Guangxi Longzhou migrant worker returns home to start a business and becomes a village star
Open a simple door at the foot of the earthen slope, walk in a few steps, and suddenly a large flock of bright red orchard chickens gathers around, clucking and waiting to be fed... Nong Jiahua faces scenes like this several times every day.
"As long as there is sweetness in life, being a little tired still feels happy," he said.
Nong Jiahua feeding the chickens
Nong Jiahua was originally an ordinary farmer from Nasu Tun, Bajiao Village, Bajiao Township, Longzhou County, Guangxi, but in recent years, by raising orchard chickens and growing ecological fruits and vegetables, he not only earned money himself but also thought about getting rich together with his fellow villagers, and quickly became a "star" in the village.
Nasu Tun is remote and the conditions for production and daily life are harsh. Of the 50 households in the tun, most of the young and strong laborers, including Nong Jiahua, went out to work elsewhere year-round to "seek their fortune." Several times, when he was about to leave, the exhortations and reluctance of his elders, wife and children filled Nong Jiahua's heart with pain. He thought about how he could build a career at his doorstep.
"The village lacks labor, and large tracts of land have been left abandoned. I think something can be done about this." Nong Jiahua had once worked for a vegetable trader and often appeared in farmers' markets. He learned that city people love eating free-range chickens, and raising orchard chickens might be a good way out.
Nong Jiahua inspecting the growth of the orchard chickens
No sooner said than done. In the second half of 2014, Nong Jiahua returned to his hometown to "go solo."
He took out years of savings and rented over 100 mu of villagers' fields and mountain forest. "I said I was going to raise chickens, and everyone should follow me and work together, and we would live good lives together," Nong Jiahua said. At the beginning, many people were not optimistic about his idea, and even his own wife opposed it.
"They thought, what kind of business is a farmer going to start? Raising chickens is so risky. If he loses money, the whole family will have to drink the northwest wind. But I have determination and confidence to do this. If I do not do it this way, I can only keep working away from home forever." Nong Jiahua "went his own way" and built a large chicken shed, bought over 10,000 chicks, and "rolled up his sleeves to go all out."
But he soon ran into trouble - raising chickens required a large amount of feed, far exceeding the budget, and within a few days he was "short of money." Nong Jiahua had no choice but to return to his old trade of working for others and selling vegetables, putting the money he earned back into chicken farming. Only after the first batch of adult chickens was ready for market did he begin to emerge from the "winter" of starting his business.
When 2016 arrived, Nong Jiahua's chicken-raising business had already gotten on track. At present, his chicken farm has about 2,000 adult chickens ready for market each month. After deducting costs, he can earn a net profit of 15 yuan per chicken.
Rich but not forgetting his roots, after the chicken farm began normal operations, Nong Jiahua hired a villager whose family was facing difficulties to help him with care and management, with a monthly wage of nearly 2,000 yuan. Now, he also independently sells vegetables and has begun growing sweet corn, black-skinned winter melon, muskmelon and chili peppers, and has specifically hired several left-behind elderly people in the village to help, with a daily wage of 80 yuan.
"I can be said to know the vegetable business like the back of my hand, so doing it myself is also easy and skillful. You see, a few days ago I had just brought in a batch of black-skinned winter melon from Vietnam and already sent it to vegetable traders in Shandong," he said, opening photos saved on his phone with a confident look.
Since starting his business, Nong Jiahua has invested about 500,000 yuan in succession. He is also thinking of hardening a 1.3-kilometer mountain road in the village to make it easier to sell villagers' agricultural specialties outside.
"Wait until the Double Ninth Festival, and I will come back for the chrysanthemums. Haha, when you come again in September this year, there will not only be chrysanthemums; the black-skinned winter melon I planted will also be just sweet." Nong Jiahua's eyes were full of longing.