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A strawberry base located in Xincang town, Pinghu, a county-level city in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

A strawberry base located in Xincang town, Pinghu, a county-level city in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province has helped 263 low-income households in the town increase their incomes by a combined 200,000 yuan ($29,963.73), according to local media reports.

The strawberry base uses soilless cultivation and shelf-cultivation techniques to grow high-end agricultural products and helps increase the incomes of low-income farmers in surrounding areas through a "fixed income + dividend income + labor income" model.

At the end of last September, 263 low-income households in the town invested in the strawberry base via self-raised funds, charitable donations and enterprise investment. The average share capital of each household is 8,000 yuan, and they receive 10-percent dividends from investment and actual profits every year.

In addition to dividends, the strawberry base will prioritize increasing employment among low-income farmers in surrounding areas, said a Xincang town authority.

Jin Huagen, a 64-year-old resident of Xincang town, earned over 50,000 yuan a year by weeding and pruning strawberries at the base.