White goose farming helps farmers in Qianxi embark on the road to prosperity
“Goose, goose, goose, curved neck singing to the sky. White feathers set off green leaves, red feet bring in plenty of income.” In the woods of Group 2, Hongban Village, Zhongjian Township, Qianxi County, the loud calls of large white geese can be heard from time to time. This is the fruit of Zhu Caimin's return home to start a business.
After graduating from junior high school, Zhu Caimin had always worked away from home, and earning money was very hard. Seeing that his formerly poor hometown now has asphalt roads, with buses running every day, the school having changed from a low sand-piled building into a tall tiled teaching building, water and electricity connected, and every household raising goats, black-bone chickens, pigs and cattle, Zhu Caimin no longer wanted to keep drifting around outside with his wife, so in February this year the couple both returned home to start a business.
However, many villagers raise sheep, chickens, pigs and cattle, and he could not just follow behind them, because that would not only fail to make money due to the sluggish market, but might also hurt relationships as everyone undercut each other because goods could not be sold. After repeated consideration, he took a different path and taught himself by buyinggoose farmingbooks and looking up information on his mobile phone. In March he began to buy equipment, and ordered goslings online at 12 yuan each, first trial-raising 80.
More than two months later, all the young white geese had grown healthily into large white geese, which increased Zhu Caimin's confidence in farming, so in June he continued to buy 420 young geese, further expanding the scale of farming. Looking at the lively young white geese and the plump white large geese, he said happily: “Although I spent more than 14,000 yuan in total, I feel very happy.” “They can be sold after three months. The 80 I raised first can be sold soon. When fully grown, each weighs 8 jin. Calculated at the market price of 10 yuan per jin, 500 geese can sell for 40,000 yuan. After deducting costs, I can earn about 30,000 yuan. I can raise at least two seasons a year. If all goes smoothly, earning 60,000 yuan a year is no problem.” Zhu Caimin said with full confidence.
What I do is under-forest farming, without feed, but feeding them tender grass and grain. It is original ecological farming. I want to build the green brand of “Qianxi Ecological Large White Goose” and upgrade the price. When I have more funds, I will raise more, with plans to raise four or five thousand. I will actively go out to explore the market and cooperate with hotels and restaurants in Qianxi, Jinsha, Dafang county towns and even Guiyang, the provincial capital, implementing order-based farming and sales, and preparing to earn several hundred thousand a year. If villagers are willing to raise them too, I can lead them in doing it, hire workers to manage for me, while I specialize in running the market, and become a true Hongban Plateau “Goose Boss,” enjoying the feeling of becoming rich through farming.
At present, Hongban Village has a great many farming households, with more than 20 large farming households of various kinds, and more than 40 households lifted out of poverty through farming. Zhongjian Township is still increasing its support for Hongban Village and is preparing to build a relocation site for poverty alleviation, concentrating farmers from remote, border and poor areas in places with better living conditions such as water, electricity, roads and communications, to develop distinctive farming. Let all farming households be lifted out of poverty with precision and sing the song of prosperity. (Special correspondent Chen Long)