Grouper Lifts Yang Xinci's Dream of Prosperity
Starting from the government of Yichongqiao Township in Cili County, driving east along the Lishui River, it takes fifteen minutes by car to reach Renshiqiao Village. Without even getting out of the car, the seven large characters "Hongyun Fishery Farm" leap into view. This is the first breeding base Yang Xinci established after returning to his hometown. The base covers more than 20 mu, with a total investment of more than 4 million yuan. Construction broke ground in November 2013, and it was officially put into operation on National Day 2014. There are currently more than 6,000 fish, and the annual output value is expected to reach 7 million yuan. This base is not only the first grouper breeding base in Zhangjiajie, but also the first grouper breeding base in Hunan and even in inland provinces such as Hubei, Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou.
When asked about the reasons and original intention behind Boss Yang's creation of this breeding base, he said with deep feeling: "Working hard away from home, although I could make money, I never had a sense of belonging, like duckweed on water. A person lives only one life and must have roots. Moreover, once a person has realized his personal value, he must also realize his social value. Being able to pass on his own experience and techniques to the local people and create a demonstration effect is also a joyful thing."
Yang Xinci was not born with a talent for fish farming. Speaking of his transformation, we have to start with his experience in Fujian.
Yang Xinci is originally from Maoping Village, Yichongqiao Township, Cili County, and is now 45 years old. In 1989, with the ambition of defending the motherland, he enlisted in the army, and in 1992 he took off his uniform and returned home. After retiring, like other young people, with a dream of becoming rich, he entered the ranks of migrant workers. Afterward, he contracted a rock quarry, worked in a brick factory, contracted a thermal power plant, and engaged in dangerous building renovation and other engineering projects. Among these, he also earned his first bucket of gold in life. But none of these could ever satisfy him. In 2000, by checking information online, he learned that Putian in Fujian was suitable for abalone farming in terms of water quality, climate, environment, market and other aspects, so with an experimental mindset he invested 100,000 yuan in abalone farming, and that same year he harvested more than 400,000 yuan. The next year, his income increased to 1 million yuan. One flower brings fragrance to a hundred flowers. Under his influence, for a time abalone farming surged like wind and clouds, and the local market once became saturated. "You can't hang yourself on one tree." Seeing this situation, Yang Xinci immediately turned to farming grouper. Before long, he became the local weather vane again, and many people then turned to grouper farming as well.
Grouper originated in Nicaragua in Central America, was introduced to Taiwan in 1988, and in 1996 some farming units in Guangdong and Jiangxi introduced it from Taiwan to the mainland. This tropical fish is somewhat carnivorous, tolerant of low oxygen, highly disease-resistant, attractive in appearance, delicious in meat and rich in nutrition. It can serve as both a commercial fish and an ornamental fish, with an average price of about fifty yuan per jin. Although it has certain requirements for water quality, temperature and technique, because of its high farming density (more than 80 jin of fish can be raised per cubic meter of water), short cycle and quick results, it is very popular in coastal areas. Could this saltwater farming be changed to freshwater farming and developed in inland areas? Yang Xinci spent no small amount of thought on this. After consulting many sources and exploring for a long time, and also after transformation through fourteen processes, Yang Xinci finally succeeded in his experiment. So he traveled among inland provinces and cities such as Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan to investigate market demand and conduct feasibility studies, and finally firmed up his determination to build a freshwater grouper farm in an inland area. Thus, Hongyun Fishery Co., Ltd. came into being in Renshiqiao Village, Yichongqiao Township.
In order to build this inland grouper farm, Yang Xinci ran to Fujian on one side and to his hometown on the other. Starting in 2012, it took a full year before he secured the project. After that, he leveled land, built fish ponds, built a boiler room, built a water storage tank and built office buildings, forgetting food and sleep and racing against time. On National Day 2014, he welcomed the joyful relocation of the grouper from thousands of miles away. But just when Boss Yang was relaxing and had just begun to rest, the grouper, because of the long journey and being unaccustomed to the new environment, came down with exophthalmia and water mold disease, which really made Boss Yang sweat a little. Fortunately, diagnosis and treatment were timely, and a disastrous fate was avoided.
Boss Yang told this writer with relief that, calculated according to the current scale, 300,000 jin of fat fish can be produced annually, the annual output value can reach 10 million yuan, and in 2015 alone the entire investment cost can be recovered and a profit can be made. He also said that there is now a lot of surplus rural land and the land transfer policy is good. On the premise of providing fry at low prices, providing technology free of charge and purchasing back fat fish through orders at a guaranteed floor price, farmer friends can obtain a net income of more than 50,000 yuan per mu per year. If the problem of hatching fry in inland areas can be solved, costs will be greatly reduced. The huge market potential of inland areas fills him with boundless strength and great confidence to hold up a stretch of blue sky.