GUIYANG, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Yang Chuang, a farmer in a remote village in southwest China's Guizhou Province, harvested over 700 tonnes of pumpkins last year, which were processed into dehydrated pumpkin strips and exported to the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Yang is reaping the benefits of the contract-based farming, which sees farmers sell their produce wholesale to companies before they are grown. In Yang's case, his pumpkins are bought by the Nongyao Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., based in Zhijin County.

In 2023, with technical guidance from the company, Yang trial-planted just 2 hectares of pumpkins. The company purchased his entire harvest at a guaranteed price, bringing him significant profits.

Encouraged by the success, the 27-year-old expanded his plantation tenfold in 2024, and sold 700 tonnes of pumpkins to the company.

The contract-based farming model not only relieves farmers of sales concerns but also ensures a stable supply of raw materials for processing enterprises.

Nongyao, a key agricultural export enterprise in Zhijin County, temporarily halted production at the end of 2024 after selling out all its pumpkin products. To meet growing demand, the company is actively securing pumpkin supply contracts with partners across Guizhou and neighboring provinces including Hubei, Sichuan, and Yunnan.

"We're not worried about foreign trade orders. Our biggest challenge is securing enough raw pumpkins. If we had enough stock, we could keep production running continuously," said Zeng Aisheng, chairman of the company.

Currently, the enterprise has the capacity to produce 7,500 tonnes of pumpkin strips and granules a year, in addition to 3,000 tonnes of other dehydrated vegetables.

In 2024, its exports totaled 23.16 million yuan (about 3.19 million U.S. dollars), a staggering 345 percent increase year on year. In the first two months of 2025, the figure had already reached 8.75 million yuan.

For 2025, the company has already signed contracts to export pumpkin, chili pepper, tomato and other processed agricultural products to ROK, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and other countries.

Known as China's "hometown of pumpkins," Zhijin County produces over 100,000 tonnes of pumpkins a year. The industry engages over 30,000 local farmers.

With the support of local governments and leading enterprises like Nongyao, pumpkin growing has expanded from Zhijin to over 10 neighboring counties.

In 2025, the province plans to scale up contract-based pumpkin cultivation to over 13,000 hectares, with an estimated output of 500,000 tonnes, further advancing the development of an agriculture based on its mountainous terrains.

Zhijin County is among the first pilot areas for "rural foreign trade" in Guizhou. Since 2023, the province has been integrating rural industries with foreign trade, fostering enterprises and products with strong local characteristics and export potential, thereby opening international markets for high-quality agricultural goods.

Beyond pumpkins, Cengong County has also tapped into global markets, exporting specialty pomelos, tangerines, kiwi fruit, and passion fruit to Russia, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan.