Harvesting gets into full swing in Qidong. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs recently approved Qidong – a county-level city administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province – as a pilot area to explore ways of making overall quality improvements to farm cooperatives nationally.

Statistics showed that as of July Qidong was home to 1,011 professional farm cooperatives with more than 60,000 shareholders, total assets of more than 15 billion yuan ($2.31 billion) and more than 500,000 mu (33,333 hectares) of farmland. Last year, the average income of cooperative shareholders reached 25,000 yuan per household.

Among the 1,011 cooperatives in Qidong, 174 have been rated as demonstration cooperatives at the national, provincial, municipal, or county level. Not satisfied with that achievement, the city has also created 2,001 family farms and four agricultural industrialization alliances. There are reportedly 60,300 new commercial farmers playing a big role in the development.

It is understood that all this has made Qidong a perfect testing ground for the national pilot program.

According to officials, from 2021 to 2023, Qidong cooperatives will see continuous expansion and quality and efficiency improvements, while they go increasingly digital in their operations and register and market their brands.

Cooperative champions are expected to emerge. These will show others how to be more successful practices in planting fruit, rice and wheat – as well as excelling in the use of advanced agricultural machinery, seafood processing and in the development of agricultural tourism.