Ningbo celebrated the 2024 China Farmers' Harvest Festival on Sept 22. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]

Ningbo, Zhejiang province, hosted the 2024 China Farmers' Harvest Festival on Sept 22, infusing the celebration with an artistic flair at its Future Farm venue.

A vibrant atmosphere enveloped the Future Farm in the city's Gulin town, where rice paddies framed the central stage amidst a bountiful harvest. Exhibitions featured Ningbo's agricultural produce and rural handicrafts, highlighting the city's achievements in farming, seed innovation, branding, agricultural machinery modernization, and green food development.

Artistic highlights stole the show, with intricately crafted gourd artworks, bamboo weavings, and cultural and creative ancient architecture designs drawing crowds. Gourds, adorned with colorful flowers, intricate carvings, and auspicious symbols, exemplified the fusion of traditional craftsmanship and modern aesthetics.

"We've transformed local gourds into high-end crafts with promising market prospects," said Chai Gengming, head of a local cooperative, showcasing his innovative integration of redwood carving techniques and gourd artworks.

The festival celebrated not just the harvest but also the contributions of "new farmers", with honors awarded to pioneers in fields like tea cultivation and flower breeding. Ningbo has nurtured 28,000 new farmers and 8,000 agri-entrepreneurs this year, fueling rural vitalization.

Agreements on major agricultural projects, including a mushroom innovation center and plant factories, were signed during the festival, aiming to boost the city's agricultural modernization efforts.

With a first-half gross agricultural output of 30.15 billion yuan ($4.2 billion), ranking first in Zhejiang, and a 6.5-percent growth in rural residents' disposable income, Ningbo's agricultural sector is thriving.