Planting is a primary source of income for China's 500 million rural residents, especially in impoverished areas.

Harvest in the autumn has become a routine for farmers growing potatoes in Linxia County of northwest China's Gansu Province.

Luo Gang is one of the locals working for the county's largest potato co-operative – Kaiyuan Planting. He joined the program in 2016 and exchanged half of the family's one hectare of land for shares, through which he can receive 8,000 yuan ($1,176) a year.

Before the land transfer, Luo and his wife farmed their own land but income wasn't good. "Now after the land transfer and our work for the cooperative, incomes are much higher. The income from working in the cooperative is stable. I can get 4,000 yuan ($588) a month, and my wife gets more than 2,000 yuan ($294) a month, which is 6,000 yuan ($882) in total," he told CGTN.

Potatoes grown locally were susceptible to viruses, resulting in a reduced harvest and a poorer taste. But since Kaiyuan Planting introduced virus-free seeds in 2010, potato production has risen sharply, hitting 45,000 kilograms per hectare. The company has brought in 25 varieties of potato from across the country.

"Through planting in recent years, we've contracted 210 hectares of land and mechanized the whole growing process, from planting to disease and pest control," Zhang Sijun, the director of Kaiyuan Planting Cooperative, said.

The cooperative involves nearly 70,000 households in Linxia County, and over 20 percent of them are from poor families.

Thanks to the initiative, the total cultivation area of potatoes has reached more than 4,000 hectares, with an output value of $26 million. It is now one of the major sectors helping people out of poverty. 

Guo Zhanzhong, who works at the Linxia Agricultural and Rural Bureau, told CGTN that through land transfers, farmers are liberated as a workforce. They can either go to neighboring cooperatives to farm or go to big cities as migrant workers. This increases their income and improves agricultural production. 

People here are also fighting poverty on other fronts, like growing watermelons and cabbages. And now, they're working to build a high-end flower cultivation base, supplying fresh cut roses to both domestic and global markets. 

Huo Gang, the deputy general manager of the flower base Linxia Baiyi Modern Agricultural Technology Co., told CGTN: "We have many female and elderly workers here. By developing the industry right at their doorstep, locals won't need to choose between work and care for the family."

According to Huo, the first batch of flowers is expected to go on sale before Valentine's Day next year. He aspires to make more money, and he wants local people to earn more too.

The scheme will help the last 8,000 people in the area out of extreme poverty by the end of this year.