July 17 — In recent years, Dongfang City in Hainan Province has continuously developed specialty industries such as crocodile farming and durian cultivation, driving local development. Recently, reporters visited Dongfang to learn how it is boosting rural revitalization through specialty industries.

　　The "Crocodile Town" in Sanjia Town is located in Hongcao Village, Sanjia Town, Dongfang City. In recent years, with the arrival of more than 30 crocodile farming enterprises, the village, which previously relied on traditional agriculture for its livelihood, has gradually developed into the well-known "Crocodile Town."

A crocodile farm in Hongcao Village, Dongfang City, photographed on July 10 — one corner of the "Crocodile Town." (Drone photo) Photo by China News Service reporter Wang Xiaobin

　　Yu Zhilin, Secretary-General of the Crocodile Industry Branch of the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance and President of Hainan Ezhen Crocodile Industry Technology Co., Ltd., introduced that the "Crocodile Town" currently has more than 400,000 crocodiles in stock. In the past two years, the annual output of crocodile seedlings has accounted for more than half of the national market share, and the output value in 2023 exceeded 300 million yuan (RMB, same below).

　　It is reported that the "Crocodile Town" has formed cooperative relationships in industrialized projects, capital, technology and other aspects by implementing the strategy of "government guidance, enterprise leadership, industry coordination, and industrial clustering." In industrial development, it has built a "Crocodile+" industry theme. In the primary sector, it develops and breeds breeder crocodiles, optimizes crocodile varieties, and sells crocodile seedlings; in the secondary sector, it builds deep-processing and preliminary-processing factories for crocodile products, providing jobs for nearby villagers while enhancing the value of crocodiles; in the tertiary sector, it integrates agriculture, culture and tourism to create leisure sightseeing tourism, science education, specialty restaurants and homestays, and other business forms. At present, the "Crocodile Town" has received more than 40,000 tourists from within and outside the province. Driven by the industry, since 2021, the people of Sanjia Town have benefited directly or indirectly by more than 50 million yuan.

　　"Thanks to the development of the crocodile industry, Hongcao Village has gone from not having a single building to having built 183 'crocodile buildings' today," said Fu Zhenli, Party branch secretary and village committee director of Hongcao Village, Sanjia Town. Crocodile enterprises often exchange ideas, and they are willing to share the farming experience they have summarized with the villagers.

　　"My family currently has 40 mu of crocodile breeding ponds. In 2023, we earned more than 2 million yuan from crocodile farming," said Zhang Shiban, a villager of Hongcao Village. Because he is optimistic about the development prospects of the crocodile industry, he is expanding an 80-mu crocodile breeding pond.

　　Walking into the Durian Valley Base in Jiangbian Township, Dongfang City, rows of durian trees come into view, with plump fruit. "The base leased 1,100 mu of land from local villages in 2020 for durian planting, at rents ranging from 200 to 300 yuan per mu," said Jiang Haining, head of the base. Durian planting and management require a large amount of labor. The base currently has 16 regular workers engaged in durian pest and disease control and other work. In addition, local villagers are hired every month for temporary work such as weeding, pruning, and fertilizing.

The Durian Valley Base in Jiangbian Township, Dongfang City, Hainan Province, photographed on July 9. (Drone photo) Photo by Chen Yingqing

　　This year, the durian trees planted at the base bore fruit in batches for the first time. To ensure the growth of the trees, most of the durian trees were subjected to flower thinning. Each round of flower thinning requires more than 100 villagers, with wages settled at 180 to 200 yuan per day. Jiang Haining said that in the later stages of durian cultivation, flower preservation, fruit preservation, and harvesting will require hiring even more villagers. Villagers can both farm at home and find employment at their doorstep.