Xinghua in East China's Jiangsu province is striving to build a full agricultural industrial chain and expand paths to improve regional economic benefits while promoting agricultural development and boosting farmers' incomes, said Chen Fengjian, the city’s Party secretary.
Building high-quality farmland has already laid a solid foundation for the full industrial chain in this field. Xinghua has built 1.34 million mu (895,13 hectares) to date, accounting for 71.21 of the city's total cultivated area.
While traditional industries such as rice, fruit and vegetables maintain an upward trajectory, the crayfish industry is also developing rapidly as a new player in the local market.
With the aid of technological support from various research groups, the mixed cultivation of crayfish and crabs, the co-cultivation of crayfish and lotus roots, and the rotation of rice and crayfish along with other models have achieved impressive results. As such, the annual yield of crayfish now exceeds 20,000 metric tons.
Farmers in Xinghua harvest chives. [Photo/yangtse.com]
Meanwhile, more dehydrated products are being processed in a bid to further raise the value of the agriculture industry.
As a case in point, Topower Technology Ltd now requires almost 20 steps to process its high-quality dried chive products to add more value to the market.
Over 100 dehydrated products from the company are now being sold to more than 20 countries globally, putting more local farmers on the path to prosperity.
By promoting contract farming and establishing an industrial cluster, Xinghua has encouraged more farmers to participate in the development of the industrial chain. Looking ahead, Xinghua will release a three-year action plan to further buttress its agricultural sector.