Plucking and clucking to goji wealth

Villagers pick goji at a plantation in Tongxin county. CHEN ZEBING/ CHINA DAILY

At the Yongjin goji plantation in Hongsibu district, Wuzhong, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, villagers are busy picking goji berries. Workers then weigh the berries and put them on trucks that take the harvest to a nearby packaging plant.

There are hundreds of such plantations in Ningxia, which cover an area of 66,700 hectares, accounting for one-third of the country's goji growing area. The plantations produce about 140,000 metric tons of dried goji berries every year.

The small red berries have become a popular specialty of the region and nurture an industry that employs thousands of people who have been able to shake off poverty.

The Yongjin plantation also raises more than 10,000 chickens as part of its business growth model. The chickens are fed on corn and goji berries and are highly prized by customers.