Rice-duck farming brings good profits, rolling wealth into farming households

Corn can be intercropped with soybeans, celery and the like to increase income; what can traditional rice paddies raise to make money? The rice planting area of the Changchun Agricultural Expo Garden demonstrates a composite planting-and-breeding, ecological income-increasing model: raising ducks in the rice paddies, "rice-duck farming" without neglecting either, which not only reduces the labor of weeding and killing insects in the rice paddies or the cost of spraying pesticides, but also yields "green and eco-friendly" free-range ducks.

The reporter saw in the rice planting area that in a square rice paddy, green rice plants grew densely, and around the paddy a rectangular ring-shaped water channel about half a meter wide had been built with cement and red bricks. As the breeze blew past, the water rippled and the rice ears swayed.

"Actually, in rice paddies you can raise fish or crabs, but the simplest and most efficient is 'rice-duck farming.'" said technician Li Xiaowei. "'Rice-duck farming' makes use of ducks' strong omnivorous nature; they can eat the weeds and pests in the rice paddy, and the ducks' constant activity can also stimulate rice growth and produce a muddy-water effect like intertillage. At the same time, the ducks' droppings can also serve as fertilizer, 'feeding back' to the rice seedlings."

In this rice paddy, ducks and rice depend on and interact with each other, forming an organic circular ecological chain, and the final output is high-quality pollution-free rice and "green and eco-friendly" free-range ducks. "Rice-duck farming" is a composite planting-and-breeding, ecological comprehensive agricultural production technique. Adopting this technique can not only effectively reduce the planting and raising costs of rice and ducks, but also promote agricultural efficiency and increase farmers' income." Li Xiaowei said that for farmers to upgrade a traditional rice paddy into a "rice-duck farming" composite planting-and-breeding paddy is very simple and does not cost much; they only need to surround the paddy with half-meter-high fine netting. "For the same 15 mu of rice, using the 'rice-duck farming' model, farmers can earn at least 5000 yuan more on average each year."