Deep in the Mountains of Meizaiping Village, Zhongcun Township, Yongfeng: Farming Chinese Sturgeon Leads to a Path to Prosperity
Before 2014, people in Meizaiping Village, Zhongcun Township, Yongfeng County, did not even know what a Chinese sturgeon was. Today, the Chinese sturgeon has become a hot topic among the villagers in their fight against poverty. Over the past 3 years, the Chinese sturgeon industry in Meizaiping Village has grown from nothing, with more than 20 households in the village now raising Chinese sturgeon, a total stock of more than 300,000 fish, and an annual output value of nearly 6 million yuan. "At long last, we have 'sturgeoned' out a path to prosperity for the poor households in our deep mountains." Looking back on the journey of starting the business, Hu Xiaohua, chairman of the village's Chinese Sturgeon Farming Professional Cooperative, said with deep emotion.
Meizaiping Village is a remote small mountain village in Yongfeng County, 89 kilometers from the county seat, with rich forest resources and abundant mountain spring water. Because of the high mountains and cold water, the farmland here can only grow one crop of rice a year, and yields are low. When villagers tried growing other cash crops, the returns were also low due to constraints such as water sources, soil and climate. Someone in the village once proposed bringing in an industrial project, but most villagers opposed it out of fear of damaging the natural ecology. The inability to find suitable farming or breeding projects left many villagers struggling along the poverty line year after year.
Low water temperature and insufficient sunlight are the weak points of most farming and breeding projects. However, the pollution-free, oxygen-rich mountain spring water is more than suitable for the Chinese sturgeon. In February 2014, villagers Hu Xiaohua, Xiao Wenping and Wu Lucai visited Guangdong to study and learn about the conditions, techniques and market outlets required for artificial breeding of Chinese sturgeon, and then decided to introduce a Chinese sturgeon farming project suited to the village's environment. The three also made a special trip to Longnan County, Ganzhou City, to learn, and bought 20,000 juvenile sturgeon at 4 yuan each to begin their entrepreneurial journey.
Hu Xiaohua and the others made full use of the village's geographical conditions, converting terraced fields one by one into octagonal sturgeon ponds. Using the drop in terrain, mountain spring water flows in from the edge of the ponds and then flows out through a central outlet into the drainage channel, keeping the water in the ponds slowly moving with sufficient dissolved oxygen, achieving automatic irrigation and drainage, lowering farming costs and increasing market competitiveness.
"This is the juvenile sturgeon pond, and this is the adult sturgeon pond. Each juvenile pond holds 6,500 fish, and each adult pond holds 1,500. After the juveniles grow to a certain size, they are transferred to adult ponds for intensive rearing before going to market," Hu Xiaohua explained. The Chinese sturgeon is known as a living "living fossil" in the water. Apart from the bony plates on its surface, every part of its body can be eaten, and it is listed as a premium tonic. Sturgeon skin is also a good raw material for making high-grade leather goods. When artificially farmed to about 2 kilograms per fish, they can be sold on the market.
After careful management, by the end of 2014, the first batch of Chinese sturgeon was successfully brought to market. "The cost is about 20 yuan per kilogram, and the market price is about 80 yuan per kilogram. The output value of a single adult sturgeon pond reaches 200,000 yuan, with a net income of more than 100,000 yuan." Hu Xiaohua still remembers clearly this "first bucket of gold" from sturgeon farming.
A "big gold mine" can be dug even in a poor mountain valley. The success of Hu Xiaohua and the others caused a sensation in this remote small mountain village, and many villagers came knocking after hearing the news. To the fellow villagers who came seeking advice, Hu Xiaohua taught without reservation the farming experience he had figured out. To the poor households in the village, Hu Xiaohua gave even more of his utmost help.
"The base hires only poor households. They not only earn several dozen yuan a day, but can also fully learn Chinese sturgeon farming techniques. After mastering the techniques, if they are willing to start their own business, I will help them choose a good site, let them buy fingerlings on credit, and sign a buyback contract." Hu Xiaohua strives to reduce the farming risk for poor households to "zero" so they can set out with a light load. At present, 6 poor households have successfully "graduated" from the base and built their own breeding ponds.
The surge in Chinese sturgeon farming in Meizaiping Village drew the attention of the local government. The village Party branch and village committee guided the trend and took the lead in establishing a professional cooperative. Hu Xiaohua served as its first chairman and also registered and set up his own family farm. "Next, we plan to develop Chinese sturgeon farming in other mountain villages such as Lishu and Longtou, provide techniques to villagers free of charge, help with planning and design and building fish ponds, and 'sturgeon' a path to wealth for more poor people in the deep mountains." Hu Xiaohua is full of confidence about expanding the Chinese sturgeon farming industry.