From 'orange capital' to 'vegetable capital'

Vegetables at the Hefengshangpin farm in Longnan county, Jiangxi province are carefully nurtured and strictly selected before being shipped to the Greater Bay Area. Photo by Shadow Li / China Daily

Ye, 33, a Guangdong native, chose Longnan to run his business for two reasons - the weather, with good sunlight and a temperature difference between day and night that makes it very suitable for growing vegetables; and the county's proximity to the Greater Bay Area, one of the nation's biggest and most affluent markets.

Ganzhou - a prefecture-level city with a humid subtropical climate and almost 70 percent of its administrative area forested - is also dubbed the "orange capital of the world", famous for its sweet navel oranges.

Ye also runs six similar farms in southern Jiangxi, employing about 500 farmers from both the region and afar, including Li, who is from Guizhou province. The farmers are paid piecework, giving them greater flexibility in their work. For Li, she is able to bring along her son, which wouldn't be possible if she were working in a factory. In fact, she makes slightly more than her husband, who is also helping out on the farm as a foreman.

Li and her husband together earn about 14,000 yuan ($2,170) monthly - much more than what they could get in Guizhou - supporting their family of six: two parents and four children. With their eldest son now in college and needing support, the financial burden is getting heavier.

The couple had worked for Ye at his farms in Guangdong and went to Jiangxi when they learned their boss would start a new farm in the eastern province, bringing along a dozen friends from their village. "I wouldn't be able to find a decent job if I had stayed at home as I have to take care of my son," Li said.

For farmers from Longnan itself, it means extra income for them to work in Ye's farms. "Most of the farmers who own land would lease it out for growing vegetables or other crops. Some also work on the farms themselves, while others might prefer to work in factories rather than toiling on the farms," Ye said.