Snapshots of Xinjiang's agricultural elite

One of the most successful practices that Qi Chengnian has recommended to farmers is to raise chickens in orchards. [Photo by Fan Junmei / China.org.cn]

Qi Chengnian, 54, is an expert in zootechny, which is the art of managing domestic or captive animals, including handling, breeding, and keeping. He has been working in Tarim University since 1987 and in the past 30 years, Qi has visited all the remote villages and farms and ranches around the Tarim Basin to promote animal husbandry skills. 

One of the most successful practices he recommended to farmers is to raise chickens in orchards, which is a way of integrating animal husbandry with cultivation. Because of his work, many impoverished people have been lifted out of poverty and are now living a better life.