Raising wild ducks in fish ponds: Guanyang County, Guangxi has a clever way to get rich

In Guanyang County, there is a "big shot" who specializes in raising wild ducks and is famous in all the surrounding villages. In mid-July 2016, a reporter on a business trip to Guanyang stopped by to see what was going on.

Driving to Yuxi Village, Wenshi Town, Guanyang County, before even reaching the duck farm, the "quack quack..." calls came loud and clear. Approaching the duck farm, one could see more than 20,000 mallard ducks, spot-billed ducks and Xiangchun geese playing and chasing each other on the water under the protective netting, a lively scene indeed.

The owner, Wen Qifu, is just over 50, with a straight back and a deeply tanned face. When talking about the whole story of raising wild ducks, Wen Qifu seemed a little shy. Born in 1963, he was admitted to Guangxi Agricultural College in 1981 with excellent grades. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, he put down his pen and joined the army. After 10 years in the military, he was transferred to an administrative unit in Guilin. Then he struck out on his own and made his first pot of gold as a food agent.

Though successful in his career, Wen Qifu did not forget his original aspiration: what he studied in university was animal husbandry, and his fellow villagers living at the poverty line needed skills to get rich, so "returning home" would surely allow him to accomplish something.

After investigation, Wen Qifu took a fancy to the market potential of wild ducks. Starting in 2012, Wen Qifu, whose ancestral home is Shuiche Township, Guanyang County, brought all his family assets to Yuxi Village, Wenshi Town, Guanyang County, and founded Guilin Haoshenghuo Ecological Agriculture Co., Ltd. The company spans three administrative villages, Qingtang, Yuxi and Yueling, with a total area of more than 2,000 mu. The environment here is quiet, and the ponds and reservoirs have sufficient water, making it suitable for wild ducks to breed.

At the beginning of breeding, Wen Qifu bought more than 3,000 ducklings. Because relevant protective measures were not taken well, more than 1,000 flew away, which was a great pity. Good at summing up experience, he reinforced the containment netting and inspection netting to prevent escapes.

Wen Qifu said that raising wild ducks is a technical job, but the market potential is great. In addition to free-range raising, they are all fed with corn, rice bran, soybean germ, green powder and so on, in an original ecological breeding style, which is quite favored by the market. Mallard ducks can be served on residents' dining tables, and their feathers can also be used as cold-proof and warm-keeping materials. The feathers of male mallard ducks can also be made into clothing and craft products. At present, Wen Qifu's natural duck farm markets 50,000 wild ducks annually, with considerable economic benefits.

To make full use of the site, Wen Qifu planted grass to raise cattle, built sheds to raise pigs, and raised fish in the ponds, and the scale of three-dimensional planting and breeding has begun to take shape.

At present, Wen Qifu's company has more than 20 management personnel and employs more than 80 regular workers, including 30 poor households. In order to help local villagers shake off poverty and become rich as soon as possible and realize the "government + company + farmers" poverty alleviation model, Wen Qifu supplies ducklings to villagers at a discount, provides technical services free of charge, and buys them back at market prices.

Wen Qifu said: "Next, we will improve various infrastructure facilities, do a good job with the group-buying platform, take the e-commerce development path, and strive for an annual breeding output value of more than 100 million yuan."