Residents of Yanbu village in Gangcheng district, Jinan, have managed to rise from poverty by planting millet, local media reported on August 5.

Yanbu was once municipal-level poverty-stricken village whose residents survived by growing corn and peanuts.

The village committee decided to encourage Yanbu villagers to begin planting millet a few years ago, after learning it has high money-making potential than corn and peanuts.

But selling this millet has proved difficult for the village committee, according to Liu Zhen, the first Party secretary of Yanbu, who believes that integrity is the most important thing when it comes to attracting customers.

He decided to buy some labels with his own money and print "Yanbu village" and a contact number on them. He also asked growers of millet to sign their names on the labels. He then pasted them on bags of millet so that buyers can track down the growers if there are any problems.

This has helped attract more customers to Yanbu-grown millet.

In 2018, Yanbu sold out 15,000 kilograms of millet in 20 days, as many companies placed orders for millet as a holiday gift for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Millet growing has become the largest industry in Yanbu and brought in an additional 1,000 yuan ($143.65) per household in 2018.

Yanbu established two nursery gardens this year, and with revenue from local photovoltaic power generation projects and poverty-relief workshops, the village's collective income is expected to total 200,000 yuan this year, according to Li Huicheng, Party branch secretary of the village.

Residents of Yanbu village in Gangcheng district, Jinan, rise from poverty by planting millet. [Photo/e23.cn]