Seeds of success are growing online

A new breed of tech-savvy farmers and agricultural merchants are springing up, and using the Internet to boost their incomes

Sweat is dripping off Qiao Xuebao as he walks through a maze of greenhouses that contain seedlings for household plants in five million pots.

His operation in the rural area of Suqian city in the eastern province of Jiangsu stretches across 50,000-square meters, roughly the size of seven soccer pitches.