A growing community

Similar to the poverty-alleviation workshops in Juancheng county, Mudan district in Heze, Shandong province, is developing greenhouses to provide jobs for local farmers.

Liu Changshe and his wife tend melons in a 960-square-meter greenhouse in Mudan. The work is a blessing for them because the 41-year-old has cerebral thrombosis - blot clots on the brain - and his wife has mental health issues.

In August, the couple, who have two young children, began working at the greenhouse, operated by the Aolong Fruit and Vegetable Planting Cooperative.

Liu made 8,000 yuan ($1,100) from the first round of melons he planted.

"I hope the melon market is strong because it will help me to make more money," he said.

The greenhouses, built by the local government, are rented to cooperatives and companies at an annual cost of 20,000 yuan per greenhouse. To date, 600 greenhouses have been built in Mudan.

Poverty-stricken farmers can work in the greenhouses and share the earnings at a predetermined rate with the operators, who are responsible for providing materials such as seeds and fertilizers, and marketing the produce.

Liu takes 30 percent of the earnings from the greenhouse he tends.

Zhang Shenghui, the cooperative's manager, said more than 10 poverty-stricken families are working in the greenhouses.

"I'm planning to register my cooperative as a business this year, so I can raise the product profile and have my own brand, which would boost business. In this way, local farmers will be able to claim a greater share of the profits earned from the greenhouses," he said.