Inner Mongolia partridge farming brings good returns, driving a whole community to increase income and prosperity
Inner Mongolia partridges: a benefit chain that enriches and energizes a whole community
(Agricultural Prosperity Network) Visiting the Zhenfeng Wildlife Breeding Farm in Dongsheng Village, Houqi, whether for a tour or to buy birds, farm manager Gu Shuzhen and his wife always offer a warm welcome. It is not hard to see, from their happy faces and the care they put into running the farm, that these little partridges have brought them a good life.
In each shed, chicken cages are neatly arranged, and the partridges, which look not much bigger than pigeons, gaze curiously at passing visitors. Because we had not undergone thorough disinfection, we could only stand at the doorway to look at these delicate wild birds. Among the many coops, some house breeding birds. According to the introduction, a single one of these little partridges now sells for 20 yuan, and partridges have a fairly high breeding capacity: each breeding bird lays around 100 eggs a year, and Gu Shuzhen, who has years of breeding technology experience, achieves a hatching survival rate of over 80% for partridges. That is to say, one breeding bird can successfully hatch 80 chicks a year, with an economic benefit of around 1,600 yuan. That alone is enough to match the benefit of two Houqi goats. This year, Gu Shuzhen's farm is raising more than 10,000 partridges. Now, not only have nearby villagers become part of Gu Shuzhen's partridge benefit chain, but even people from outside the banner, such as those in Hanghou and Linhe, have joined his prosperity plan.
In fact, according to Gu Shuzhen, he began raising partridges back in 1998, when he had only just over 100. It was not until 2008, after gaining some experience, that he began to expand the scale, and that year alone he sold more than 6,000 adult partridges. Because partridges are wild birds with high food value, demand often exceeds supply, which truly delights Gu Shuzhen's family, and he feels that specialized breeding has brought him new hope. Indeed, to encourage him to expand the scale and carefully pursue specialized breeding, the town even reserved the merged and now idle school buildings for him to use as a breeding base, and gave him assistance and support in various ways.
Because partridges have good nutritional value and economic returns, and because Gu Shuzhen has effectively publicized them nationwide via the internet, buyers from places such as Qinghai, Xi'an and Hubei now come in an endless stream after hearing of his farm.
Last year, his adult partridges were snapped up well before the onset of winter. This year, to avoid an imbalance between supply and demand as much as possible, Gu Shuzhen came up with a good way to prosper together. He sells chicks to villagers willing to raise them, buys back all the partridges they breed at market price, and then meets the demands of the broader market. In this way, not only has Gu Shuzhen grown rich by raising partridges, but the villagers have also achieved good economic returns alongside him.
Wang Xin is a resident of the First Neighborhood Committee of Bayan Bulag Town, Houqi. He and his wife learned at an entrepreneurship training class run by the Houqi Employment Bureau that Gu Shuzhen's wildlife breeding farm had good returns and could lead to prosperity. Quick-witted Wang Xin immediately felt this was a good project, so the very next day they could hardly wait to visit the farm in person and learn about the breeding techniques in detail on the spot. After the entrepreneurship training ended, they set about learning the trade from Gu Shuzhen, and unexpectedly received his strong support to join forces in building up the partridge industry. When Gu Shuzhen took over all sales, Wang Xin felt that the link and difficulty he had worried about most in the future had been solved, and he was overjoyed. But because Wang Xin is an urban resident with no spare land to build a breeding farm of his own, he went to Sizhi Township in Hanghou and set up a shed there. Chicks introduced in August can be sold in November, with returns seen in just three months: little investment and quick results, which made Wang Xin happier than anything. Looking at a project with such good prospects, Wang Xin feels Gu Shuzhen's spirit of bringing prosperity to others is truly rare. Next, he wants to expand production scale and, together with other villagers, turn the partridge industry into a distinctive industry for Houqi and even Bayannur City.
Gu Shuzhen says that besides people like Wang Xin, university graduates with animal husbandry majors have also developed into small specialized breeding farms within his partridge benefit chain.
In each shed, chicken cages are neatly arranged, and the partridges, which look not much bigger than pigeons, gaze curiously at passing visitors. Because we had not undergone thorough disinfection, we could only stand at the doorway to look at these delicate wild birds. Among the many coops, some house breeding birds. According to the introduction, a single one of these little partridges now sells for 20 yuan, and partridges have a fairly high breeding capacity: each breeding bird lays around 100 eggs a year, and Gu Shuzhen, who has years of breeding technology experience, achieves a hatching survival rate of over 80% for partridges. That is to say, one breeding bird can successfully hatch 80 chicks a year, with an economic benefit of around 1,600 yuan. That alone is enough to match the benefit of two Houqi goats. This year, Gu Shuzhen's farm is raising more than 10,000 partridges. Now, not only have nearby villagers become part of Gu Shuzhen's partridge benefit chain, but even people from outside the banner, such as those in Hanghou and Linhe, have joined his prosperity plan.
In fact, according to Gu Shuzhen, he began raising partridges back in 1998, when he had only just over 100. It was not until 2008, after gaining some experience, that he began to expand the scale, and that year alone he sold more than 6,000 adult partridges. Because partridges are wild birds with high food value, demand often exceeds supply, which truly delights Gu Shuzhen's family, and he feels that specialized breeding has brought him new hope. Indeed, to encourage him to expand the scale and carefully pursue specialized breeding, the town even reserved the merged and now idle school buildings for him to use as a breeding base, and gave him assistance and support in various ways.
Because partridges have good nutritional value and economic returns, and because Gu Shuzhen has effectively publicized them nationwide via the internet, buyers from places such as Qinghai, Xi'an and Hubei now come in an endless stream after hearing of his farm.
Last year, his adult partridges were snapped up well before the onset of winter. This year, to avoid an imbalance between supply and demand as much as possible, Gu Shuzhen came up with a good way to prosper together. He sells chicks to villagers willing to raise them, buys back all the partridges they breed at market price, and then meets the demands of the broader market. In this way, not only has Gu Shuzhen grown rich by raising partridges, but the villagers have also achieved good economic returns alongside him.
Wang Xin is a resident of the First Neighborhood Committee of Bayan Bulag Town, Houqi. He and his wife learned at an entrepreneurship training class run by the Houqi Employment Bureau that Gu Shuzhen's wildlife breeding farm had good returns and could lead to prosperity. Quick-witted Wang Xin immediately felt this was a good project, so the very next day they could hardly wait to visit the farm in person and learn about the breeding techniques in detail on the spot. After the entrepreneurship training ended, they set about learning the trade from Gu Shuzhen, and unexpectedly received his strong support to join forces in building up the partridge industry. When Gu Shuzhen took over all sales, Wang Xin felt that the link and difficulty he had worried about most in the future had been solved, and he was overjoyed. But because Wang Xin is an urban resident with no spare land to build a breeding farm of his own, he went to Sizhi Township in Hanghou and set up a shed there. Chicks introduced in August can be sold in November, with returns seen in just three months: little investment and quick results, which made Wang Xin happier than anything. Looking at a project with such good prospects, Wang Xin feels Gu Shuzhen's spirit of bringing prosperity to others is truly rare. Next, he wants to expand production scale and, together with other villagers, turn the partridge industry into a distinctive industry for Houqi and even Bayannur City.
Gu Shuzhen says that besides people like Wang Xin, university graduates with animal husbandry majors have also developed into small specialized breeding farms within his partridge benefit chain.