Former Major Pig Farmer Now Falls in Love with a Sweet Business

Walking through the gate of the Yongxing Family Farm base in Xinmin Village, Fengqiao Town, farm owner Yang Yongxing was packing newly picked melons into boxes. "Melons bearing our 'Yongxing Farm' trademark will never have trouble selling once they reach the Jiaxing fruit market. With a sweetness of 12 degrees, they are the finest among melons." Speaking of his own products, Yang Yongxing's tone carried a touch of pride.

As the last batch of melons of the year was hauled away from the farm, Yang Yongxing began calculating his harvest for the first half of the year. "When they first hit the market in April, my melons sold for more than 10 yuan per jin. The price is a bit lower now, but an income of 13,000 to 14,000 yuan per mu is no problem."

Three years ago, when he was first faced with switching to a new line of work, Yang Yongxing was somewhat hesitant. Casting his mind back to 2013, Yang Yongxing was then still a major pig farmer in the village, with a pig shed of more than 1,000 sq m that could turn out more than 3,000 hogs a year. However, the "scattered, small, numerous and dense" nature of such farming quickly made villagers feel the "pain" inflicted on the environment. Yang Yongxing clearly remembers that "Panjiabang at the doorstep stank to high heaven every summer, and small dead piglets from backyard farmers would even be secretly thrown into the river..." As a result, reducing pig numbers while improving quality and protecting the ecological environment was placed on an important footing.

"The sheds do have to be torn down, but after raising pigs for more than a decade, what can a man approaching 50 do once they are gone?" Learning of Yang Yongxing's doubts, officials at the district, town and village levels visited him one after another, not only introducing him to preferential policies for switching to a new line of work, but also genuinely helping him find a new entrepreneurial path and business partners.

"A farmer's roots are still in the fields. Large-scale cultivation of premium melons and fruit really does have good prospects." With a plan for the future, in the second half of 2013 Yang Yongxing became one of the first farmers in the village to voluntarily demolish his illegally built pig sheds. Afterwards, with the help of district, town and village officials, he smoothly transferred 60 mu of village land and registered and established the Yongxing Family Farm in Fengqiao Town, Nanhu District, Jiaxing City, ready to make his mark in this new world.

Ideal is "plump," but reality is "bony." Yang Yongxing, a "layman" when it came to growing melons and fruit, soon ran into a development bottleneck. A lack of funds and insufficient technology became the two "roadblocks" in his efforts to expand cultivation. Fortunately, the local government's support policies for switching to a new line of work brought a "timely rain" to his fields. In 2014, the steel-frame greenhouses Yang Yongxing built with an investment of more than 900,000 yuan received a subsidy of more than 200,000 yuan. The town also acted as a matchmaker, bringing in Dong Dahong, a cultivation expert from Jiashan, as a technical equity partner to offer advice on growing premium produce.

In the very first year after switching production, Yang Yongxing enjoyed a bumper harvest, and the melons and fruit reaped that year brought him sales revenue of more than 1 million yuan. "I never expected to recoup my investment in a single year and still have a surplus of around 200,000 yuan." The encouraging results once again firming up Yang Yongxing's determination to grow premium melons and fruit.

Over the past two years, Yang Yongxing has transferred another 20 mu of village land, expanding the farm to 80 mu and building a total of 70 facility greenhouses. On top of growing melons, he has also been exploring techniques for cultivating Hami melons and other melons and fruit. "After the melons are harvested in June, I start plowing and planting Hami melons in July, and I can make another 5,000 yuan per mu." While calculating his income for the second half of the year, Yang Yongxing shared his thoughts with the reporter: "Actually, as long as our income doesn't drop, we're of course happiest to see the surrounding environment improve. Now there are fish swimming in Panjiabang again, and the air is much fresher than it was three years ago."

A person in charge at Fengqiao Town said that there are quite a few typical cases like Yang Yongxing who have switched to a new line of work in Fengqiao Town, and their success in "starting a business a second time" has set an example and strengthened confidence for farmers seeking to change production and increase income. At present, more than 50 family farms have been registered and established in the town.