A vegetable greenhouse at the modern agricultural industrial park in Haimen district, Nantong. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Chen Xiao, a grape planter in Haimen district, Nantong, is expecting a harvest in late July that will generate more than 1.6 billion yuan ($247,200) in profits.

He said it is because he is a member of a local fruit industry alliance, which has been committed to helping local farmers become more prosperous. 

Over the past two years, the alliance has developed 20 family farms and 11 professional cooperatives with a combined planting area of more than 133 hectares.

The alliance is just one facet of the modern agricultural industrial park in Haimen district.

Since 2019, the district has prioritized the construction of the park, which stretches over an area of 8,671 hectares. After years of development, the park has made it into the top five on the latest ranking of 21 such parks in Jiangsu province.

The park has 43 leading agricultural companies above designated size (those with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan), 138 family farms, and 223 professional cooperatives.

It created 237 new jobs in 2020 and helped increase farmers' incomes by 2,556 yuan per person annually. 

To further boost agricultural development, the park has partnered with universities and sci-tech research institutes such as the Nanjing Agricultural Museum and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences to set up sci-tech service stations and experimental bases.

In addition, the park has worked to enhance its reputation by building its own brands, such as Haimen Goat, and hosted various festivals integrating the agriculture and tourism industries.