Jingzhou "thorn baby" knocks on the door of getting rich.

Rows of cement ponds were surrounded by half-man-high walls into "small courtyards", and more than 200 porcupines covered with thorns ate happily. On the afternoon of May 1, Lu Kun was preparing "dinner" for his "thorn babies" at the porcupine breeding cooperative in Guantuan Village, Quyang Town, Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province.

"raising pigs for the Spring Festival, raising cattle for farming, and raising chickens for buying salt" was once a true portrayal of Guantuan Village. Infrastructure is fragile, transportation construction lags behind, information is blocked, economic and cultural development lags behind, and it is difficult for the masses to travel, buy and sell, and increase income. In this remote village, most of the villagers make a living by growing cash crops such as flue-cured tobacco and rice.

"can porcupines still be raised?" In 2015, Lu Kun, a 22-year-old veteran, was demobilized and returned to his hometown in Guantuan village. This young man with a disability caused by a spleen injury during special combat training became the first person to "eat crabs".

After returning from the army, he couldn't do heavy physical work and couldn't find a way to make money. Lu Kun stayed at home in a hurry. One day in his spare time, Lu Kun was overjoyed to see porcupine farming techniques being shown on TV.

"I want it! Just raise a porcupine! " Without saying a word, his father, Lu Jiangtao, gave all his savings of 20,000 yuan, which he had worked for many years, to his son, bought 20 porcupine cubs, and began the breeding road.

20 becomes 50, 50 becomes 100. Through continuous efforts, the scale of the farm has gradually expanded, but the problem has also come.

As porcupine farming is a special industry, it must be approved before it can be sold. Without a license, people will not buy it even if they sell it at a low price, and the farm has suddenly become a "hot potato".

In this way, only can not enter, income can not make ends meet, the farm will not be able to hold up. The leader of the poverty alleviation team stationed in the village discovered this situation during a door-to-door visit, and immediately decided to accompany Lu Kun to the county forestry bureau to consult and apply for a permit to help write written materials such as the feasibility report on wild animal domestication and breeding, environmental protection, health, and epidemic prevention and control measures.

"if it hadn't been for the help of the poverty alleviation captain, my porcupine farm would have collapsed." Looking at more than 200 porcupines eating in the breeding room, Lu Kun smiled with relief. He said that the current selling price of porcupine is 70-90 yuan per kilogram. If the growth rate of porcupine is 13 kg in eight months and the market selling price is 70 yuan per kilogram, a commercial porcupine can make a profit of 790 yuan.

Just then, Lu Kun's phone rang. After answering the phone, he said excitedly that an e-commerce platform in Zhejiang Province was very interested in their porcupine and called to place an order.

Lu Kun's porcupine breeding road is getting wider and wider, and the breeding technology is becoming more and more mature. The poverty alleviation team leader and village cadres came to him and discussed to let the poor families who set up archives and set up cards to join the cooperative, and he immediately agreed.

"in the past, you have helped me so much, but now that I have the ability and experience, I will also lead the villagers to shake off poverty and become rich!" According to the model of "cooperatives + poor households", 37 poor households in the village have joined cooperatives. The cooperative is responsible for raising porcupine and providing technical guidance, and poor households apply for micro-credit loans to help the poor. They purchase 10 male and female porcupine seedlings as production costs and put them in "foster care" in cooperatives. In addition, poor families can also work in cooperatives with a subsidy of 80 yuan a day. A year later, the 10 porcupine income of poor households all go to poor households.

"Poor families can also learn porcupine farming skills from me, and they will be able to raise porcupine on their own after a year or two. If they can't sell, I can buy back their porcupine at the market price." Lu Kun said.

"the porcupine is not picky, but corn, radish, vegetable leaves and branches are all its food." In the shed, porcupine babies are growing happily. Xiao Zhengxiong, a poor family who is working here, knows that a female porcupine can give birth to four porcupine piglets a year. Excluding the cost, raising a porcupine can earn 500 yuan a year, and 10 porcupine male and female seedlings can earn tens of thousands of yuan a year.

"it depends on them to get rid of poverty in the future!" Xiao Zhengxiong is planning to raise more porcupines in the coming year to earn more money.