A native of Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province
Guo Biyu, a graduate of Nanjing Agricultural University, has now become the deputy secretary of the Party branch of Xinnan Village, Siming Town, Sheyang County, Jiangsu Province.
Guo Biyu was born in rural areas of northern Jiangsu. In July 2006, Guo Biyu, who graduated from Nanjing Agricultural University, signed up for the College Student Volunteer Service Program in Northern Jiangsu and returned to her hometown to work as a "quasi-community worker." During one year as a volunteer, Guo Biyu accumulated a lot of grassroots work experience and deeply felt that it is a very happy thing to be needed by others and to serve others.
In July 2007, when Guo Biyu’s volunteer service period expired and she was once again faced with a life choice, she heard the news that the provincial party committee was selecting college students to serve in economically disadvantaged villages. Without any hesitation, Guo Biyu Biyu resolutely signed up and embarked on her journey to become a "village official".
On the first day in the village, Guo Biyu took the initiative to ask the village secretary for work assignments. The old secretary smiled and said to Guo Biyu: "Girl, it is not easy to work in the village. You can't bear this hardship. Come down and exercise and then be transferred." In the old secretary's half-joking and half-serious words, Guo Biyu said: Biyu felt that the grassroots cadres were worried about her. Guo Biyu, who never admits defeat, suddenly became more energetic and replied: "Secretary, don't worry, I will never leave Xinnan Village unless I make a show of it!"
Xinnan Village is a shooting place A poor village in the northwest of Yang County, with traffic congestion and low-lying terrain, it is in danger of being flooded every year during the flood season. It is not suitable for planting. Investment promotion has also been significantly restricted. There is not even a single enterprise in the village, and outsiders cannot enter. Come, nothing in the village can get out. For a long time, villagers have lived by growing rice and wheat. In this situation of poor foundation, weak foundation, and very backward concept of the masses, it is not easy to take the lead in getting rich.
During a door-to-door visit, Guo Biyu was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a large chicken farmer in the village named Gu Zhengqi. He had been raising chickens for 10 years and his chickens had expanded to 8,000. He personally told Guo Biyu that he earned 140,000 yuan last year. Guo Biyu was shocked: 140,000 yuan a year! How incredible it is to be in such a poor village! However, Guo Biyu was puzzled: Why has there been only one big chicken farmer in the village in the past 10 years? Isn’t 140,000 enough to attract people?
It turns out that although large-scale breeding of laying hens is a relatively high-return project in rural areas, the initial investment is large and the technical risks are also high. If epidemic prevention is not done properly, once an epidemic occurs, all money will be lost. Guo Biyu's eyes lit up and she felt that there was a lot to be done here. A new way to get rid of poverty might be here! At this time, Guo Biyu thought of her major - animal science. Why not use your professional expertise and give it a try in layer hen farming?
After in-depth research and careful thinking, Guo Biyu boldly proposed the idea of ??developing an industrialization project for laying hens. Her proposal was approved by the village's "two committees". In September 2007, Guo Biyu took the lead in establishing the Xinnan Fumin Livestock and Poultry Professional Cooperative, the first farmer's professional cooperative in the village, and served as the party branch secretary of the cooperative.
The cooperative was established, but it faced a lot of difficulties in getting it running. Not to mention that farmers have conservative ideas, are unwilling to take risks, and lack skills. Even if they are willing to do it, they don’t have the money to set up a chicken farm.
Does the chicken farm business stop here? Guo Biyu is unwilling to give in. She believes that there are always more methods than difficulties.
For two weeks, Guo Biyu traveled to major laying hen breeding enterprises, visited professional chicken raising households, consulted relevant experts, and collected a large amount of first-hand information. After careful analysis and repeated demonstrations, Guo Biyu formulated a development model of "large households driven, poor households buying shares, and year-end dividends". Focusing on large households, she encouraged 30 poor households in the village to take shares and built a laying hen breeding base. After one year, the base made a profit of 110,000 yuan. However, for these 30 poor households, due to the small investment capital, each household can only receive a few hundred yuan, which still cannot fundamentally change their poverty situation.
Guo Biyu feels that if we want to develop the chicken industry in the whole village and let more villagers get rich through chicken raising, this model will not work. We must also combine policy incentives, demonstrations, and technology. Various methods such as training and technical services are combined to guide and help villagers to set up their own chicken farms. Only in this way can they truly become rich.
The first thing Guo Biyu and the village “two committees” overcame was the funding barrier.
Many farmers who were interested in raising chickens gave up because of lack of money. Guo Biyu and the village accountant mobilized and went to credit unions to coordinate loans. They often ran from dawn to dusk, and finally provided each Farmers have obtained poverty alleviation loans ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. With the help of the Poverty Alleviation Working Group of the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee, an incentive policy of 2,000-3,000 yuan was implemented for every 1,000 laying hens raised. After hard work, 21 farmers finally decided to set up their own chicken farms.
Epidemics are prone to break out in winter. In order to achieve comprehensive disinfection and timely epidemic prevention, Guo Biyu went door-to-door to distribute disinfectants, vaccines, and provide guidance. Seeing that the price of medicines outside was high, Guo Biyu took out her mother's savings. Preparing to give her 10,000 yuan for her future dowry, she went directly to the school's animal medicine factory to get medicines, and set up a cooperative's direct supply point for veterinary medicines; in order to save money for farmers, Guo Biyu even went to Shandong Cage Factory to order directly. The chicken coop saved 6,000 yuan in one purchase. It rained heavily all day on the day the goods arrived. In order to deliver more than 200 sets of chicken cages to farmers in time, Guo Biyu ran back and forth in the rain for a day, and caught a cold the next day. During this period, Guo Biyu truly experienced the twists and turns and hardships of starting a business.
The next step is the technical level. Although Guo Biyu majored in animal husbandry, she had little practical experience. She once made a joke - a farmer's chickens developed anal pecking addiction. When they asked Guo Biyu what to do, Guo Biyu came up with the answer. Her chicken raising notes told her: "You can add 2% salt to the feed for 4 days." The farmer adopted Guo Biyu's suggestion. As a result, a few days later, she came back and told Guo Biyu: Not only did her anal pecking habit not improve, but she also developed severe diarrhea. Only then did Guo Biyu remember that this treatment method was copied from the Internet. She told others without practicing it herself or asking a teacher for advice. Guo Biyu blushed.
In the midst of self-blame, Guo Biyu began to frantically study for her practical lessons: preparing feed, giving vaccinations, and dissecting sick chickens. Practice brings true knowledge. Slowly, Guo Biyu became able to cope with the common problems that arise in laying hen breeding. But she knows that if she wants to raise each chicken well, she must have strong technical support. She thought of her alma mater. To this end, she went to Nanjing three times to invite her teachers to inspect the village. On October 26, 2008, three professors from their alma mater came to the village together to give lectures, provide training, and put forward a series of rationalization suggestions. Seeing that the professors were here, the villagers became more confident in raising chickens and started chicken farms one after another, setting off a chicken-raising craze in the village.
In November last year, in order to provide more farmers with examples and methods, Guo Biyu and the village director jointly founded the town’s first standardized laying hen demonstration breeding base - Sheyang County Yuli chicken farm. The entire chicken farm covers an area of ??2,500 square meters and houses 10,000 chickens. It is also equipped with advanced equipment such as a wet curtain cooling system, a spray disinfection system, and an automatic manure cleaning system. Guo Biyu set the goals of chicken farm construction as: a demonstration base for scientific chicken raising, a training base for farmers to get rich, and a base for creating a layer hen brand.
Hard work brings joy of harvest. The scale of the cooperative has expanded, and more and more villagers have embarked on the road of becoming rich by raising chickens. Now, the village's laying hen breeding scale has exceeded 100,000. Last year, the village's chicken raising income reached more than 1.2 million yuan. Guo Biyu is sincerely happy and is thinking about finding breakthroughs in green and brand. The old secretary had already changed his original view of Guo Biyu, and said to Guo Biyu: I can't believe that a girl like you can really endure this hardship and really raise this chicken!
Today, Guo Biyu has transformed from a bird-like girl into a "leading goose" for farmers to become rich. Looking back on her journey from school to community and then to the countryside, Guo Biyu feels very at ease and happy. She said: "My happiness does not come from wealth or glory, but because I have done something worth doing."