Gengdian village in Chiping county, Liaocheng, Shandong province, has etched out a development path for itself by developing smart greenhouses.

The village has 180 households and was once poor. Two decades ago its per capita income was around 3,000 yuan ($447.3), but it has since increased almost tenfold.

In 1996, farmers in the village began developing the traditional greenhouses, but benefit was low.

In 2002, Geng Zunzhu, the newly-elected secretary of the village Party branch, decided to stop growing kidney beans and grow cucumber instead after studying the methods of other cities. This has helped villagers earn more money.

In 2008, the village set up a specialized cooperative and started developing modern smart greenhouses and e-commerce by cooperating with agricultural corporations.

The cooperative has also built a vegetable packaging processing plant and a low-temperature refrigerated warehouse. It offers services related to the breeding of seedlings, drug detection, transportation, packaging, refrigeration, and more.

The village is now home to more than 710 modern smart greenhouses, and in 2019, the per capita income of residents exceeded 34,000 yuan.

A smart greenhouse in Gengdian village [Photo by Li Wei/cnr.cn]

A farmer works at a greenhouse in Gengdian village. [Photo by Li Wei/cnr.cn]

An increasing number of young people are returning to Gengdian village and getting involved in smart greenhouse agriculture. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A farmer operates an intelligent greenhouse management system. [Photo/iqilu.com]