Hairy Crab Farming Helps Hugou Village in Henan Get Rich

Right now, although the hairy crab harvest season is still some time away, Hu Zhenyi of Hugou Village, Longjing Township, Pingqiao District, cannot take it easy. Old Hu has been raising crabs for 9 years, and his more than 100 mu of crab ponds are kept in perfect order, and it looks like another “bumper year.” But what really keeps him busy and weighs on his mind are the 8 poor households he has been helping. Are their hairy crabs growing well? Have they run into any new problems? With these questions in mind, Hu Zhenyi and the reporter visited the poor households on August 29.

According to the publicity committee member of Longjing Township, Hu Zhenyi's Hongshan Lake Hairy Crab Ecological Breeding Base is located in Hugou Village, Longjing Township, Pingqiao District. Having learned crab farming skills in Yangcheng Lake, Jiangsu, he returned home in 2007 to start his own business, and his crab farming venture has flourished locally.

Getting rich without forgetting his neighbors! Having grown rich first through crab farming, Hu Zhenyi gradually turned his attention to several households in the village that were struggling. In February this year, Hu Zhenyi made a “military pledge” before the township Party secretary that he would use his skills to lead his fellow villagers in throwing off the “hat” of poverty together. After that, dropping by the poor households' ponds every few days became Hu Zhenyi's habit. No matter how busy he was, he always made time to go, saying, “Since I've helped them, I must help them to the end, until they are out of poverty.” Every time he went, he always brought something along, sometimes materials he thought were good, sometimes a few bags of newly purchased feed, but what his “students” welcomed most was, of course, this “living dictionary” of crab farming himself.

“Old Hu really gives us his whole heart!” Speaking of Hu Zhenyi, the poor household Li Daocheng praised him again and again. “From requisitioning land and digging ponds to releasing crabs, to how to disinfect and mix feed, every blade of grass, every pipe, every net around the 20 mu crab pond owes something to him.” Li Daocheng's family burden was heavy and he had no source of income, so Hu Zhenyi, without a second thought, advanced him tens of thousands of yuan to use first.

At the end of June, a rainstorm hit, and Li Daocheng's crab pond was washed out. Overnight, the crabs in 10 mu of the pond escaped completely. It was too late to buy more crab fry, and finding the ones that had escaped was even more impossible! Just when Li Daocheng was about to cry but had no tears, Old Hu once again stepped forward. As soon as the rain let up a little, he took him to surround the crab pond with nets, while explaining how to better prevent this in advance next time, and afterward he even shared some crab fry from his own pond with Li Daocheng. “Old Li's pond here is estimated to yield 200 jin per mu, and one jin can sell for 60 yuan. Poverty alleviation is in sight!” Hu Zhenyi, who was inspecting the water conditions of the crab pond while introducing the market situation to us, was especially happy. The skills were just about fully taught, but over the year, he had lost more than 10 jin.

Relying on the abundant water resources of Hongshan Reservoir and diligent hands, Hu Zhenyi, through technical, ecological and industrialized farming, has made Hongshan Lake hairy crabs a prosperous industry for Hugou Village and a “golden key” for opening the door for villagers to escape poverty and become rich.