Large-scale farmer Chen Chaofu: Raising loaches fulfilled his "dream of prosperity"

Early in the morning on May 22, a reporter saw at the Xiufu Loach Breeding Base in Yujiao Village, Wofo Town, that more than a dozen ponds stood one next to another, forming a fairly large-scale operation. Large-scale farmer Chen Chaofu was busy at the base. Seeing his dark skin and rough hands was like seeing his hard work under countless days of sun and rain, and it was precisely this spirit of fearing neither hardship nor fatigue that enabled him to fulfill his "dream of prosperity" of returning home to start a business.

Chen Chaofu is from Yujiao Village and had long worked away from home. In August 2014, because his child was going to school back in his hometown and there was no parent to supervise him, after repeated consideration, he returned to his hometown.

Chen Chaofu, who usually liked to collect all kinds of farming and breeding information, happened to see news about some farmers getting rich by raising loaches, and became deeply interested in it. He specially bought some books on loach feeding to study, and learned that loaches have great edible and medicinal value, are known as "ginseng in the water," and that loaches on the market were in short supply, with a retail price of more than 30 yuan per kilogram, making the economic benefits very considerable.

"Loaches have relatively high requirements for the breeding environment." Chen Chaofu told the reporter that the farm should be chosen in a place with sufficient water sources and good water quality. Yujiao Village has a good environment, good water quality, and convenient transportation. In early 2015, Chen Chaofu invested 380,000 yuan, contracted more than 30 mu of land in the village, and built the loach breeding base in Yujiao Village.

"Whether the farm is built well or not is very important for loach breeding." Chen Chaofu took the reporter around for a look. The reporter saw that each pond had separately installed inlet channels and drainage channels. "The purpose of installing them separately is to manage each pond individually. If the water quality in one pond is poor, it will not affect the other ponds. There are also strict requirements for pond depth, with 1-1.2 m being the most suitable. Loaches are small in size, and as long as there is a tiny gap, they can slip out. If a pond has a hole, they can escape completely within a day." When talking about breeding experience, Chen Chaofu spoke endlessly, "When building ponds, special attention must also be paid to compacting the bottom of the pond..."

"May to August is the loach breeding period. When loach fry are first put in, they are smaller than sandworms and almost invisible to the naked eye. In 4 days they grow to the size of a grain of rice, and after 4 months, the loaches can be harvested." Chen Chaofu introduced that loaches can be harvested twice a year, with a yield of 3,000-4,000 jin per mu.

"As long as you master the breeding technology and the products have a market, there is nothing to worry about in farming." Chen Chaofu said that over the past two years, he had already accumulated a lot of experience in practice, and the town also often sent experts to provide on-site guidance. In addition, he had established long-term cooperative relationships with many merchants in Chongqing. When the loaches mature, customers come to purchase them, so there is no need to worry about the market at all.

At present, Chen Chaofu's breeding area is 30 mu. Calculated at a price of 15 yuan per jin, this year's income will be very considerable. But Chen Chaofu is not satisfied. He plans to expand the breeding scale next year and establish a loach professional cooperative, using demonstration and guidance to encourage villagers to also raise loaches, with him providing seedlings, providing technology free of charge, and taking responsibility for buying back the loaches, so as to make the industry larger and stronger and open up a new path to prosperity for his fellow villagers.

Sunlight shone into the ponds, and Chen Chaofu continued to busy himself: "At the end of this month, the fry will be put in again. I need to work harder!"