Raising chickens under the forest opens the road to ecological prosperity

Recently, the reporter saw at the planting and breeding base of Ouquan Fruit Professional Cooperative in Hongshan Village, Jianchi Street, that sweet orange grapefruit hung all over the branches, and workers were busy picking; under the sweet orange pomelo forest, flocks of native chickens could be seen leisurely digging, pecking insects, and pecking grass.

"more than 10 years ago, with the help of my family, I contracted more than 350 mu of woodland and planted bayberry, sweet grapefruit, tea, bamboo and so on." Xiang Caimei, head of the cooperative, said that in 2012 she used the space under the fruit forest to raise native chickens. In 2015, the sales of bayberry, sweet grapefruit, bamboo, tea and native chicken in the base are expected to reach more than 700,000 yuan.

Xiang Caimei told the reporter that at that time, because she had to take care of her son who went to school in the city, she went to the city from Xingyuan Village, Longnan Township, her hometown. At first, I chose to work in the factory, but it is not easy to work in the factory. I go out early and come back late every day, so it is difficult to take care of my family. "Why don't you start a small business?" Xiang Linmei, the husband of a forest technician, suggested. "I am a rural woman who is not the material to do business. It is better for me to do farm work." Xiang Caimei answered. It was this sentence of Xiang Caimei that gave her husband Xiang Linmei an inspiration. He thought why not give full play to his strengths and use his off-work time to help his wife develop economic forests. The husband and wife hit it off.

So what kind of fruit trees have high benefits and good prospects? Xiang Caimei admitted that she could not make up her mind and asked her husband for help. Xiang Linmei said that he often had access to some magazines about agricultural knowledge at work, so when he proposed it to his wife, he already had a preliminary idea. "the market of red bayberry has always been very good, this is my first choice. Sweet pomelo was rarely planted in Longquan at that time. I was struck by the fact that sweet pomelo was delicious, easy to sell and easy to make money in the magazine Lishui Agricultural Science and Technology. " Xiang Lin said with a smile.

In 2003, accompanied by her husband, Xiang Caimei contracted more than 350 mu of woodland in Hongshan Village, Jianchi Street, opening the road to prosperity by planting fruit forests. She began to get up in the morning and get up in the dark every day, planting bayberry, sweet grapefruit, tea trees and bamboo. "after investing in the first few years, I try to hire as few people as possible, and my husband will come to help on weekends." In this way, she takes the fruit tree as the companion, lives a "seclusion" life, carefully cultivates the fruit tree.

"at first, I had no experience. I lacked knowledge about how to manage fruit trees and control diseases and insect pests. I often called my husband for advice while doing what I was doing." It is Xiang Caimei who is steadfast and willing to work, open-minded to consult and take good care of, so that every fruit tree thrives.

In 2007, bayberry, sweet grapefruit and other fruit trees finally ushered in the first picking period. Although the fruit rate in the first year was not high, the income in that year was more than 50,000 yuan. After digging up the "first bucket of gold" in the planting of fruit trees, Xiang Caimei felt the joy of hard work and strengthened her confidence and determination to develop economic forests.

The fruit trees all over the mountains are fruitful, and the country chickens are in groups under the trees, some are chasing fights, and some stand on the branches "leading the neck and singing".... As Xiang Caimei cooed a few times, hundreds of chickens gathered from all directions. This is another scenic line of the breeding base.

Speaking of this new undertaking, Xiang Caimei said with a smile, "he taught me this, too." The "he" in this mouth naturally refers to her husband Xiang Lin Mei. "I am her advisor." Xiang Linmei said with a smile, "I learned about raising chickens under the forest by chance when I saw an introduction in an agricultural farming program on TV. As soon as I checked on the Internet that many people across the country were already doing it, I mentioned the new idea to her."

As soon as she did it, Xiang Caimei invited workers to build three chicken coops on the clearing of the woodland. "I have experience in raising chickens." Xiang Caimei said that in order to taste good chicken, try to extend the time of breeding, raise two batches of more than 600 chickens a year. Because of the good environment and less pollution in the woodland, she didn't pay much attention to raising chickens. Every morning I open the door of the henhouse and let it out, fearing that when the chicken is hungry, it will feed some rice at a fixed time.

Now, her chickens have become famous locally. Before each hurdle, it was booked by some local merchants early, and at the same time, many citizens came to buy it. During the interview, a local citizen drove to Xiang Caimei's breeding base to buy native chickens. "the chicken here is fragrant, chewy, and the soup is delicious. My family likes it. I'm going to buy two more today." The citizen told the reporter that it was the third time that he had come here to buy chickens.

"my chicken runs in the orchard every day and eats natural grass and worms in the field. In this way, not only a certain amount of food is saved, but also the chicken is of good quality, and the price is also high. At the same time, chicken manure is the best organic fertilizer for fruit trees. Through the model of raising chickens under the forest in recent years, the yields of bayberry and sweet pomelo have been higher, and the fruits have become sweeter. " Xiang Caimei was even more overjoyed when she talked about her becoming rich.

Xiang Caimei said that although she was a little tired every day, she was very happy to see her hard work gradually rewarded. With the help of her family, she would continue to work hard and follow the road to prosperity of this ecological cycle model.