Yingshan, Sichuan: "New Farmer" Mo Xiaodong from Xiaoqiao Town takes an unusual path in entrepreneurship

On September 12th, the Old Courtyard Black Chicken Yingshan store officially opened for business in Yingshan County, Nanchong City, Sichuan Province. The store was crowded with people, and specialty products such as black eggs and spicy chicken chunks attracted many citizens to stop and purchase. The founder of this store is Mo Xiaodong, a "new farmer" who returned home to start a business in Laojie Village, Xiaoqiao Town, Yingshan County. In 2015, after more than 20 years of wandering outside, he resolutely returned to his hometown and led the establishment of Yingshan County Xinhua Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Professional Cooperative, relying on the barren mountains in the village to embark on his entrepreneurial journey. For more than ten years, he has been deeply rooted in the rural areas, cultivating the characteristic breeding industry of sika deer and old courtyard black chicken, creating a complete industrial chain of breeding cycle and integrated production and sales, continuously extending the industrial value, expanding the channels for increasing people's income, and contributing to the development of his hometown.

Trying to raise sika deer reveals the way to make money

Recently, in the evening, groups of sika deer ran, played, and leisurely searched for food in the mountain stream of the Xinhua Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Professional Cooperative located in Yaokougou, Laojie Village, Xiaoqiao Town, Yingshan County. With Mo Xiaodong's shout, the herd of deer quickly gathered around the trough, eagerly waiting for their owner to feed them.

Sika deer have a diverse diet and are not picky eaters. They eat pumpkins, green grass, and corn stalks, "said Mo Xiaodong. He used the circulating slopes to plant grass, pumpkins, corn, and other crops for Sika deer to eat, greatly saving breeding costs.

With over 20 years of work experience at Shenzhen Zoo, Mo Xiaodong is proficient in the breeding techniques of sika deer and familiar with their growth habits. At the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey back in 2015, he was the first to introduce more than 20 spotted deer for trial aquaculture. After years of self breeding, the cooperative now has a stock of over 200 spotted deer, of which nearly 80 male deer have entered a stable period of antler harvesting. June to August every year is the peak season for deer antler harvesting. The harvesting site strictly follows standardized procedures, including anesthesia, bloodletting, and antler cutting. The high-quality deer antler is neat and orderly, becoming the core income increasing product of the cooperative.

The added value of the sika deer industry is high. In addition to deer antler, deer blood can also be used to make medicinal wine. To ensure the fine management and care of the deer herd, Mo Xiaodong hired two villagers to be responsible for breeding and care, both offering an annual salary of 100000 yuan. The management and care work is very hard, especially during the calving period of the spotted deer, which requires overnight duty and full care. The two staff members are conscientious and responsible, and deserve this salary, "said Mo Xiaodong.

While promoting industrial development, he never forgot to increase the income of his neighbors. The cooperative has been absorbing more than 70 local villagers to work nearby for a long time. In addition to providing employment opportunities for villagers to work and increase their income, the cooperative has also innovated assistance models and implemented a quantified dividend mechanism for disabled people's equity, covering 25 disabled people in the village. Since 2015, a total of 110000 yuan in fixed dividends has been distributed, allowing more villagers to enjoy the benefits of industrial development.

Raising black chickens to broaden the industry track

On the basis of the steady development of the characteristic breeding industry of sika deer, Mo Xiaodong continues to explore new industrial tracks and new paths for increasing income. Two years ago, he participated in the Chengdu Agricultural Products Exhibition and Sales Fair with characteristic products of sika deer, and formed a connection with the old courtyard black chicken breeding enterprise in Dazhou. He saw the advantages of ecological breeding and broad market prospects of the old courtyard black chicken, and was determined to introduce this characteristic industry into Yingshan and settle in his hometown.

After multiple rounds of communication, on-site inspections, and in-depth negotiations, the cooperating enterprises fully recognized the site conditions, breeding foundation, and development concept of Xinhua Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Professional Cooperative, and successfully reached cooperation. The old courtyard black chicken officially "settled" in Laojie Village, Xiaoqiao Town, and Mo Xiaodong became the first industrial leader in the large-scale breeding of old courtyard black chicken in Yingshan County.

In order to consolidate the foundation of breeding, in September last year, under the professional technical guidance of cooperative enterprises, Mo Xiaodong built standardized chicken houses and professional hatcheries, and introduced the first batch of 200 black chicken seedlings for trial breeding. With the steady expansion of breeding scale, the current stock of black chickens in the cooperative has reached more than 1500.

Relying on a mature breeding cycle model, Mo Xiaodong continuously optimizes the breeding system. Planting Chinese herbal medicines such as bitter chrysanthemum grass in the base to enhance the antiviral ability of black chickens; Planting crops such as corn and potatoes as natural feed; After fermentation treatment, the chicken manure produced by breeding is turned into treasure and used as planting fertilizer, forming an ecological loop that not only reduces production costs but also ensures the green quality of products.

At present, the black chickens of the cooperative have reached the standard for slaughter. Mo Xiaodong told me that the black chicken series products produced can be repurchased and sold by upstream enterprises as a backup, or processed and sold by themselves. In this way, market risks are maximally avoided.

To extend the industrial chain and enhance industrial added value, Mo Xiaodong is simultaneously creating new business models and exploring new markets. The old courtyard Black Chicken Yingshan store, which opened this time, specializes in a series of products such as black chicken, black eggs, and specialty cooked food; The Yuan Zixiang restaurant, which opened simultaneously, uses original black chicken as its core ingredient to achieve integrated development of "breeding+processing+catering".

Drawing on the development experience of mature enterprises and constantly exploring innovation, our characteristic industries have begun to show results, and our confidence in development is even stronger. "Mo Xiaodong told the author that in the next step, the cooperative will continue to expand its industrial scale, deeply cultivate key links such as characteristic planting and breeding, deep processing, and brand sales, and drive more villagers to steadily increase their income. (Guo Ming)