In Nanchong, where mountains are high and valleys are narrow, circular farming and breeding open up a road to prosperity
Original title: Yilong: Chen Huadong and his dream of ecological farming and breeding
Yanziyan Village, Lishan Town, Yilong County is located in a remote area and was once a well-known impoverished village. Because traditional agriculture yields low profits and transportation is inconvenient, most of the village's young and middle-aged laborers go out to work, leaving the whole village lonely and desolate. However, in the past two years, this small mountain village with high mountains, narrow valleys and blocked transportation has been filled with the aroma of wine and the sounds of chickens and sheep, full of vitality. Local villagers say that the village's tremendous changes are thanks to the agricultural company established by entrepreneur Chen Huadong, which has led the villagers to prosperity together.
Returning home to start a business and develop circular farming and breeding
On November 8, when the reporter arrived at Yanziyan Village, Chen Huadong, chairman of Sanxi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., was holding a morning meeting with company employees to learn about the company's operations and solve practical difficulties encountered in work. Chen Huadong, now 43 years old, is a native of Yanziyan Village. In 1995, he went out to work, doing electrical repairs and equipment installation. After accumulating a certain amount of capital, he developed the idea of returning home to start a business.
Chen Huadong told the reporter that when he returned home during the Spring Festival in 2013, he saw large tracts of land left abandoned, and the villagers' lives had not changed much compared with before. This deeply moved him. "Agriculture is a sustainable development industry, and it can also lead villagers to prosperity together. Working outside is not a long-term solution for me, so I planned to invest in developing my hometown," Chen Huadong said.
After learning that Chen Huadong intended to return home to start a business, cadres at both the town and village levels were very supportive. In a remote mountain village, what could be developed? How should it be developed? After learning about relevant national policies, Chen Huadong decided to take the path of ecological farming and breeding: developing an ecological circular farming and breeding industry and building a beautiful hometown.
In April 2013, Chen Huadong transferred more than 500 mu of land and invested more than 12 million yuan. In Sanxi Village and Yanziyan Village of Lishan Town, he planted grass to raise fish and sheep, built greenhouses to raise locusts and earthworms to feed chickens, took the path of ecological farming and breeding, and established Sanxi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
In the early days of starting the business, due to a lack of technology, all projects except the fishery project ended in failure. After painful reflection, Chen Huadong decided to invite experts to re-plan and adjust the development approach.
Contract planting leads villagers to prosperity
In early 2014, Chen Huadong adopted a contract planting model, mobilizing villagers to plant sorghum and corn, with the company purchasing them uniformly. In the second half of 2014, Chen Huadong set up a distillery, using distiller's grains to raise sheep and feed chickens. He purchased sorghum stalks and corn stalks to raise sheep, and raised locusts and earthworms as feed for free-range chickens.
Chen Huadong also went door to door to persuade villagers to develop ecological circular farming and breeding with him. Villager Zhou Anzhong initially worked at Sanxi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. After seeing Chen Huadong's first business failure, he lost confidence in Chen Huadong's idea of developing ecological circular farming and breeding and left the company to work elsewhere. Chen Huadong patiently guided him by phone, invited him back to raise sheep, and sent him to other places to learn breeding techniques. Now, Zhou Anzhong has mastered Chinese herbal medicine epidemic prevention techniques and flexibly applies them in goat breeding.
Integrating resources to increase production and income
Sanxi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. actively promotes zero-risk projects that benefit the people, adopting a proxy-raising model to develop the breeding industry. The company signs proxy-raising contracts for chickens and sheep with farmers, uniformly provides chicks and lambs, is responsible for technical guidance, and implements protective-price purchasing. Chen Huadong also transferred 50 mu of forest land for poor villager Chen Hu to raise free-range chickens, providing about 300 chicks that had already been raised for two months free of charge each batch, with two batches raised throughout the year, and uniformly repurchasing them. Chen Hu's annual income can reach about 60,000 yuan.
After two years of exploration, the company has realized integrated operation of farmers, bases, cooperatives, finance and enterprises, adopted a new agricultural industrialization development model of full-chain circulation and linked interests, and achieved the goals of increasing agricultural production and raising farmers' incomes.
According to reports, the company also plans to integrate the resources of three villages around the base and, through various cooperation methods such as land transfer, land equity and capital equity, establish farmers' professional cooperatives for cattle and sheep breeding, sorghum and forage planting, and poultry breeding, taking the path of circular development that combines planting and breeding and is green and ecological.