Farmers in Qidong, Nantong have opened both online and offline rice stores and expanded into the Shanghai market.

According to Yu Dongjuan, a farmer in Beixin town, Southwest Qidong, harvested paddies can be turned into rice after being dried for 20 hours, and the resulting rice is of high quality with few impurities.

Yu's paddy field, which covers an area of 800 mu (53.3 hectares), has seen a stronger harvest this year due to more favorable weather conditions than last year. She also has a 20-mu organic paddy field, whose yield is being sold at 20 yuan ($2.84) per kilogram.

Cen Donghui, a farmer from Lyvsigang town, the largest town in Qidong, said that all the paddies in his 250-mu field can be reaped within one day with the help of machines. Cen's output this year is 20 percent larger than last year.

Qidong had a total of 74,000 mu of paddy fields this year, according to an official from the Qidong bureau of agriculture and rural affairs.

The local government has provided support in nearly all aspects of rice production, including cultivation, protection, and harvesting. Mechanized production has reduced costs and increased efficiency and output, greatly motivating farmers.

Paddies are dumped into a mound after cutting and threshing. [Photo/ntfabu.com]