Husbandry brings in income for herdsmen
China Daily | Updated: 2019-06-14 09:29
It is Aygul Jumanale's morning routine to feed cattle at an animal husbandry company in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Having worked at Chuangjin Animal Husbandry for three years, Aygul Jumanale lives a well-off life in her home, the Qapqal Xibe autonomous county in Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture. It is a traditional farming and animal husbandry county, which has a long history of cattle raising.
In 2013, the county government introduced German Simmental cattle to improve the local cattle population. The new cattle population continued to expand, attracting State-owned enterprise Chuangjin.
The company has led the development of the local cattle industry and helped local farmers and herdsmen climb out of poverty.
Aygul Jumanale and her husband used to work outside their hometown as migrant workers, which failed to help her family make money.
By working as a feeder at Chuangjin Animal Husbandry, she earns 3,200 yuan ($463) a month.
"I never imagined that I could earn so much money near home," Aygul Jumanale said.
Her husband also works at the Chuangjin farm. The couple's annual income totals 100,000 yuan. More than 20,000 head of cattle are raised on the farm, and this demands a lot of labor. Currently, 475 herdsmen work on the farm, 60 percent of whom are from ethnic groups, said Zhang Ping, deputy general manager of Chuangjin Animal Husbandry.
The farm provides light manual jobs such as security guards for poor households in the surrounding villages. "With a monthly salary of about 4,000 yuan, it is not a problem to make ends meet," Zhang said.
Xinhua