Shao Li picks nectarines in her Xiangyuan Orchard in Yuai village, Gangzha district, Nantong city. [Photo/ntjoy.com] 

Xiangyuan Orchard in Yuai village, Gangzha district, Nantong city, has been packed with pickers and farmers lately as the village's huge and tasty nectarines have begun ripening. 

Xiangyuan Orchard is the biggest orchard in Gangzha district, covering an area of around 6 hectares. It was contracted in 2013 by Shao Li and her husband, who overcame a variety of difficulties over the first three years, including planting, production and marketing.

In the past, nectarine sales were poor and ripe nectarines could only be acquired cheaply from wholesalers. Later, the orchard’s nectarines gradually gained in popularity among locals as it began holding fruit picking events and advertising its fruit on WeChat, a popular social networking platform, with the help of the Yuai village government departments. 

As a result, the nectarines sold for up to 24 yuan ($3.48) per kilogram in early June, said Shao Li. 

The couple's orchard also grows grapes, which come onto the market in August. The orchard is expected to produce 105,000 to 120,000 yuan per ha of fruit this year and earn 800,000 yuan by year's end.

There are dozens of farmers similar to the couple in Yuai village, who contract farmland to plant fruit, according to Yan Yongwei, a government worker in Yuai village. 

The village has helped solve land drainage and marketing problems for local fruit farmers and invited many agriculture and food safety experts to help them plant fruit. 

The average yield per ha of peaches and grapes in Yuai village is about 1,250 kg, and nearly all of its fruit sells out every season.

Nantong city is transforming its pattern of agricultural development and promoting rural land contracting to increase the incomes of local farmers.