"Jilin Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Loan" Drives Jilin Farmers to Get Rich from Poverty

Looking at the spacious and bright barn and more than 1000 fat yellow cattle at Hengsheng Farm in Chang'an Village, Zhenyi, Jilin Province, the person in charge Lin Yugui said that the goal over the years is about to be achieved.

Lin Yugui has dark skin and calluses on his broad and powerful hands. When he is over 60, he usually does not like to talk, but as soon as he talks about his cattle, his eyes immediately shine and he goes on and on: "that's not much. My goal is to raise 3000 cows."

Zhenlai County, located in the west of Jilin Province, is a state-level poor county, with a per capita annual income of less than 8000 yuan. Lin Yugui, who used to be a branch secretary in Chang'an Village, knows very well that without the development of industry, it is very difficult for the village to get rid of the backwardness and poverty by relying only on a few mu of thin farmland.

More than a decade ago, Lin Yugui found that raising cattle was of low risk and quick profit, so he decided to try it. He raised cattle with the money he earned from brewing wine at home. From feeding to vaccinating cattle, Lao Lin always did it himself, and the farm gradually expanded from dozens of cattle to more than 300 at the beginning of last year. Due to the stable price and market demand of beef cattle, Lao Lin has always wanted to expand the scale of breeding rapidly, but he needs a lot of money, because it is difficult for the aquaculture industry to borrow money, and Lao Lin is also very helpless: "if you want to borrow money, you can't borrow enough." This is also a common problem faced by many farmers.

When it is difficult for farmers to raise money, it is even more difficult for farmers. "the main assets of farmers are biological assets such as pigs, cattle and sheep, and most of the farms are agricultural facilities and are located in remote locations, which do not meet the collateral requirements of banks." Gu Yanzhong, president of Agricultural Bank of Zhenlai County, said.

Just when Lin Yugui thought that the goal of raising 3000 cattle was a long way off, last year, the Zhenyi county government, in cooperation with the Agricultural Bank of China, set up a risk compensation fund funded by the government. The government and banks take risks at a ratio of 8 to 2. Reduce the risk-taking of banks, so that farmers only need to provide guarantees that cover 20 per cent of the loan quota in line with bank regulations.

At the end of 2015, the Jilin Provincial Department of Finance, the Animal Husbandry Administration and the Agricultural Bank jointly launched the pilot financial product "Jilin Agriculture and Animal Husbandry loan", which specializes in serving professional animal husbandry cooperatives and farmers in the province, through the establishment of a risk compensation fund, establish a government credit enhancement mechanism, give full play to the role of financial funds, and solve the difficulties in animal husbandry guarantee and loans.

In May last year, Lin Yugui lent 7.3 million yuan from the bank with a mortgage line of 1.4 million. He expanded the barn with a loan and bought 800 head of beef cattle. Lin Yugui told reporters that beef cattle can be fenced in six months, and one cow can earn more than 2000 yuan, and he will be able to raise 3000 cattle by the end of this year.

Now, Lin Yugui's farm is the largest beef cattle breeding base in the area, and Lin Yugui has become a well-known cattle expert. Seeing the benefits brought by the development of the aquaculture industry, many villagers came to ask for advice on how to raise cattle, and Lao Lin enthusiastically went to farmers to teach them how to feed and see a doctor. Now, Lin Yugui has led more than 30 farmers in the town to develop beef cattle farming. At the same time, through livestock care, dividends and other models, Lin Yugui also led hundreds of poor households in the town to increase their income.

More than a year after the launch of the Jilin Agriculture and Animal Husbandry loan, 12 counties in Jilin Province have participated in the pilot project, including three state-level poverty-stricken counties and three provincial-level poverty-stricken counties. In 2016, the sales income of supported farmers reached 1.345 billion yuan, an increase of 70.25% over the same period last year. As of April this year, the "Jilin Agriculture and Animal Husbandry loan" had granted a total of 85117 yuan in loans, supporting 1597 farmers.