In sharp contrast to the thinly vegetated towering peaks in the background, the slope on which Long Tingheng's orchard sprawls is densely covered with assorted fruit trees. Locals nickname the slope Mountains of Flowers and Fruits.

Long, a farmer in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province in southwest China, has seen his life transformed by the orchard of about 0.67 hectares.

His family planted cherry, plum and apple trees, which fetched more than 200,000 yuan ($28,620) in 2019, he said.

Ten years ago, Long and other farmers in Jiashan Village mainly grew corn and potato. Their annual per-capita income was about 1,000 yuan ($143), less than what they can now earn from a single cherry tree, said village head Wang Chaoyun.

Amid sweeping agricultural structural reforms in Aba, farmers are diversifying from traditional crops into planting fruits and other specialty products such as roses and edible fungus, as well as developing tourism.

Aba, located on the verge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is known for giant pandas and tourist attractions such as Jiuzhaigou, a scenic area on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage list.

All its 13 counties were on the national list of poverty-stricken counties. In recent years, intensive poverty alleviation efforts have been made. In addition to agricultural structural adjustments, transportation and telecommunications infrastructure has also been improved, making life more convenient for local people and ensuring greater market access to their products. In February, the prefecture announced that all its counties had shaken off poverty.

Copyedited by Madhusudan Chaubey 

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