Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Song Weiguo) news: On September 14, 2023, as Mamibet Kaqik watched the yaks leisurely grazing on the autumn grassland of the Pamir Plateau, he felt relaxed and joyful.

Mamibet, 41 years old this year, was born in Akqi County, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. There is a horse farm located in a mountainous area 105 kilometers west of Akqi County, with an average altitude of over 3,200 meters. When he was a child, Mamibet used to herd sheep together with his parents in the mountains. As he grew up, he bred Kirgiz sheep. From 2020, there have been new changes in his family's farming business.

Photo shows Mamibet Kaqik and the little yak at his home. (Photo by Correspondent Kanjibayi Harlan)

In 2020, based on the actual situation and development of animal husbandry in Akqi County, the idea of "replacing small livestock with large livestock" was proposed, encouraging herders to replace small livestock such as Kirghiz sheep with yaks, horses, and other large livestock. "Do large livestock eat more? Are they easy to breed? Can they make money?" Like other herders, Mamibet was feeling uneasy in his heart.

After being trained by experts from the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Akqi County, Mamibet learned about the differences between large and small livestock and the advantages of raising large livestock. After listening to the introduction, Mamibet decided to give it a try.

In the first year, Mamibet made a profit. After replacing his Kirghiz sheep with yaks at home, he found that the high altitude of the horse farm was very suitable for yak breeding, and yaks were intelligent animals that would find water and grass on their own. Yak meat is sold well too, as buyers would come to the horse farm to buy the yak in person every autumn, which completely eradicated his worries about the future.

Mamibet has expanded his farming scale continuously since 2021, from the initial 30 heads to 280 heads this year. He has become a real farming “magnate” of the horse farm.

"Now, a lot of scientific and technological efforts have been made in yak farming, and the horse farm is promoting artificial insemination technology for yaks. I heard that the breeding rate will be greatly improved. Next year, I plan to artificially inseminate my own yaks," Mamibet said.

This year, Mamibet's yaks bred more than 30 young yaks. He expects to sell 20 adult yaks and 10 young yaks at a price of 8,000 yuan per adult yak and 3,000 yuan per young yak. According to this price calculation, his income will reach 190,000 yuan. "Together with the income from other jobs, the income of my family this year can reach over 230,000 yuan," Mamibet said.

Mamibet's yaks are free-range, and they are grazed in different pastures during different season. In the morning, he opens the cowshed, and by evening, the yaks will return on their own. During this time, he and his wife work part-time jobs nearby.

In order to promote the development of yak farming, a specialized farmer cooperative for Akqi County was established in the horse farm. It has also carried out technical training and guidance for characteristic breeding industry, and built processing plants to produce glacier yak meat jerky. With the help of the working team from Wuxi City, which offers pairing assistance to Akqi County in Xinjiang, the glacier yak meat jerky has been sold to cities such as Wuxi and Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Mamibet said he would continue to expand the scale of yak farming, learn from breeding experts, and apply more scientific and technological means to the yak breeding process, so that his yak business can become larger and larger.

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