Tiny Wuling village, in Qidong – a county-level city administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province – is developing its vegetable-growing operations to boost the prosperity of its residents, but with a greater goal in mind: to lend a helping hand to novel coronavirus-hit Shanghai city's food supplies.

At present, the village has 315.4 hectares of area under cultivation, 250.4 ha of which is managed to a high standard. Over the past five years, it has introduced and established three professional fruit and vegetable cooperatives. It has also built refrigeration houses and storage to retain the freshness of the fruits and vegetables.

Last year, the output value of the village's vegetable planting base exceeded 25 million yuan ($3.8 million).

In 2019, Wuling was designated as a major vegetable supply base outside Shanghai by the Shanghai municipal agriculture and rural affairs commission.

Since Shanghai strengthened its epidemic prevention and control measures, in April, the village has been offering some 80 metric tons of fresh vegetables to the city on average every day.

Farm hands in Wuling village collect broccolis, to be transported to Shanghai. [Photo/ntfabu.com]