An aerial view of the refrigeration houses established on fields in Haimen district, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Twenty refrigeration facilities have been established on the fields of Haimen district in Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province since June 2021 to help local agriculture businesses.

According to the authorities, these refrigeration facilities, which cost 68.23 million yuan ($9.61 million) to build, were introduced to maximize the shelf life of agriculture products and tackle the problem of low prices and wastage caused by the massive volume of fruits and vegetables entering the market during the harvest season.

These facilities, which have a combined 70,000 cubic meters of storage space, are expected to boost the annual output value by 160 million yuan.

"Our refrigeration facilities are also leased to Chongqing Weizhisheng Trading Co Ltd, and this helps increase the village's collective income by 230,000 yuan per year," said Wang Yingyi, Party chief of Bunan village.

Wang added that villagers can earn additional income by selling their produce to the company. The company also provides locals with jobs such as loading, unloading, and sorting.

As a main production area of fruits and vegetables in Nantong, Haimen district has a 620,000 mu (41,333.33 hectares) planting area that generates an annual output of 1.22 million tons.