Guiyang vegetable center boosts incomes for farmers

The Qingzhen planting area, one of the 25,000-mu (1,666.67 hectares) high-standard vegetable production and supply bases distributed in 41 areas in Guiyang -- capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province -- recently welcomed its harvest season.

The harvesting of bell and chile peppers at 53 greenhouses there is close to an end and the planting area is now ready to harvest the 113 mu of peapods, estimated to yield 170,000 metric tons this year.

The supply shortfall for tomatoes, chili, eggplants and cucumbers has been big in recent years in Guiyang, from November to the following April. The planting area in Qingzhen was designed to meet the growing demand and it began construction last April.

The planting area began operating last year and planted 5,397.39 mu of vegetables, including 2,607.39 mu of veggies in greenhouses that are equipped with high-tech cultivation facilities.

The facility has also sold 2,850 tons of vegetables for 6.6 million yuan ($1 million) in the year to date. The 7,400 mu planting area covers Qingzhen's 956 impoverished farmers from six towns and townships and 14 villages.

In the wake of the start of operations of the planting area, the average annual income per mu of farmers working in the land there has increased by 30,000 yuan. The fixed share of the bonus for land ownership per village has reached 42,000 yuan per year.

There are about 350 people working at the planting area every day, including villager Yang Yan, who says she can earn about 3,000 yuan per month from her temporary job there.