Land Transfer Revitalizes Rural Communities in Yanggu, Shandong

LIAOCHENG, China, Sept. 11, 2026 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Across the vast expanse of the western Shandong plain in August, rows of corn stand tall across the contiguous farmlands of Houjie Village, Shouzhang Town, Yanggu County. Villager Jia Ruitao, weeding between the rows, remarks: “We get rent from leasing our land, and can take odd jobs in our spare time. We earn steady monthly income, which brings us peace of mind.” Just a few years ago, the land was fragmented into small, inefficient plots.

The change came after the village Party branch promoted the transfer of land management rights. Village officials explained the policy to households, ensuring that farmers retained their contractual rights, received stable annual rent and could share in year-end dividends. The scattered plots were consolidated for unified mechanized cultivation and scientific management by a cooperative. Yields rose, costs fell, and the village collective gained an additional 60,000 yuan in annual income.

As a long-standing major agricultural county, Yanggu had long grappled with fragmented landholdings, rural labor outflow, and idle farmland. In recent years, the county has pioneered a model in which village Party organizations lead cooperatives to manage transferred land, consolidating scattered plots for large-scale cultivation of wheat, corn, chili peppers and other crops. Land transfer has become a reliable source of income for village collectives.

Land consolidation has also helped extend the agricultural value chain. In Zhuwanyi Village, Shiwuliyuan Town, an innovative wheat-chili intercropping system has been introduced. In Wangshenlou Village, Litai Town, a chili pepper drying line and cold-chain warehouse have been built, giving rise to the “Wangjia Qiaosao” processing brand, which has expanded its market reach through livestream e-commerce. In Changlou Village, Acheng Town, smart fertigation systems have been deployed, and soybean-corn strip intercropping has been widely adopted, achieving the vision of “dual harvests from a single plot.”

Today, land transfer in Yanggu County has expanded from individual pilot projects to countywide development. All administrative villages now have collective economic income exceeding 100,000 yuan, while the output value of specialty agriculture has reached one billion yuan. Local authorities have pledged to continue deepening the land transfer mechanism, turning farmland into a “treasure bowl” that increases both household incomes and collective earnings.