Behind the story – how a dilapidated village became a template for agricultural development

A national agricultural park built for income increase

After hosting the 7th China Lanling Vegetable Industry Expo in April, the Lanling National Agricultural Park is now preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC. Workers decorate the venue with various displays of vegetables. [Photo by Zhang Weilan]

The Lanling National Agricultural Park provides a vivid example of the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. The more than 1,300-hectare agricultural unit combines the culture and history of farming with tourism and benefits from investment, talent and technology.

Thanks to the park,Dai village has been the venue of the China Lanling Vegetable Industry Expo for the past seven years. In 2018, the village’s income from tourism hit 35 million yuan (about 4.94 million U.S.dollars), while enterprises, cooperatives and individual households earned a total of more than 60 million yuan (about 8.5 million U.S.dollars).

“Without those profits,talks of improving the villagers’ lives would be mere rhetoric,” Wang said. “A due part of the profits goes directly to the village’s benefits system, financing basic health insurance and elderly care, as well as scholarship for students.”