Shijiazhuang scorpion-breeding expert Li Zhujiang turns venomous creatures into a valuable path to prosperity

Scorpions have long been regarded by people as "venomous creatures" to be avoided at all costs. But in the eyes of Li Zhujiang, president of the Yuanshi County Scorpion Breeding Association, scorpions are treasures - treasures that can drive farmers to increase their incomes and become prosperous.

"Scorpions have a long history of use as food and medicine. Demand for edible scorpions is now very high, and there are many ways to eat them, such as deep-frying, grilling and soaking them in liquor, so the prospects are very broad," Li Zhujiang said.

Li Zhujiang is from Dongchengjiao Village, Suyang Township, Yuanshi County. Starting in 1989, he began experimenting with scorpion breeding. After years of exploration and practice, he mastered scorpion-breeding techniques, achieved relatively good economic returns, and led some farmers in nearby villages to develop the business together. To strengthen the ability to withstand market risks, in 2009 Li Zhujiang contacted scorpion breeders and distributors in his own village and surrounding villages and established the Yuanshi County Scorpion Breeding Association, holding breeding technology training classes, expanding sales channels and enlarging the scale of breeding.

The association popularizes two core technologies among breeders. One is "accelerated growth in summer," and the other is "dormancy management in winter." These two technologies directly determine the output and quality of scorpions. Breeder Wang Xiaosan said: "Since mastering these technologies, our breeders' output has increased by 20%-30%, and profits have increased correspondingly by 20%-30%."

It is understood that the association adopts the model of "association + base + farmers" to guide the public in developing scorpion breeding. The association implements unified seed supply and unified sales, which both improves breeders' breeding efficiency and reduces market risks. "Relying on the Scorpion Breeding Association, we also established a science popularization service station for benefiting farmers, purchased books, computers and other office supplies, burned CDs to distribute to members, built 6 science popularization bulletin boards, and provide scorpion-breeding technical services to the public year-round," Li Zhujiang said.

Up to now, the association has developed 1,561 member households, including 500 science and technology demonstration households, and has driven 1,318 surrounding farming households. The association's annual scorpion output is nearly 100,000 kg, making it the largest scorpion breeding base north of the Yellow River in China. In June this year, the association was awarded the title of "National Advanced Unit in Science Popularization for Benefiting Farmers and Revitalizing Villages" by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance.

With the expansion of breeding scale, the incomes of member households have grown higher and higher, and scorpion breeding has become one of the main sources of income for surrounding villagers. Even so, Li Zhujiang is not satisfied. "The deep-processing project for scorpions has become the association's development goal," he revealed. Next, the association will vigorously develop deep processing of products, research scorpion tonic foods and scorpion venom extraction, and further improve economic returns.