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The gualou farm in Chengbei sub-district in Rugao is entering harvest season. [Photo/WeChat account: RGETDZ]

It is harvest season for gualou – also known as Trichosanthes kirilowii – at this time of the year. The farm in Chengbei sub-district in Rugao, a county-level city administrated by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province, is full of anticipation for a bumper harvest.

Liu Minghua, owner of the farm, used to work in the transport industry. After he learnt about the gualou by chance, he decided to start planting the vegetable from scratch.

The gualou is an edible and medicinal vegetable. [Photo/WeChat account: RGETDZ]

The gualou is a member of the cucumber family and is an edible and medicinal vegetable that brings in good prices at the market. Apart from eating it, people use the vegetable, seed and root of the plant to make medicine.

Liu has signed a purchase and sales contract with a company in Anhui province and this year he is confident he'll get a total profit of more than 500,000 yuan ($76,512).

Liu is also thinking about helping local farmers to boost their incomes by teaching them how to plant gualou.