From 'orange capital' to 'vegetable capital'

At the farm, workers hand-pick vegetables and put them into baskets. Those baskets are delivered to a refrigerated truck and then shipped south. [SHADOW LI / CHINA DAILY]

New branch offers impetus

Longnan also has standardized vegetable plantations that take up more than 4.3 square kilometers. If individual farm lands are included, the area planting vegetables would be about 77 square kilometers - a sevenfold increase from several years ago. They produce about 245,000 metric tons of vegetables annually, valued at 680 million yuan, according to local government data.

Cai Mingfeng, who heads the unit in charge of vegetables in Longnan, said the local authorities have increased investments in recent years and built up a quality vegetable brand for the Greater Bay Area by introducing favorable policies to expand the industry. "We are also stepping up the construction of new infrastructure facilities to lift the industry. For example, we are building a trade center for farm products, as well as cold-chain logistics facilities, to facilitate transport of the products," he said.

Longnan is not alone in setting its sights on the Greater Bay Area's vibrant market. Vegetable farming has also taken hold in many nearby counties that too enjoy similar farming benefits.