Impoverished household Yang Yuangang escapes poverty by raising pigs

Yang Yuangang is an impoverished household in Maling Village, Shuanglong Township, Pengshui County, Chongqing, with a family of 4. The family fell into poverty due to illness. Under the guidance and help of the local government, Yang Yuangang changed his approach and developed a pig farming business. After overcoming one difficulty after another, the couple finally embarked on the road to prosperity out of poverty through their hardworking hands.

Walking into Yang Yuangang's pig farm, there are lively little piglets as well as big fat pigs that are strong and about to be sent to market. Yang Yuangang said that the farm currently has more than 50 pigs on hand, and this year's market conditions for pigs are decent, with the pig price staying at 10 yuan per jin, so this year's net profit comes to more than 100,000 yuan. Not only has he been able to escape poverty, but he has also become a local model of prosperity.

From poverty to prosperity is not just a single step away. Yang Yuangang said that "hard work" was his magic weapon for escaping poverty and becoming prosperous. In 2012, he and his wife were both approaching 50, and the family mainly made a living by farming. Because their child was often ill and taking medicine all year round, Yang Yuangang had to work harder than others, even planting more grain than others. To increase income, Yang Yuangang had to go out to work during the day and still plow the fields by flashlight after returning home at night.

Recalling those arduous days, Yang Yuangang's face was full of worry. As he grew older, he gradually could not keep up with days of labor that went on regardless of day or night.

In 2012, Yang Yuangang discussed it with his wife and decided to raise pigs. Everything is hard at the beginning. Yang Yuangang and his wife held the only 20,000 yuan they had and did not know how to start.

To save costs, the couple decided to build the pens themselves. "We built the pens brick by brick and tile by tile, and every brick was made by ourselves with cement and sand." In this way, the couple spent a full year before finally completing all the pig pens.

In the first year or two, the pig market was not very prosperous. The pens they had worked so hard to build did not bring them any benefit and made the whole family even more financially strained. "Dozens of pigs have to eat every day. The grain we grew ourselves was far from enough, and we still had to spend money to buy grain. At that time, raising each pig to market weight was not even enough to cover the cost."

They kept going until 2015, when the pig market gradually improved and they began to make a profit. This year, Yang Yuangang welcomed his first bumper year, and the farm gradually got on track. Nearby farmers also came to "learn from him," and Yang Yuangang did not hesitate to teach them. Under his influence, villager Tang Hua from Group 3 of Maling Village also built a farm this year, with 120 pigs on hand.