A farmer harvests towel gourd in Sanyuan community, Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/CFP]

Since early July, farmers in Sanyuan community, Rugao, Nantong have been busy harvesting towel gourd, which will be processed into traditional Chinese medicine.

According to a local farmer Liu Zhicheng, the output this year has exceeded 2,600 kilograms per hectare and generated a net profit of more than 97,000 yuan ($15,005).

Since 2016, the community has transferred land from villagers and set up a farm to plant Chinese medicinal herbs such as towel gourd, mugwort and zingiber mioga.

Through years of development, the farm now has matured planting technology and a comprehensive industrial chain.

According to Hou Xiaohong, an accountant of the community administration, villagers living nearby and impoverished people all work in the farm. The work is easy and not far away from home. Each person can earn 80 yuan per day.

In addition, the farm has been cooperating with dozens of growers. Among them, 50 percent are females who earned more than 25,000 yuan annually.

The farm has also signed cooperation agreements with many pharmaceutical companies in Nantong, Guangdong province, and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, as well as organized training classes, set up WeChat groups for technological exchanges, and invited experts to give instructions in the fields.