In the early morning, the golden sun shines on the vast Badain Jaran Desert. In the Alxa Right Banner Ala Teng Chao Gesu Muhu and Wula Gacha, Wang Gang, a large camel farmer, is busy milking camels in the milking workshop and the workers. The Hubisharatu of the Alxa Right Banner Tamsu Prague Sumu Lvfeng Cooperative also went out in the early morning sunshine, driving dozens of kilometers with the fresh camel milk just squeezed out by the cooperative, and rushed to the Alxa Right Banner Shencamel Dairy Fresh Milk Purchasing Station in Ala Teng Aobao Town, and handed over the camel milk to the staff for inspection and purchase.
Wang Gang and Khubisharatu are both local herders who have lived here for generations raising camels for grazing. Speaking of camels, they are all like a number of treasures, from what camels eat to fatten fast, to what channels camel milk can be sold at a good price. In recent years, with the support of the development of camel industry policies of governments at all levels in Alxa, herdsmen like Wang Gang and others have built modern enclosures, implemented standardized centralized camel breeding, and upgraded the camel industry from a "small peasant economy" to a "big industry".
"With the support of the government, through the development of the camel industry, my camel breeding business has developed vigorously, and the annual net income can reach more than 500,000 yuan, which is several times higher than the original traditional camel breeding." Wang Gang said. "Now there are 100 camels in the Lvfeng cooperative, 300 kilograms of milk can be milked a day, 3 days to send milk, before we sent camel milk to the flag government seat of Badain Jarin Town, to go more than 300 kilometers, back and forth is more than 700 kilometers, the cost is high, people are tired, and last year the camel dairy was officially put into production, much closer to us, milk delivery is not only convenient, and the quality is guaranteed, the fresh camel milk squeezed out every day will be immediately sent to the factory, processed into camel milk powder, fresh camel milk and so on sent to all parts of the country." Hubisharatu said.
Wang Gang, a large camel farmer, and Lvfeng Cooperative are just the epitome of the development of Alxa camel industry. Alxa is known as the "hometown of Chinese camels", 1/3 of the country's camels live here, and the special climate and geographical conditions allow Alxa Bactrian camels to breed here, creating an unparalleled advantage of camel germplasm resources here. In recent years, the Alxa League has made great strides forward in the development of the camel industry, from camel meat, camel milk, camel hair, to various events carried out by camels, the camel "desert boat" is gradually becoming the "industrial boat" of Alxa, and has become an important engine and a bright business card for the economic development of Alxa.
Seamless connection to open up the last mile of the development of camel milk industry
Walking into Ala Teng Ao Bao Town, Alxa Right Banner, a modern camel milk processing factory stands on the vast Gobi Desert. This is the investment of 120 million yuan to build Alxa Right Banner Shencamel Dairy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shenluo Dairy). Here, the collected camel milk is transported to the camel milk automatic processing workshop through low-temperature refrigeration, and then after a series of processes such as preheating, sterilization, fermentation, packaging, and testing, the nutritious and delicious camel milk products can be sent to consumers.
In 2021, Alxa Right Banner, which has the largest number of Bactrian camels in the country, introduced the Shenfu Dairy Intensive Processing Project with an annual processing capacity of 18,000 tons of fresh camel milk through investment promotion, so that this "hometown of Bactrian camels" truly realizes the seamless connection from milk source to products, opens up the last kilometer of the development of the camel milk industry, and makes the camel milk industry a pillar industry to promote the revitalization of local villages and increase the income of farmers and herdsmen.
Liu Dongqi, chairman of Shencamel Dairy, told reporters, "After the daily processing of 60 tons of fresh camel milk and 8.5 tons of camel milk powder project of Shencamel Dairy was officially put into operation, the radiation drove the sales of camel milk to nearly 2,500 camel farmers in Alxa Right Banner Alateng Aobao Town, Tamsu Prague Sumu, Mandela Sumu, and Azuo Banner Yingen Sumu, Wuliji Sumu, Bayan Norigong Sumu, etc., and gradually formed a 'government + leading enterprises + cooperatives + farmers and herdsmen' interest linkage mechanism. ”
As Shencamel Dairy has passed the food safety acceptance and obtained the production licenses of camel fresh milk, camel yogurt and camel milk powder, the production scale has continued to expand, and the purchase of camel milk has also increased significantly. In April 2024, the "Camel Milk Peptide Production Line Project of Shencamel Dairy" has also been officially put into operation, adding high value-added scientific and technological wings to the deep processing of camel milk, allowing the magical "desert platinum" to go out of the vast desert and serve it to consumers' tables. The Alxa Right Banner also takes Shencamel Dairy as the leader, and gradually walks out of a new path of "scale, standardization, industrialization, and branding" development, and realizes the integration of ecological, economic, and social benefits.
"In 2022, we purchased more than 3,000 tons of camel milk throughout the year, and in 2023, this number doubled to 6,000 tons, accounting for more than 70% of the camel milk production in the entire Alxa League. It is precisely because of the entry of the camel dairy industry and the completion of the whole industrial chain that the purchase price of camel milk is much higher, and the enthusiasm of herders for raising camels and selling camel milk has also been greatly improved. Wang Haidong, executive president of Shencamel Dairy, said.
With the vigorous development of the camel milk industry, Alateng Aobao Town has been rated as "National One Village, One Product Demonstration Village and Town" by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance as the first batch of "National Agricultural Industry Strong Towns". Recently, it has won the new title of "China One Township One Product Alxa Camel Milk Industry Demonstration Park", which is the only one in the country.
Driven by the camel dairy industry, the camel industry has become the most down-to-earth leading industry in Alateng Aobao Town, accounting for a relatively large proportion of the operating income of farmers and herdsmen, and the average annual collective economic income is stable at more than 100,000 yuan. Subud, member of the Party Committee and Propaganda Committee of Ala Teng Ao Bao Town, told reporters that in the next step, Ala Teng Ao Bao Town will continue to take the camel industry as the leading industry of enriching the people and strengthening the town, give full play to the advantages of the pilot experimental area of the camel industry of the whole Union, and build a bridgehead for the camel industry of the whole flag and even the whole Union.
The rise of the brand has given a shot in the arm to the development of the camel milk industry
On February 9, 2023, "Alxa Right Banner Camel Milk" was officially selected as the regional brand of "One County, One Product" in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The landform of Alxa Right Banner is dominated by the Gobi, and the pure natural environment is the "Ship of the Desert" - the paradise where camels breed, and it has the reputation of "China's camel town", and it is also the "core area of Alxa Bactrian camels", with 68,000 Bactrian camels, accounting for 17% of the national total and 46% of the total number of the whole Union.
In recent years, relying on the camel germplasm resource endowment and industrial base, Alxa Right Banner has vigorously developed the camel industry, and built the camel industry into a characteristic industrial cluster with distinctive characteristics, advantages and industrial integration in accordance with the development model of "scientific research + enterprise + base + farmers and herdsmen". The data shows that up to now, there are 20,000 milking female camels in Alxa Right Banner, and 34,000 female camels can reproduce. This huge camel herd has laid a solid foundation for the rapid development of the camel milk industry. In 2023, the output of camel milk in the whole banner will reach 5,791 tons, and the comprehensive output value will climb to 560 million yuan, demonstrating the strong market potential and economic value of the camel milk industry.
The prosperity of the camel milk industry is inseparable from the active guidance and support of the Alxa Right Banner government. The Flag Committee and the government have issued a series of policies and safeguard measures aimed at attracting more scientific and technological talents to devote themselves to the research and development of the camel milk industry. At the same time, the close cooperation with universities and scientific research institutions provides a steady stream of intellectual support for the scientific and technological innovation of the camel industry.
The development of the camel milk industry in Alxa Right Banner also benefited from the introduction of the leading camel milk enterprise - Shencamel Dairy, which not only greatly accelerated the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries of the camel industry, but also promoted the camel milk products to a higher level. At the same time, the creation of the brand of "Alxa Right Banner Camel Milk" has also greatly enhanced the market awareness and competitiveness of camel milk products.
Wei Yinhong, deputy director of the Agricultural Science Bureau and director of the Rural Revitalization Bureau of Alxa Right Banner, told reporters that Alxa Right Banner will continue to dig deep into the added value of camel products, actively promote the camel industry to extend the chain and strengthen the chain, and make great efforts to encourage and support enterprises and scientific research institutes to actively participate in product research and development and scientific and technological research, and create camel series products with strong industrial drive and strong brand competitiveness.
The camel milk industry has injected new vitality into Alxa
In recent years, the camel milk industry of Alxa League has flourished, which has not only become an important way for local farmers and herdsmen to increase their income and become rich, but also set a unique industrial benchmark in the country and even the world.
Camel milk is a rare and highly nutritious tonic, which is rich in natural active nutrients, and its nutritional value is much higher than that of ordinary animal dairy products. With the continuous expansion of the market and the progress of science and technology, the camel milk industry has ushered in unprecedented development opportunities.
"At present, we take the Alxa Right Banner as the center, and the Alxa Left Banner and Ejina Banner as the support, and work together to build the largest camel industry model area in the country and even in the world. Actively strive for agriculture-related and animal husbandry-related projects and funds to settle in the industrial park, accelerate the formulation of standards for the development of the camel industry, guide the Alxa Right Banner to apply for the national modern agriculture and animal husbandry industrial park, and make every effort to promote the overall creation of the industrial park, so as to promote the development of the camel industry of the Alxa League to high-quality and efficient transformation, take the road of 'ecological priority and green development', and boost the high-quality economic development of the whole Union. Kang Jianjun, deputy director of the Alxa Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, said.
Up to now, the Alxa League Bactrian camel herd has reached 147,600 peaks, 28,000 Bactrian camels are slaughtered annually, the whole league has 75 camel breeding professional cooperatives, 480 standard camel pens, and more than 2,000 camel households, including 1,061 large camel farmers above 100 peaks, and the camel milk industry has become the main channel for farmers and herdsmen to increase their income and get rich.
At the policy level of camel milk industry development, the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau of Alxa League has included camel milk industry development subsidies in the policy measures to promote the high-quality development of the dairy industry. This includes not only subsidies for forage storage and dairy breeding, but also financial support for new and upgraded camel farms, as well as one-time incentives for dairy processing enterprises to upgrade and enter the park. The introduction of these policies has undoubtedly injected a strong impetus into the further development of the camel milk industry. At the same time, while increasing the standardization and standardization of the development of the camel industry, it also actively promotes the achievements of camel scientific research and industrial development. In recent years, the camel industry has developed a large number of new products such as camel liquid milk, milk powder, milk tablets, outdoor high-energy canned camel meat, organic high-quality camel meat, multi-flavor camel jerky, camel blood polypeptides, camel skin ejiao, camel cosmetics, camel placenta health products, etc., and the added value of camel products has been comprehensively improved, boosting the healthy, sustainable and stable development of the camel industry.
Nowadays, when people think of Alxa, in addition to the vast desert and tough camels, they will also think of the nutritious camel milk and its series of products. All this marks that Alxa is transforming from the "land of camels" to the "land of camel milk", and the "boat of the desert" of camels has also been upgraded to the "boat of industry" here.
丨Source: Dairy Times reporter Du Zhaoxia
丨Editor of this issue: Dong Xianhe
丨School reading: Dong Xianhe
丨Producer: Zhang Yao Feng Bin
丨Director: Zhao Min
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