Loach farming helps Hunan Chenzhou farmer Li Geping earn an annual income of 200,000 yuan

On May 11, in Baiyangtang Village, Yanquan Town, Yizhang County, several large fish ponds shimmered with light, and the loaches foraging for food leapt and tumbled. Farmer Li Geping, all smiles, was feeding the loaches in the pond with homemade earthen feed: "These are all treasures for escaping poverty and getting rich. They are coming onto the market now, so I have to take good care of them!"

Previously, Li Geping had always worked away from home. He had driven a loader and worked as a porter, but his income was not high, and his family struggled on the poverty line. Once, he saw online that loaches contain a variety of vitamins and are known as "ginseng in water," and are especially suitable for people with weak health, the elderly, and patients with cardiovascular disease. Li Geping then had the idea of farming loaches. After investigating and learning about the market, Li Geping went to Guangzhou, Guangdong, and Zixing City, Hunan, and other places to learn high-density ecological loach farming technology, and began to study knowledge related to loach farming.

In December 2014, Li Geping invested more than 80,000 yuan, rented 5 mu of land in his hometown and dug it into ponds, and introduced the first batch of 100,000 loach fry from Foshan, Guangdong, starting to "go all out." But loaches are rather picky about their environment, and the rearing technology is demanding. At the beginning of farming, due to lack of practice, the technology was not yet mature. The loaches Li Geping farmed either died or escaped, or were eaten by birds and snakes. The survival rate of the 100,000 loach fry was only 30% to 40%, and that year he lost more than 30,000 yuan.

The road to success is never smooth sailing. Li Geping did not lose heart, and gradually figured out a way: using okara, fishmeal, and other ingredients to make high-protein feed, fermenting it, and feeding on time every morning and evening; the most critical thing was to control the water temperature and pH value. If the water used for farming did not meet standards and the feed formula was not suitable, it would cause the loaches to develop mouth rot, white head, or even death. Learning while doing, and constantly summarizing and adjusting, he finally became thoroughly proficient, and the loaches were cared for quite well by him.

In October 2015, he increased his investment, bought another 150,000 fry, and surrounded the ponds with nylon netting to prevent natural enemies. He also bought a set of equipment for measuring water temperature and water quality, and insisted on testing every day, raising the survival rate to 70%.

Because he adopted ecological farming, the loaches Li Geping raised had tender meat and rich nutrition, and there was no worry about sales. "Each batch of loaches yields 1,500 jin per mu, 2 batches a year, and the market price is 25 yuan/jin, so I can earn more than 200,000 yuan a year. At present, more than 1,500 jin of the second batch of loaches have already been sold." Li Geping did the accounts beside the pond.

For villagers who need to farm loaches, Li Geping earnestly guides them in management, disease prevention, and other aspects, and provides free technical consultation. Three nearby villagers, under Li Geping's guidance, farm loaches, helping surrounding farming households escape poverty.

"If one person gets rich, that is not wealth; only when everyone gets rich is it wealth." Li Geping is very openhearted, and the small loaches have stirred up a "wave of wealth."