Wei Bin of Xiaoli Village, Xinxiang City: Raising ground beetles to get rich

    "I have been raising ground beetles for less than four years, and they have already brought me an income of more than 8,000 yuan. If I sell all the ground beetles, the income could reach 12,000 yuan." When talking about the benefits brought by raising ground beetles, Wei Bin of Xiaoli Village, Xinxiang City, was overjoyed beyond words.  

    Wei Bin told this writer that a few years ago, his family was still very poor. He had run a neon light business and a cake shop, and the money for these was scraped together by borrowing from relatives, friends and neighbors. Facing such meager income, when could the debts ever be paid off?  

    So, with reluctance to leave his hometown and worries about his family, he went to Guangdong. Because of his personality and his health, he could not stand being pushed around by his boss, and in a fit of anger he returned home again.  

    Farming at home did not work, and working away from home did not work either, so for a time Zhang Yong fell into difficulty. Just when he was worrying, his younger sister, who had seen that others had gotten rich raising ground beetles, told him the idea of raising ground beetles. At first, Wei Bin was half-believing and half-doubting, but after repeated persuasion from his family and on-site visits, he finally took the path of raising ground beetles.  

    At that time, no one in his hometown was raising ground beetles, and he worried about whether he could succeed and what he would do if he failed. But his wife supported him very much and comforted him: "If we fail, the worst is that we lose some money. Then the two of us will go out together to collect scraps and earn money to pay off the debt." Now it seems that this worry was unnecessary. After three months of study away from home, plus his assiduous study of ground beetle breeding techniques, his efforts finally paid off. The ground beetles he raised sold for more than 5,000 yuan the first time, and then for more than 2,000 yuan the second time.  

    Wei Bin also told this writer: the ground beetle is a precious Chinese medicinal material and also an excellent delicacy, and its prospects are very promising. The growth cycle of the ground beetle is ten months. If you no longer want to raise them, you can sell them all; if you continue to raise them, you can keep part of them as breeding stock. From breeding stock to small insects, and from small insects to large insects, after another ten months they can be sold again. Now he has not only paid off his debts and the tens of thousands of yuan in loans used for investment, but has also newly purchased a motorcycle, a tricycle and so on.  

    Because Wei Bin gained real benefits from raising ground beetles, some fellow villagers also wanted to raise ground beetles one after another and asked Zhang Yong for advice. Wei Bin always explained carefully, patiently taught them the techniques, and provided follow-up services. Now, under his leadership, there are nearly 20 ground beetle farming households.