Traditionally farmed pigs in Wulong snapped up before leaving the pen

In "Journey to the West," it is "Zhu Bajie" who snatches a wife, but today Wulong's "Zhu Bajie" pigs are the ones being "snatched."

On September 21, Jiang Hua, head of the Huayu Pig Farming Cooperative in Wulong County, repeatedly apologized to customers who had come to order traditional pork. "There is really nothing I can do. All of our traditional pigs this year have already been reserved."

The batch of traditional pigs Jiang Hua mentioned will not leave the pen until November at the earliest, but they already have owners.

　　Government subsidies support the development of 10,000 traditional pigs

When it comes to today's pork, many people say it tastes nowhere near as good as before.

"In the past, pigs were fed grain; now they are basically all fed feed. In the past, a pig took more than 1 year to finish growing; now the fastest is only 4 months. The taste is bound to be different." Wang Hongyang, director of the Wulong County Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau, said that in recent years Wulong's tourism has developed rapidly, and locally raised traditional chickens and ducks are very popular with tourists. After visiting some catering businesses and star-rated hotels, he found that everyone was very interested in traditional pigs and hoped to have better-tasting pork to attract customers.

At the end of last year, Wulong launched a pilot program for raising 10,000 traditional pigs in Huolu Town and Miaoya Township - selecting local traditional pig breeds, and after the pigs grow to 50 kg, no longer feeding them feed, switching instead to traditional farming methods and feeding them cooked corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes. To support traditional pig farming, the Wulong County Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau also gave subsidies to farmers, with a subsidy of 0.5 yuan per jin for traditional pigs that leave the pen.

　　Farmers earn an extra 500 yuan per pig raised

As a major pig farmer and transporter in Huolu Town, Jiang Hua actively joined the traditional pig farming pilot.

Using a cooperative-plus-farmers model, he developed more than 8,000 traditional pigs in Cheba Village, Huolu Town. The cooperative provides piglets to farmers, the farmers raise them according to requirements, and the cooperative finally purchases them at a guaranteed minimum price.

With more than 8,000 traditional pigs raised in scattered households, how can it be guaranteed that the pigs are no longer fed feed after they grow to 50 kg? Jiang Hua said that every pig has an ear tag, and the ear tag is like the pig's ID card, allowing its growth situation to be checked at any time. In addition, the village has a dedicated veterinarian, one of whose jobs is to inspect each pigpen every day.

"Also, from the farmers' point of view, there is no need to feed them feed." Jiang Hua said that feeding a pig with feed can earn only 100-200 yuan, and if the market is bad, one may even lose money. Although the raising cycle is now longer, there is no risk in farming. There is a veterinarian for routine disease prevention, and when the pigs leave the pen, the guaranteed minimum price per jin is about 2 yuan higher than that of pigs previously raised on feed, so each pig can increase income by 400-500 yuan compared with the past. Farmers generally raise 6 traditional pigs, and over a year, the extra income from pig farming alone can amount to several thousand yuan.

　　Striving to raise 200,000 pigs within five years

Although traditional pigs are now in great demand, the price of traditional pork is not too high.

"This is our first batch of traditional pigs, and we cannot raise prices recklessly just because they are in demand. Since our purchase price is somewhat higher than that of pork from feed-raised pigs, the price of traditional pork is about 3-5 yuan higher than that of feed-raised pigs!" Jiang Hua said.

Some time ago, the person in charge of the supply and marketing cooperative in Huolu Town approached Jiang Hua, hoping that Jiang Hua could supply them with some traditional pork this year.

"I calculated that this year's more than 8,000 pigs will produce less than 100 tons of traditional pork in total, while the supply and marketing cooperative alone needs more than 100 tons, so there is definitely no way I can supply it." Jiang Hua said.

Unable to buy traditional pork from Jiang Hua, the heads of some star-rated hotels and large restaurants in Wulong County went to the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau.

"Several star-rated hotel executives came to us hoping we could supply some traditional pork this year, even if only a small amount." Wang Hongyang said. "But we can only say sorry, because output is only that little. We must guarantee the quality of the traditional pigs and absolutely must not allow inferior goods to pass as good ones!"

According to the plan of the Wulong County Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau, next year the county's traditional pig farming scale will expand to 30,000 pigs, and within five years it will strive to develop to 200,000 pigs.

　　Reporter's note >>>

Leverage comparative advantages and take the path of distinctive development

More than 1 month before they were due to leave the pen, Wulong's 10,000 traditional pigs were completely snapped up. Why are Wulong's traditional pigs so "favored"? The main reason still lies in the word "traditional." Raising pigs with traditional methods allows pork to return to its original flavor, which naturally makes the feed-raised pigs fattened in just four months pale by comparison.

Wulong County's tourism development is quite good, but 80% of the county is still underdeveloped rural areas. Wulong has a tradition of pig farming, and at the same time Wulong has many mountains, with abundant agricultural products such as corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes. How can the role of these agricultural products be brought into play? Distinctive farming is a good path, and it also fits the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the Fourth Municipal Party Committee - as the ecological protection and development area of southeastern Chongqing, Wulong County's development of the "traditional path" of traditional pigs not only makes full use of local resources, but also meets market demand and increases people's incomes. This is exactly a typical example of leveraging comparative advantages, highlighting development priorities and demonstrating development characteristics.

Reporter Li Wei