Villagers harvest heitacai in Banjing town, Rugao. [Photo/xdkb.net]

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Finance announced on May 26 that measures will be taken to promote further agricultural development in 259 towns around the nation, including Banjing town in Rugao, Nantong.

The document stressed that each town should take advantage of existing resources, encourage innovation, and accelerate the development of a comprehensive industrial chain. 

Local governments are required to help improve technical facilities used for production, storage, preservation, processing, and selling in order to turn the towns into national role models for rural development.

Banjing town, located in western Rugao, covers an area of 174.85 square kilometers and is home to 139,200 people. It is the largest town in Rugao in terms of both population and area.

The town boasts a developed transportation network and a favorable natural environment with selenium-rich soil.

Heitacai and Xiangtangyu, unique species of cabbage and taro grown in Rugao, are popular for their delicious taste and high nutrition content and are sold primarily to Southeast Asia and Japan.

The town currently plants vegetables over an area of 1,200 hectares, 1,000 of which are reserved for heitacai. It produces more than 20,000 tons of the vegetable each year, with nearly half the total amount being processed. The vegetables are valued at around 340 million yuan ($49.27 million) per year.

A total of 3,600 people are engaged in the agricultural industry in Banjing. In 2019, its agricultural industry was valued at 840 million yuan, while its agricultural processing industry was valued at 1.85 billion yuan.