The shepherd who made his fortune raising sheep moved into a large villa
On the morning of July 14, the Yulin "Above the Great Wall" Environmental Century Tour group visited Majialiang Village in Hengshan Town, Hengshan County. The first impression here was wide roads and big houses, and many city dwellers visiting the place exclaimed: "It's so good to live here." Forty years ago, the ancestors of the people of Majialiang began raising sheep; forty years later, thanks to sheep raising, the people here have moved into villas. This phenomenon was vividly described by admiring visitors as "shepherds living in villas." "Every household here raises sheep. A few hundred meters from our doors are our own sheep pens, planned and managed in a unified way. We no longer depend on the land for a living, and per capita income is over 10,000 yuan," the villagers of Majialiang said with great pride.
The villagers' villas are fully equipped
"The government paid to level this mountain, and we paid to build the houses." In front of his own villa, the reporter met 67-year-old villager Ma Dengya, who beamed with pride when talking about these large houses. "In 2008, government leaders came to talk to me, then the village Party secretary, saying they wanted to move the whole village of more than 200 people off the mountain ridge." Ma Dengya recalled that the leaders said at the time that if they were going to go big, they would level the 18-meter-high mountain nearby and build houses on it not far from the sheep pens; if they were going to go small, they would relocate to a flat piece of land. "If we're going to do it, let's do it big," Ma Dengya said. "At that time I slapped my thigh hard and gave the leaders my guarantee."
So starting at the end of 2008, a massive project got under way, and after 3 years, 20 brand-new villas were completed. Ma Dengya explained, "There are 20 of these large houses in total, each housing 2 households, each household more than 240 sq m. My eldest son and I occupy one, and building the house cost more than 400,000, while last year's renovation cost another 190,000." At Ma Dengya's home, the reporter saw that natural gas, solar water heaters, indoor staircases, LCD TVs, broadband internet... everything was available. When Ma Dengya and his wife have free time, they like to sit on the second-floor balcony and bask in the sun.
"Raising sheep gave me everything; I dare not shortchange the sheep"
Ma Dengya is a well-known sheep-raising expert in the village, the county, and even nationwide, and now his two sons Ma Rugui and Ma Ruzhu have inherited his business. Ma Ruzhu earned 180,000 last year from raising sheep. This year he is raising more than 200 sheep, making him a well-known large-scale sheep raiser in Majialiang.
When it comes to raising sheep, Ma Dengya was full of emotion. "Thanks to raising sheep, all three of my sons got married, and we also built 5 houses." He said, "The sheep gave me everything; I dare not shortchange the sheep." A reporter from Huashang Daily saw beside the sheep pen a few hundred meters from Ma Dengya's villa that the pen was enclosed with cement, steel bars and bricks, and to keep out rain, a rain shelter had been specially built above the pen. For environmental protection, the village separates human habitation from livestock raising, so there is no pollution from sheep manure processing, and one cubic meter of sheep manure can sell for 80 yuan. The village Party secretary Yang Wenqiang said that in 2008, the Yulin Municipal Government approved this place as the Northern Shaanxi White Cashmere Goat Scientific Breeding Demonstration Park. Up to now there are 220 sheep-raising households, with 8,100 animals on hand. A provincial-level science and technology demonstration expert center for Northern Shaanxi White Cashmere Goats has also been established, and a cumulative investment of 34.24 million yuan has been completed, of which 27.93 million yuan was raised by farmers themselves.
Another villager, Ma Zengzheng, said that the white cashmere goats raised here are hybrids of Liaoning goats and Northern Shaanxi black goats, with characteristics such as fine and long cashmere and delicious meat, and that unified, scientific management of the whole village's goats has been achieved, with people from all over the country visiting every week.
"Raising sheep requires not only management ability,
but even more the ability to create"
Villager Ma Zhancang's income last year reached 80,000 yuan, but he was not satisfied. "My house is being renovated, and everything needs money now." Because Majialiang white cashmere goats have built a brand, as soon as the goats are ready for market, buyers flock in, so Ma Zhancang plans to expand his sheep-raising scale. Village Party secretary Yang Wenqiang said that Majialiang could achieve its current results by relying first on perseverance, second on science, and third on diligence. "Only through scientific means and scientific management can one truly make a fortune."
A Huashang Daily reporter saw at a place not far from the villagers' villa area that a building covering 1,000 sq m is under construction. Villagers said this place is intended for catering services. In addition, a cold storage facility will also be built so that mutton can be kept fresh for a long time, gradually realizing a complete industrialization chain.
The villagers said with emotion that raising sheep involves a great deal of knowledge. One must not only know how to manage, but even more how to create. From a young goat to a grown one, each has its own unique patterns. "A goat is a treasure from head to tail. If the village develops the catering service industry and attracts city people to come, it will certainly have great prospects."
According to reports, in 2013 the village was awarded the title of "Research and Demonstration Experimental Base for Efficient Ecological Breeding Technology of Cashmere Goats in the Desert Grasslands of Northwest China" by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance, and was also awarded "Provincial-Level Ecological Village" by the Shaanxi Provincial People's Government. Yang Wenqiang said that the realignment of Provincial Highway 204 also passes through the village, and it is expected to further drive the village's economic development in the future.