A drone is used to spray pesticide on a rice field in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/hz66.com]

Huzhou was ranked first in the provincial evaluation of rural vitalization efforts in 2021, according to a circular recently released by the Zhejiang provincial government.

The city also topped the provincial rankings for agricultural modernization for the sixth consecutive year.

These results can be partly attributed to land reform, an innovative step taken by the local government to drive rural development. To date, nearly 600 mu (40 hectares) of farmland in the city has been set aside for industrial development.

Strong financial support from rural development authorities has played a part as well. Last year, more than 4.5 billion yuan ($692.3 million) was set aside to promote rural vitalization in Huzhou, up 8.9 percent year-on-year.

The city has also made strides in vocational education for farmers. The nation's first college for farmers in Huzhou has enrolled more than 12,000 farmers to date.

In addition, a number of industrial projects have been set up in Huzhou to improve the incomes of impoverished farmers. In 2021, the per capita disposable income of the city's low-income farmers rose 15.6 percent year-on-year to 18,684 yuan.

According to an official at the Huzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Areas, the local government aims to raise the operating income of all its administrative villages to over 800,000 yuan. Authorities are also looking to lift the per capita annual disposable income of its rural residents to 57,000 yuan.