New agricultural model boosts rural development in Kaiyang

Benefiting from its open terrain, abundant water sources and fertile soil, Maolizhuang village in Kaiyang county adopted a new model of "growing rice + raising ducks" in July.

Ducks swim in the rice field in Maolizhuang village. [Photo/WeChat account of Kaiyang county]

Ducks placed in the rice field perform tasks such as weeding, pest control, and fertilization. The duck manure discharged in the field can also be used as an organic fertilizer to nourish rice and improve its quality, this improving land utilization and economic benefits while saving on manual weeding and pest control costs.

To date, the village has built over 100 mu (6.67 hectares) of pilot bases with more than 1,300 ducks.

The new model has attracted 33 households of local farmers to participate and is expected to bring them an income of 90,000 yuan ($12,348), while producing 60,000 yuan for the village collectives.

Moving forward, the village will seek to expand the scale of development, develop more models such as "rice + fish" to promote agricultural efficiency, increase villagers' incomes, and boost rural vitalization.