Pigging out on success

By Lin Qi (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-25 09:48

Long Bo combs one of his sows' hair. Liu Wenqing

When Long Bo graduated from university eight years ago, he confronted an employment market no less competitive than it is today.

Recalling a job fair he attended after graduating from the Sichuan Agriculture University Long says: "There were so many people clustered around each stand, yet few posts were on offer."

The scene did not depress him, though, as he had already decided to start his own business, raising pigs, much to the dismay of every one he told.

A native of Xinfan town near Chengdu, Long grew up seeing his parents raising pigs in the most trying conditions. The pigsty was always dirty and smelly, he says.

Armed with a major in business administration, he came up with the idea of raising pigs more scientifically after an inspiring visit to the university's pig farm.

"The farm was clean and bright and equipped with an array of imported facilities from Italy," he says.

He smelled a business prospect right away and decided to build his own pig farm after graduation. His larger goal was to overhaul pig-raising techniques in the countryside.

Long's parents put up fierce resistance. "They had worked so hard to provide me with a good education and their biggest wish was to see me get a decent job and make a better living in the city," he says.

Long's only supporter was his girlfriend, Wang Xu.

The only-child of a well-off family in Chengdu, she had decided to become Long's business partner after graduation, although her parents had set their hearts on a bank job.

"They didn't think I could stand the hardship of the countryside. They said I would disgrace the whole family if I were to raise pigs," she says.

She ran away from home to live with Long and his family. "I like to be with him," she says simply.

The couple had about 80,000 yuan ($11,680) but needed another 20,000 to build a pig farm. So they tried to raise money by setting up a market stall.

On the first day at the market, they felt too ashamed to hawk their small everyday articles and were scared of being recognized. That first day they sold nothing but a tube of toothpaste - to a woman at the neighboring stall who bought it out of kindness.

"The locals believe that if there are no customers on opening day, the business will fail," Wang Xu says.

One day, Wang's father found their stall. "I hadn't told him about it and felt rather embarrassed. He looked at me and began to cry softly. He left 3,000 yuan and asked me to call my mother," she says.

"We hadn't met or talked for six months, but I knew that they had forgiven us."

The couple bought two sows and built their first pig farm on the Longs' private farm lots in November, 2002. They adopted new methods of pig breeding, which they felt were cleaner, more scientific and labor saving.

For instance, a sow is usually fed 10-15 kg of fodder per meal. Wang Xu, who studied food and nutrition in college, re-mixed the fodder and this cut down the sow's appetite by 95 percent.

"The pigs eat much less if the fodder is nutritiously mixed. And they have less body waste, which means the pigsty becomes easy to clean and much less smelly," Long Bo says.

At first, Long's father didn't believe in Wang's method. Long Bo found his father feeding the pigs secretly again after every meal. "I had to lock the pigsty after we fed the pigs. My father had a big quarrel with me and bet the sows were too weak to produce," Long says.

A sow's pregnancy usually lasts 114 days. But Long's two sows showed no signs of delivery on the due day. He and Wang Xu would often touch sows' bellies to see if the piglets inside were still alive. When the sows gave birth, a week later, the litter was bigger and healthier than any Long's father had ever raised. He was finally convinced.

Long Bo faced a grave financial situation when the price of pork declined sharply during the SARS outbreak in 2003. He distributed more than 2,000 advertisements and even sold his piglets to save his business. He also trained buyers on how to raise pigs and won wide endorsement for his methods, with many people wanting to become his business partners.

He even registered a trademark, Pulanke, for his pigs in 2005 and set up the Pulanke Pig-raising Co-operative. It now has 14 pig farms and more than 1,400 league members nationwide, whose 230,000-odd pigs yielded 250 million yuan last year. The co-operative's net income amounted to 2 million yuan.

Every day, Long Bo trains co-operative members from across the country. In his spare time, he likes to read, practice calligraphy and play the guitar and sing to his pigs.

"People talk a lot about our success. While a good project, great management and excellent marketing are all important, the one thing that make dreams come true is persistence," he says.

"Modern agriculture has great potential and needs young talent. We have more than 20 people with doctorates and Master's degrees and 100-odd undergraduates working in Pulanke. I suggest more college graduates students seek out such grassroots opportunities."