Earthworm farming brings unexpected wealth

He is a corporate shareholder with personal annual sales of more than 30 million yuan. He took a fancy to earthworm farming to realize his pastoral dream, yet the tiny earthworms kept pushing him past the limits he had set. Through one casual experiment, even the earthworm castings became a hot commodity. What business opportunity did Li Chunguang discover in earthworms?

On weekends, Li Chunguang's base becomes a paradise for children. The activities here seem very novel to these young visitors from the city.

Li Chunguang: Dig out the earthworms, tie them onto a string, and then we can fish.

A bamboo pole, a thin string, with a few earthworms tied to the end - what will this simple fishing rod catch?

The children wait curiously for the prey to take the bait.

Parent: You caught one, you caught one.

It turns out what they caught were crayfish!

Reporter: Did you know how to catch crayfish before?

Young visitor: I had never seen anyone catch them. Before, I was always in the city and couldn't experience this. It's pretty fun.

Soon, all the kids were having success.

Visitor: Got one, got one, got one.

Reporter: Which one is this?

Young visitor: The second one.

Reporter: Does it hurt when the crayfish pinches you?

Reporter: It got away? Did you catch it?

Young visitor: I caught it and then it fell back in.

Does catching a crayfish yourself feel like a lot of fun?

Young visitor: Yes.

Reporter: The more you catch, the more you want to catch? Are you tired?

Young visitor: A little.

Reporter: Let me see this one. Oh my, this one is even bigger.

Even under the blazing sun, with crayfish pinching their hands, the children still play with endless joy.

Li Chunguang: We caught quite a few.

Reporter: Enough to stir-fry a plate?

Li Chunguang: Enough to cook tonight, enough for a plate. These are all the kids' - the kids caught them, so tonight we'll cook them for the kids to eat.

These crayfish are not farmed by Li Chunguang. So why do so many wild crayfish gather in the small ditches around his base? Li Chunguang did not explain, and immediately took the children to taste something delicious.

Li Chunguang: The ones over there with a bit of red color, already turning red, you see - the redder the better, right, the redder the better. You can eat one; pick one and if you think it's sweet, you can taste it, you can eat it directly.

Child: So sweet.

This is the large white mulberry that Li Chunguang specially planted. In this 30-mu orchard, there are also loquat, nectarine, green jujube and kiwifruit. Catching crayfish and picking fruit - Li Chunguang says the reason there are so many fun activities is all because he has a group of good workers.

Li Chunguang: Let me take you to see our workers, workers who work nonstop 24 hours a day.

Reporter: Where are your workers?

Li Chunguang: These are all of them. These are my workers, and also our wealth. Not only do we have wealth, we also help solve environmental problems. There are countless earthworms in here.

Reporter: So many.

Li Chunguang: Yes.

Reporter: What is this you're giving them?

Li Chunguang: After treatment, this is cow dung, pure cow dung.

Reporter: Pure cow dung.

Li Chunguang: Pure cow dung. And after treatment there is no smell at all.

Reporter: There are so many.

Li Chunguang: You can smell it - it's just the smell of soil.

Reporter: It really has no smell. How long does it take?

Li Chunguang: This takes about 20 days or so.

After processing by earthworms, the cow dung is converted into earthworm castings. Using the castings in the orchard not only benefits the growth of the fruit trees, but the earthworms also help loosen the soil. And the wild crayfish lurking in the ditches of the base come to prey on the earthworms.

Reporter: Before, it might have been limited to.

Li Chunguang: People knew I farmed earthworms, but now through organizing these activities, friends all know that I not only farm earthworms, I've also formed a chain - from the treatment of livestock and poultry manure, to children coming to pick fruit, to leisure agriculture - forming a whole ecological circular chain.

Reporter: Everyone understands your place even better now, right.

Li Chunguang: Yes.

In Li Chunguang's 120-mu base, there are countless earthworms, which can process 30 tons of cow dung and 10 tons of urban domestic sludge every day. And the earthworms themselves are also in high demand. During the interview, Li Chunguang kept receiving calls from customers.

Li Chunguang: Then I'll call you later, okay? I still have some things to do in the field right now. Okay, okay, alright, alright, goodbye.

Reporter: Have you been very busy lately?

Li Chunguang: Extremely busy. Wasn't there an argument yesterday? Both parties wanted to come.

Reporter: Why were they arguing?

Li Chunguang: No earthworms. This year's market is especially good. Now you can't buy earthworms even with money. Yesterday I only called one party, and then the other said they wanted to come too, half each, but the first one wouldn't agree, saying however much you have I'll take, however much you have I'll buy it all. The other one said however much you have I'll buy it all too. That's the situation right now.

Reporter: Originally you were supposed to come pick up the goods in the afternoon, right?

Li Chunguang: Yes.

Reporter: Is he very anxious now?

Li Chunguang: He came over very anxious. Let me see how to work it out for him.

The low-temperature weather in the winter of 2015 caused the earthworms of many farmers to die, so this year is the best market since 2012, with a wholesale price of 20 yuan per kilogram of earthworms. To ensure he could get the goods, earthworm dealer Zhang Fei came to Li Chunguang's base starting at noon.

Earthworm dealer Zhang Fei: This year's market - you can't wait for goods. This is the slackest season, not even the peak season yet.

Reporter: Demand, right?

Earthworm dealer Zhang Fei: Demand. Demand reaches its greatest from after July to November. Right now it's just the beginning.

Reporter: It's already this tense at the beginning.

Earthworm dealer Zhang Fei: Yes, this year it's just the beginning.

When earthworms encounter strong light, they desperately burrow downward to hide. Using this characteristic, by continuously scraping off the surface soil, you can finally collect piles of clean earthworms.