"Lu'an Guapian", one of China's top ten famous teas, is produced in the Dabie Mountains area of Lu'an City, Anhui Province. It is a well-known traditional Chinese historical tea with countless fans;
Recently, Lu'an City, located in the west of Anhui Province and at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, successfully "got out of the circle" because of the treasure "goose".
Through the development of the goose industry, the working people here have embarked on the road of getting rich through hard work and composed a contemporary "goose song".
The Wanxi White Goose Cultural Festival held in Guzhen Town, Lu'an City.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
French foie gras, goose down processing, goose meat products... Lu'an is not only the largest goose gras producer in China, but also one of the four largest down distribution centers in China.
The local Wanxi White Goose, which has undergone long-term artificial selection and natural domestication, has the characteristics of fast growth, tender and delicious meat, and its down is large, long and fluffy.
Therefore, Lu'an is known as the "Hometown of White Goose" and "Down City".
"National-level" protected species Wanxi white goose
Speaking of raising geese, the variety of Wanxi white geese is famous far and wide. It was recorded in writing as early as the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 400 years.
Good mountains and good waters produce good geese, and the formation of the Wanxi white goose breed is closely related to the local natural environment and social conditions.
Lu'an is located in the Dabie Mountains. The local rivers and lakes are rich in water and grass, and the hills and grasslands are vast, which is very suitable for waterfowl breeding and breeding.
Historically, local people had the habit of raising large geese, which had an important impact on the formation of this breed.
Wanxi white geese bred by local farmers in Lu'an City.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
Speaking of the advantages of Wanxi White Goose, they can be counted on one hand.
Strong adaptability, strong foraging ability, cold and heat resistance, strong disease resistance, rough feeding tolerance, low feed consumption, strong gregariousness...
At the Feixiang Wanxi White Goose Genetic Resources Protection Center in Muchang Town, Jin'an District, Lu'an City, Yuan Shaoyou, who has been engaged in Wanxi White Goose conservation and breeding work for more than 30 years, said that Wanxi White Goose grows quickly in the early stage and has tender meat. Delicious, especially the down yield is high and the down quality is excellent.
Therefore, the Wanxi white goose is also the only locally protected poultry (waterfowl) species in Anhui that is included in the "National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Protection List".
Nowadays, Yuan Shaoyou’s job is to optimize the Wanxi white goose breed to avoid genetic deletion of the Wanxi white goose breed.
After years of hard work, the breeding Wanxi white geese now produce 30 eggs per year, and their breeding capabilities have been greatly enhanced.
Aerial photography of Wanxi white goose breeding base.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
Lu'an City is the origin and main production area of Wanxi white goose. There are 4 provincial-level Wanxi white goose breeding farms in the city, including 1 national breeding farm and 9 breeding goose production and operation enterprises.
In recent years, the local area has established a professional technical team engaged in the breeding, feeding and management, technology research demonstration and promotion of Wanxi white geese. At the same time, it has cooperated with universities and colleges to breed better Wanxi white geese varieties.
French foie gras goes to the international dining table
Foie gras, caviar, and truffles are known as the "three major delicacies" in the Western food world.
However, what most people don’t know is that China’s largest foie gras producing area is in Huoqiu County, Lu’an City, Anhui Province.
During the Spring Festival that just passed, the sales of foie gras products in Huoqiu County were booming, with sales increasing by more than 30% year-on-year.
Foie gras products are not only sold to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta. Huoqiu foie gras is also sold abroad to international markets such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. At its peak, annual exports exceeded 500 tons.
Foie gras products produced by local companies in Huoqiu County, Lu'an City.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
The Lande goose used to make "French foie gras" originates from the Lande province in southwest France. Its foie gras is fresh and tender, rich in fat and rich in nutrients. It is a famous foie gras-specific variety in the world.
In 2003, local farmers represented by Hu Jianyuan were keenly aware of the huge potential of the foie gras industry. Coupled with the favorable geographical environment and climate of Lu'an, they took the lead in introducing Lande goose varieties from France and exploring breeding and processing technologies.
Huoqiu County is a major agricultural county. Thanks to its good natural ecological environment, Landegese has developed rapidly in the area.
Local companies give goose seedlings and feed to farmers for free, and then purchase them when the geese grow up. Farmers do not need to bear the cost of breeding and can reap benefits.
Foie gras products produced by local companies in Huoqiu County, Lu'an City.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
Today, Hu Jianyuan also has another identity, that is, the president of the Waterfowl Branch of the China Animal Husbandry Association.
He said that local enterprises have established a Lande goose breeding base in the village through agricultural cooperatives, which can increase the economic income of the village collective every year and at the same time create employment for local villagers.
Up to now, Huoqiu County has more than 140 goose gras production enterprises. The county slaughters more than 5 million Lande geese annually, produces more than 5,000 tons of goose gras, and more than 22,500 tons of goose meat and other by-products. The annual output value reaches 2 billion yuan. RMB.
Eat more for one goose and extend the delicious industry chain
Wanxi white goose is full of treasures. If you want to maximize its value, you have to eat more of one goose and extend the delicious industry chain.
In the production workshop of Lu'an Shengyuan Food Co., Ltd., on the automated assembly line, bags of goose meat, goose paws, goose heads and other specialty foods are being packaged for shipment.
Lu'an City Wanxi white goose deep processing production line.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
In 2008, Xia Jiansheng, the person in charge of the company, returned to his hometown to start a business. From the standardized breeding of Wanxi white geese to the research and development, production and sales of goose food and prepared dishes, an industrial chain focusing on goose food processing was extended.
Xia Jiansheng said that around 2017, the goose meat products of Wanxi White Goose were less developed and the products were single. In order to promote Wanxi White Goose products to the national market, the company innovated research and development and launched a series of sauce-braised Wanxi White Goose. product.
Xia Jiansheng displays the Wanxi white goose prepared dishes produced by the company.
Photo by Zhang Qiang
In 2018, the company established a school-enterprise cooperation model with Hefei University of Technology, committed to the research and product development of deep processing technology of Wanxi white goose, and launched four deep processing techniques of braised, goose cubes, goose soup, and cured goose, totaling eight categories of Wanxi white goose. Goose products.
At present, in addition to food processing, the company also plans to open a chain of braised goose shops, and by 2027, there will be more than 100 braised goose shops.
It is estimated that by 2025, the annual consumption of Wanxi white geese will reach 1 million, with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan.
The "Essence of Getting Rich" from Goose Down
In addition to goose meat, the economic benefits brought by goose feathers and goose down should not be underestimated.
Grading, cutting, inserting balls, tying strings, applying glue... multiple processes are interlocking, and clusters of goose feathers are processed into individual badmintons.
"Lu'an produced" badminton balls have accounted for 40% of the country's training balls.
Goose feathers are processed into badminton balls.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
Ao'ankang Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. is a local enterprise in Lu'an. Since its establishment in 1994, after more than 20 years of dedicated operation, it has gradually formed two major categories of sports products, mainly badminton, and feather craft products, and enjoys a number of independent Brands and patents.
Yuxiang Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. in Xin'an Town, Yu'an District, Lu'an City has been cooperating with the global badminton giant Yonex since 2013 to produce training balls for them and other domestic representatives of Yonex. The factory provides badminton blades and its current annual output value reaches 150 million yuan.
Goose down home textile products made after processing.
Photo by Zhang Qiang
Last winter, goose down produced in Lu'an became a "hot commodity". Goose down produced here can be purchased for more than 400 yuan per pound, and is supplied to well-known domestic and foreign clothing and home textile brands.
As one of the four major down distribution centers in the country, Lu'an City has 24 feather (down) trading markets, 142 feather (down) purchasing stations and tens of thousands of feather (down) vendors. There are more than a thousand feather (down) and product companies in the city. , there are 18 enterprises with an annual output value exceeding 100 billion yuan, with an annual total output value exceeding 10 billion yuan, and exports exceeding 100 million US dollars.
Improve the goose industry and build a good “goose brand”
In Anhui, the Wanxi white goose is well-known to the public, but across the country, how to make this white goose call louder and spread farther is an urgent issue for the local government to solve.
Wanxi white goose breeding base.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
In recent years, Lu'an City has vigorously developed the goose industry based on its local characteristics and advantages, and has formed a development pattern dominated by Wanxi white geese and Lande geese, with multiple geese being developed simultaneously.
In 2023, 11.2288 million white geese will be raised, with a comprehensive output value of approximately 4.181 billion yuan; 4.21 million Lande geese will be raised, with a comprehensive output value of 1.71 billion yuan.
Aerial photography of Wanxi white goose breeding base.
Photo courtesy of Lu'an Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department
Lu'an City has made a comprehensive layout and promoted the implementation of the "2233" high-quality development action plan for the goose industry.
In 2023, Lu'an successively formulated and issued the "Implementation Plan for Accelerating the Leap-forward Development of the Goose Industry in Lu'an City" and the "Lu'an City Goose Industry Development Plan (2023-2027)", focusing on goose conservation and breeding, large-scale standardized breeding, Focus on key tasks such as intensive processing of goose products and brand creation, and propose the implementation of the "2233" action plan for the high-quality development of the goose industry.
In the future, Lu'an City will lay out and build "two industrial parks" with complete functional systems: the goose product production and processing industrial park and the goose liver processing industrial park, and build "two breeding farms" for the Wanxi white goose breeding farm and the Lande goose breeding farm. Farm", by 2027 the city's goose breeding volume will exceed "30 million", and the city's goose industry's comprehensive output value will exceed "30 billion yuan."
(Source: China News Service WeChat public account Author: Zhang Jun, Zhang Qiang, Chu Weiwei)