changfen's help, Zhao Wenping's pig farm was smoothly completed, and he introduced 200 piglets from Zhao Changfen's pig farm for raising. At present, Zhao Wenping's pig farm has successively sent 700 commercial pigs to market, with net income reaching more than 200,000 yuan, achieving increased income and prosperity.
"The reason I succeeded in pig farming is that Zhao Changfen not only advanced more than 500,000 yuan for piglets for me, but also provided me with technical guidance. Half the credit for the pig farm's success belongs to her." Speaking of Zhao Changfen's help to him, Zhao Wenping's gratitude was beyond words.
In addition to encouraging surrounding villagers with the right conditions to develop the pig-farming industry, Zhao Changfen also took the initiative to help disadvantaged people escape poverty and become wealthy through pig farming. "I am really too grateful to you. You not only gave me piglets free of charge, but now that the pigs are sold, you bought them back again, giving me such a big advantage." Liu Wuyou of Group 1 of Gonghe Village is one of the disadvantaged people Zhao Changfen helped out of poverty. Liu Wuyou's family has 5 people in total, but only one laborer, with no source of income, and the family is quite poor. "His family is truly struggling. Buying 2 piglets costs more than 2,500 yuan, and I don't even know whether all his belongings put together could come up with it." Considering Liu Wuyou's actual situation, Zhao Changfen gave him 2 piglets free of charge to raise, and when the pigs were sent to market she bought them back at market price. This year, 4 households buying piglets at Zhao Changfen's pig farm enjoyed discount benefits, and she also gave 4 piglets free of charge to poor households to raise.
"In the work of poverty alleviation, people like Zhao Changfen who can lead the masses to eat 'crab' together are gradually emerging, especially some advanced models among our People's Congress deputies, who after becoming wealthy do not forget to lead the masses to become wealthy together, transforming 'blood-donation-style' poverty alleviation into 'blood-building-style' poverty alleviation, truly achieving the goal of 'People's Congress deputies are chosen by the people, and as a deputy I serve the people.'" said Zhang Yong'an, chairman of the Dadukou Town People's Congress.