Aquaculture puts Liu Zunli of Jingyuan County, Gansu on the road to prosperity

"My father dug a pond to raise fish in 1988, and in 2008 I took over the baton from my father, single-mindedly determined to build up the aquaculture business. It has been 28 years since our family started aquaculture." On June 4, Liu Zunli, an aquaculture farmer in Jingyuan, told reporters in an interview that he wants to make aquaculture bigger and stronger and to lead the folks back home to prosperity together.

Following in his father's footsteps, a pioneer of aquaculture in Jingyuan County

Liu Zunli, 42 this year, is from Guayuan Village, Dongwan Town, Jingyuan County, and is the first person in Jingyuan County to take up aquaculture. He is full of confidence in aquaculture in Jingyuan County. When the reporter asked him why he was so passionate about aquaculture, he said he wanted to spread and popularize aquaculture and lead the people around him to start businesses together. In his words, "having work to do and money to earn."

Liu Zunli not only followed in his father's footsteps, but also has a unique vision for aquaculture development. "Look at this water. We have unique natural conditions. Raising fish has very high requirements for water quality, and our water quality is excellent for the aquaculture industry." Liu Zunli said, pointing to the pond. In 1997, the year Hong Kong, China returned, he had used the preheated water at the Jingyuan power plant to successfully raise tropical ornamental fish such as blue-striped sharks and white sharks, though this was later discontinued due to changes in the site. He told reporters that such tropical fish have very high water quality requirements, and Jingyuan County is very suitable for aquaculture.

Scientific development makes aquaculture better

Liu Zunli happily told reporters that through long-term aquaculture he has accumulated rich experience, expanding from 50 mu of fish ponds in the past to 300 mu today, and from a past yield of 250 kg to 300 kg of fish per mu to more than 600 kg to 1,000 kg of fish per mu today, with the fish also growing larger. Both yield and quality have made a qualitative leap. "I have raised many fish species, I love to dig into things and study them, and I often go out to exchange ideas and learn. On top of that, the aquaculture station of the Jingyuan County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau often comes to promote technology, which is why my fish ponds have gotten better and better."

Scaling up and establishing a fishery farmers' cooperative

He told reporters that as the scale of his fish ponds gradually grew, in March 2012 he established the "Jingyuan County Fengxinyuan Fishery Farming Farmers' Cooperative." The cooperative is located in Guayuan Village, Dongwan Town, Jingyuan County. To the east it borders Binhe Road and Longwang Temple, to the south it is 8 km from Jingyuan County seat, and to the east it is 15 km from Pingchuan District. "The cooperative now has 5 members including me. I provide technology to the members free of charge, and fish disease prevention and control and water quality regulation have all improved markedly. Everyone helps each other and progresses together, happy and harmonious. After technical guidance, their aquaculture income increased directly by 40%." Liu Zunli said the purpose of establishing the cooperative was to strengthen exchange and cooperation among cooperative members, to organize, lead and coordinate aquaculture households in fishery production, to boost farmers' income, to promote fishery development and to achieve prosperity together.

Overcoming difficulties on the road of development, saline-alkali flats turn into treasure land in the blink of an eye

But who could imagine that behind the prosperity of the fishery farming cooperative lies the hardship of Liu Zunli's struggle. "These fish ponds of ours were all dug later. This place used to be saline-alkali flats where crops would not grow. I forced it to come alive. Pond renovation and construction, electrical circuit renovation and pond road paving were none of them easy." He told reporters that to reach where he is today he has shed no small amount of hard-earned sweat, and problems such as inadequate water intake and drainage equipment and the renovation of old ponds still exist today. He urgently hopes for preferential agricultural policies such as interest-free loans to put his aquaculture on the fast track.

When the reporter asked Liu Zunli what plans he had for the future, he smiled and told reporters that he had a bold idea: to introduce tropical ornamental fish and some protected rare fish species for farming, to develop the aquaculture industry chain so that the fish can be viewed, caught and eaten, and to open specialty dining and special experience tours of the aquaculture base, linking the surrounding villagers together to form a scale and turn it into an ideal fishing village.