Yang Chuang, a farmer in a remote village in Guizhou province, harvested over 700 metric tons of pumpkins last year, which were processed into dried pumpkin strips and exported to South Korea.

Yang is reaping the benefits of contract-based farming, which sees farmers sell their produce wholesale to companies before they are even grown. In Yang's case, his pumpkins are bought by Nongyao Agricultural Development Co, based in Zhijin county. In 2023, with technical guidance from the company, Yang planted just 2 hectares of pumpkins as a trial. The company purchased his entire yield at a guaranteed price, bringing him significant profits.

Encouraged by the success, the 27-year-old expanded his plantation tenfold last year, and sold 700 tons of pumpkins to the company.

The contract-based farming model not only relieves farmers of sales concerns but also ensures a stable supply of raw materials for processing enterprises.

Nongyao, a key agricultural export enterprise in Zhijin, temporarily halted production at the end of last year after selling all its pumpkin products.

To meet growing demand, the company is actively securing pumpkin supply contracts with partners across Guizhou and neighboring provinces including Hubei, Sichuan and Yunnan.

"We're not worried about foreign trade orders. Our biggest challenge is securing enough fresh pumpkins. If we had enough stock, we could keep production running continuously," said Zeng Aisheng, chairman of the company.

Currently, the enterprise has the capacity to produce 7,500 tons of pumpkin strips and granules a year, in addition to 3,000 tons of other dehydrated vegetables.

For this year, the company has already signed contracts to export pumpkin, chile pepper, tomato and other processed agricultural products to South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and other countries.

Known as one of China's "hometowns of pumpkins", Zhijin produces over 100,000 tons of pumpkins a year. The industry employs over 30,000 local farmers.

With the support of local governments and leading enterprises like Nongyao, pumpkin growing has expanded from Zhijin to over 10 neighboring counties.

In 2025, the province plans to scale up contract-based pumpkin cultivation to over 13,000 hectares, with an estimated output of 500,000 tons, further advancing the development of agriculture based on its mountainous terrains.

Zhijin is among the first pilot areas for "rural foreign trade" in Guizhou. Since 2023, the province has been integrating rural industries with foreign trade, fostering enterprises and products with strong local characteristics and export potential, thereby opening international markets for high-quality agricultural goods.

Xinhua