Camel farming digs deep into its potential as farmers and herders find their way to prosperity

On March 24, at the first Border Herders' Camel Farming Experience Exchange Conference and Commendation Ceremony held in **, 34-year-old Kazakh herder Manati Nurdanbek, a winner of the "Pioneer in Prosperity" Award and the "Outstanding Contribution" Award for developing the camel industry in Fuhai County, shared his "farming experience" with everyone.

This university graduate from the music department of ** Normal University returned to Dien Village, Karamagai Township, Fuhai County, and influenced by local herders raising dairy camels to increase income and get rich, he began purchasing dairy camels in 2012 to develop the breeding business, growing from the initial 10 head to more than 100 head today. His family ranch has prospered year after year, with last year's net income exceeding 300,000 yuan.

** Altay Prefecture has a long history of camel breeding and is China's most concentrated camel-producing area, with its camel population long accounting for about 20% of China's total camel population. But camels gradually lost their load-bearing function as herders switched to mechanized migration, and combined with factors such as grassland desertification, the camel population gradually declined. After ** Wangyuan Biotechnology Group settled in 2007 in Fuhai County, the most concentrated area for camel breeding, especially dairy camel breeding, in Altay Prefecture, the value of camel breeding was deeply explored and became a follow-up industry for settled herders.

The "camel economy" radiates across the whole region

Holding a red medal and certificate reading "22,000 yuan," Manati Nurdanbek looked full of pride. This young man who got rich by raising camels is in fact a representative of many herders striving toward moderate prosperity.

The Akdala Dairy Camel Breeding Professional Cooperative is located in Beiganqu Village, Karamagai Township, Fuhai County. It was established in 2013 by Kazakh herder Murzabek Tapi together with ten other herding households, and currently raises nearly 1,000 camels. Among them, Murzabek Tapi owns 130 camels. In this cooperative, the warm pens and forage grounds are neatly arranged, and herds of camels are leisurely eating dry grass. Three Kazakh women use mechanical milking machines to milk the camels; mechanized operation ensures the freshness of camel milk and efficient milking.

Because this experience exchange conference brought together 300 camel-farming prosperity model herder representatives from five provinces and regions - **, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu - and seeing the camel-farming achievements of Fuhai County herders, Mongolian herder Jiangbu Dejid from Wulanhada Village, Busitunge Ranch, Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County, could not resist "showing off" his own assets as well.

Jiangbu Dejid said: "I started raising camels in 1991. In 2011, I led 11 villager households to establish the Junggar Red Camel Breeding Cooperative, which now raises 450 camels. Last year the cooperative earned 450,000 yuan, with each household profiting 41,000 yuan from camel farming."

This time Jiangbu Dejid came to Fuhai County not only to exchange camel-farming experience with camel raisers from various places, but also to reach cooperation with Wangyuan Group on camel milk supply.

During observation and exchange, Wang Xingrui, chairman of the Heruixin Livestock Breeding Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Karamay, also felt deeply, saying: "Our cooperative is located in Xiaoguai Township, Karamay District, Karamay. It was founded in 2008 by 5 farmer and herder households as shareholders, with registered capital of 12.5 million yuan. The cooperative currently has more than 700 adult camels and 220 young camels. The main income comes from selling breeding camels and young camels, and camel milk brings almost no profit. We came hoping to reach a cooperation intention with Wangyuan Group to make the economic added value of the cooperative's camel farming higher."

The prosperity of the camel breeding industry and camel milk processing industry in Fuhai County has caused the "camel economy" of Altay Prefecture to rise rapidly, and has radiatingly driven the industrialized development of animal husbandry in Changji Prefecture, Tacheng Prefecture, Hami City, Dabancheng District of Urumqi City and other places, making the camel industry yet another channel for farmers and herders in ** to increase income and get rich.

Poverty alleviation through animal husbandry "has rules to follow"

"Developing the camel industry is the first choice for border farmers and herders to get rich," said Chen Gangliang, president of the Camel Branch of the China Animal Agriculture Association and chairman of ** Wangyuan Biotechnology Group Company.

After nine years of development, Wangyuan Group has become the only private enterprise in China with independent intellectual property rights for deep processing of camel milk, research and development of camel series products, and deep processing of camel products. It has 4 series and more than 20 kinds of products, processes 20 tons of fresh camel milk per day, and its products enjoy relatively high visibility in China. The company innovatively established a new benefit-linking mechanism of "enterprise + financial institution + breeding base." Through three methods - guaranteeing loans to local financial institutions, helping farmers handle loans, and self-raising funds to lend to farmers - it has guaranteed more than 30 million yuan in loans for farmers and herders, helping them expand dairy camel breeding bases.

"The biological habits of camels determine that they cannot be raised in pens, only grazed. In addition, grassland management rights are mostly dispersed among herders, so it is unrealistic for enterprises to invest in building standardized breeding bases. Therefore, the model of 'enterprise + financial institution + breeding base' not only solves the funding bottleneck restricting farmers and herders in developing production, but also eliminates financial institutions' concerns that loans cannot be repaid on schedule, while also providing enterprises with sufficient fresh camel milk sources. Dairy camel breeding farmers and herders use 50% of the milk payment regularly issued each month to repay financial institutions, and the other 50% for daily living needs, and generally can repay the loan within two years," Chen Gangliang introduced.

According to estimates, raising one dairy camel brings annual milk sales income of 15,000 yuan. Excluding 30% feeding cost, net profit is above 10,000 yuan. "A farmer or herder household raising 10 dairy camels earns 100,000 yuan a year and can escape poverty that same year; raising more than 20 dairy camels earns more than 200,000 yuan a year and can quickly move toward moderate prosperity," said Liu Hanfu, general manager of Wangyuan Group.

Algun Alefu, a villager from Halabiya Village, Jietearale Township, Fuhai County, had never raised camels before 2011. After seeing fellow villagers get rich by raising camels, he and his wife went to Wangyuan Group for help. The enterprise applied to the Fuhai County Rural Credit Cooperative for a two-year 200,000 yuan loan by way of asset guarantee, enabling Algun Alefu to purchase 20 camels, and that year he earned 150,000 yuan from selling camel milk. Within two years, Algun Alefu not only repaid all the loans but also built a new house. The next year, he again applied to Wangyuan Group for a loan, and Wangyuan Group took 200,000 yuan from its own funds to help him buy 20 more dairy camels. Now these camels have grown to 130 head, and Algun Alefu has also become a widely known "specialized dairy camel breeding household."

Saerik Habken, head of Fuhai County, stated that relying on the leading enterprise's driving role, Fuhai County issued preferential policies to support dairy camel breeding, built a dairy camel breeding association, dairy camel economic cooperative and "camel boarding center," forming an integrated production-supply-marketing industrial chain. Fuhai County also bundled the camel industry development projects of the animal husbandry, science and technology, ethnic and religious affairs commission, and poverty alleviation office departments, and successively invested more than 40 million yuan to subsidize breeding households' input in shed and pen construction, dairy camel purchase and milking equipment, benefiting 837 households. At the same time, it cooperated with the autonomous region's Academy of Animal Husbandry Sciences to strengthen the breeding of improved dairy camels and raise the per-unit yield level and quality of dairy camels. These measures prompted the rapid rise of Fuhai County's camel industry. In 2013, Fuhai County won the honor of "China's Camel Milk Capital," and in 2014 won the honor of "Excellent Model of China's Animal Husbandry Industry."

In just a few years, Fuhai County's dairy camel breeding households grew from the original more than 200 to the current 1,850, with 4 dairy camel breeding cooperatives established, and the number of camels reaching 19,000 head (including more than 10,000 dairy camels), radiatingly driving the development of the dairy camel breeding industry in 10 surrounding counties (cities) and farms, and driving an average per capita income increase of 400 yuan for farmers and herders.

"Camel farming is the best way to effectively drive herders to increase income and get rich, and the camel milk economy will surely become a new force with great potential in the agricultural and pastoral economy of Altay Prefecture centered on Fuhai County," said Bakhtifu Yinayati, a member of the Altay Prefecture Party Committee.