Farmers in Xianju county, Taizhou sell waxberries at an online livestreaming platform. [Photo/CFP]

Waxberry growing has brought prosperity to farmers in Xianju, a mountainous county in Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

The county, boasting abundant rainfall and mountains, is ideal for waxberry growing. It has a vast land area of 140,000 mu (9,333 hectares) for waxberry growing, and the industry is worth over 2 billion yuan ($308.88 million).

Here are some approaches that Xianju has adopted to boost the industry and increase incomes for local farmers.

Digital technologies

The waxberry forest owned by Lou Rongxing, a farmer in Xianju, was designated as a demonstration base for intelligent growing in February. With a smart growing and management system, Lou has been able to develop a new model of waxberry growing, which allows him to water and fertilize waxberry trees by using an application on his phone.

"The smart control over waxberry growing is more economical and the quality of fruit is better than ever," said Lou. This June, his waxberries sold at an average price of 20 yuan ($3.1) each.

In addition to the growing of waxberries, digital technologies are also used to invoice consumers. More than 50 CPC members in Guangdu town, Xianju helped farmers apply for digital invoices online during this year's harvest season.

"In the past, we had to go to the county center to get the invoices. Now, Party members help us deal with invoices on the phone," said Chen Fazhan of Guangdu town.

Livestreaming

In Xianju's Hengxi town, the local government has established a mechanism to encourage Party members to help promote farmers' waxberries through livestreams.

Young Party members were recruited as volunteers to help waxberry growers, especially those who are incapable of using internet technologies, sell their fruit online.

Industrial cooperation

To make full use of land resources, farmers in Xianju began breeding geese in waxberry forests this year.

A volunteer team made up of retired government officials in Xianju donated 1,000 geese to four pilot forests and sought technical support for farmers.

This model proved effective for both waxberry growing and goose breeding.

Wu Cunwen, a farmer in Tianshi town, said that geese eat weeds and their excrement helps fertilize the soil, which is conducive to growing trees.