Nan Chong Big-Eared Black Goat Becomes an Internet Celebrity, Farmers Turn to WeChat Business
“Scan the WeChat QR code, and the Big-Eared Black Goat enters the public eye with both pictures and text. Our goats are good, and they gain a lot of ‘fans’ on WeChat, so sales channels naturally open up.” On May 15, Fan Jingsheng, the “First Secretary” dispatched by the Provincial Department of Agriculture to Fuling Village, Yangjia Town, Peng'an County, spoke about the sales of the goats raised in the village and made a victorious “V” sign with his fingers.
Fuling Village is a typical remote village and dry-mountain village in the county, with 217 agricultural households and 742 people, of which 40 households and 140 people are impoverished. Facing the mountains and barren land, where is the way out? Industrial “blood-making” is the key. Since the end of July last year, the arrival of a targeted poverty-alleviation contact and guidance team ignited this impoverished village's passion for escaping poverty and striving for prosperity through industry.
Passing On Technology: An Expert Team Enters the Village to Hold a “Forum”
“Aiming at modern animal husbandry, changing breeds and changing technology is the absolute truth.” This was the first idea Fan Jingsheng put forward after reporting to Fuling Village on September 7, 2015.
“Villagers all raise poultry at home to varying degrees, but after deducting costs, they basically cannot save any money.” Fan Jingsheng went into the village and into households, calculating the accounts for the villagers one by one. “Villagers have always relied on their own or the older generation's breeding experience, have had no opportunity to learn the latest breeding technology, and cannot get timely and effective solutions when problems arise.” Fan Jingsheng said this was the bottleneck restricting the village's breeding industry.
Once the “root cause” was found, prescribing the right remedy was urgent. Starting in September 2015, batches of technical experts from the provincial capital began holding “forums” in Fuling Village. Among the teachers were many top provincial livestock and poultry experts, including He Zhiping, vice president and researcher of the Sichuan Academy of Animal Science, and Yang Chaowu, researcher at the Poultry Research Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Animal Science.
“Industrial poverty alleviation is the biggest part and the key.” During his research, Fan Jingsheng learned that Fuling Village did not lack industry, but lacked scale. After two weeks of going door to door, this “goat expert” immediately made the decision ——— develop goat farming.
With a development goal in hand, Fan Jingsheng ran around and introduced the black group of “Jianzhou Big-Eared Goats.” “Impoverished households previously raised local native goats, which were small and could not fetch a price. ‘Jianzhou Big-Eared Goats’ have the characteristics of fast growth, high reproductive capacity, good meat quality, and strong adaptability.” Fan Jingsheng said the village also established the Peng'an County Xingnong Planting and Breeding Farmers' Professional Cooperative, vigorously developed black goat farming, and implemented a stepped rolling development model with demonstration by business owners and larger operations leading smaller ones.
After one year of effort, Fuling Village now raises more than 2,000 black goats. According to the plan, by 2017, the village will raise 3,000 black goats and plant 20 hectares of forage grass.
Expanding Sales Channels: Cleverly Using the Internet to Become E-Commerce Operators
As the base scale continues to expand, how can market sales channels be expanded, and what actual results do black goats bring to the villagers? With support from multiple parties, Fuling Village adopted a “company + goat farm + farmer” goat trusteeship model. The government pays part of the money, the enterprise lends part of the money, and impoverished households raise a small part themselves, enabling them to subscribe to one goat at the base and from then on become “shareholders,” simply waiting to receive dividends.
Goat trusteeship relieved the villagers' worries and gave them reassurance in developing the breeding industry. However, how to make the industry bigger and let more people know about Fuling Village's black goats? Fan Jingsheng began thinking about doing e-commerce.
“Market demand for mutton is changing. People are no longer satisfied with just eating mutton; they want to eat high-quality mutton that is pollution-free, green, and ecological.” Fan Jingsheng was very optimistic about the market prospects of black goats. “Our breed exactly meets market demand. If we then build a good sales platform through the Internet, the villagers will not worry about selling their goats.”
Fan Jingsheng introduced that at present, the village is establishing a “three rooms, one point, one center,” namely a cultural room, clinic, office, e-commerce outlet, and day-care center, and has established a black goat sales platform through channels such as Taobao and WeChat.
(Cao Honghong, Guo Anping)