High profits from raising geese under trees, rolling in income
Trees grow into forests, grass grows in the forest, and the grass can produce "gold"; raisinggeeseunder the trees makes the soil fertile and the geese plump, so plump that "silver" comes rolling in. Recently, in the ten-thousand-mu high-standard nursery stock planting demonstration base in Zaohuli Town, Huimin County, waves of "ga, ga" sounds rang out from the woods. Ten thousand white geese were either leisurely grazing in the shade of the trees or chasing and playing in the canals. The goose herder was like an arrogant "commander," raising the long red whip in his hand and shouting commands to his "mighty army" as it appeared and disappeared among the green trees. If you were not there in person, the spectacular sight could not be described in words.
"We divided these ten thousand goslings into four areas. This area we are in now is the second area, with 2,500 birds in total and an effective forest land area of 1,500 mu. The perimeter is entirely enclosed with simple netting half a meter high. Do not underestimate these little things. In less than half a month, the grass and vegetables in this 1,500-mu forest land will be 'wiped out' cleanly by them, leaving behind the droppings of these little ones, which become organic fertilizer in the forest land..." Li Jinbo, head of Ruyuan Nursery Stock, said to the reporter, pointing at the forest land behind the goslings.
Every spring and summer, the wild grass and wild vegetables all over the ground that "cannot be burned away by wildfire and grow again with the spring wind" really give nursery stock growers a headache. Every year they have to spend a large part of their funds specifically on weeding, and the weeds grow again after being removed, requiring repeated weeding and increasing production costs. For the ten-thousand-mu high-standard nursery stock planting demonstration base, the weeding task on 12,000 mu is even more costly, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Once, Li Jinbo and several nursery stock planting representatives went to the south to inspect nursery stock planting technology. The southern project of raisinggeeseunder the trees caught Li Jinbo's eye, and he decided to raise geese under the trees in the ten-thousand-mu forest land of Shuanghe Forest Farm.
After returning from the inspection, and precisely because he had taken a fancy to the high profits of raising geese under the trees, Li Jinbo, as a businessman, resolutely invested more than 500,000 yuan and introduced Wanxi white geese and Taizhou white geese in two batches. He invested about 130,000 yuan to set up 4 breeding points near the main ditches of the base forest farm, built 8 standard greenhouses, and opened small ditches in each section of forest land, bringing in water so the white geese could drink and cool down.
"For raising geese under the trees, by conservative estimate, over a year each mu of land can save about 200 yuan in labor and pesticide costs for weeding. At the same time, goose droppings, as the best natural organic fertilizer, are directly excreted in the forest land, and each mu can also save about 130 yuan in fertilizer costs." Li Jinbo did the accounting for us. It is understood that the nursery stock base currently has 12,000 mu of various nursery stocks, mainly conventional tree species such as white ash and Chinese scholar tree with a diameter at breast height of about 5 cm. The planting spacing is relatively large, and weeds grow thickly among the trees, providing abundant natural feed for raising geese under the trees. Geese raised under the trees mainly eat grass, and the cost per bird is only about 40 yuan, but if housed and raised, the cost per goose needs at least about 80 yuan. At the same time, geese that eat grass under the trees are pure natural green food, and the market price of finished geese is at least 2-3 yuan higher than that of housed geese, so the profit back and forth is very considerable.
The model of raising geese under the trees mainly uses the abundant weeds in the forest for grazing, achieving natural healthy breeding. It can also save on herbicides and reduce labor input, lowering environmental pollution. It can also use the droppings produced by the geese mixed with leftover grass residue and leaves to quickly replenish soil nutrients and promote tree growth. In addition, the trees can also reduce direct sunlight and lower the temperature inside and outside the goose shed, achieving circular breeding as a whole. Li Jinbo's model of raising geese under the trees is a new highlight in forestry development, opening a path of ecological three-dimensional planting and breeding, and at the same time playing a great role in improving the ecological environment. "We are planning to invest 600,000 yuan to expand the scale of breeding and processing, and strive to let more people join the ranks of goose raising, reaching an annual hatching capacity of 700,000 goslings, 1 million commercial geese ready for market, driving 300 local farming households, and helping farmers increase income by more than 60,000 yuan per year." Talking about the development prospects, Li Jinbo was full of confidence.
In order to ensure the healthy development of the under-forest economy and improve the scientific and technological content of products, Li Jinbo organized experts in forestry, animal husbandry and planting to go deep into farming households to carry out scientific and technological training and service activities, with both centralized training and decentralized guidance. This strengthened pre-production, mid-production and post-production services for farmers, enabling the broad masses of forest farmers to learn scientific operation and scientific management, master the latest scientific and technological knowledge, and realize the maximum value of under-forest development and the best combination of ecological, economic and social benefits. Getting rich quickly through raising geese under the trees increases investment in forestry, strengthens confidence in developing forestry, and creates a new path for rural construction.
(Li Ning, Shen Jianqiang)