Farmers harvest rice, crabs in rice fields in north China's Hebei (6)

A farmer collects crabs in a rice field in Lutai Economic Development Zone, Tangshan city, north China's Hebei Province, Sept. 18, 2022. (Chinanews.com/Dong Jun)

Recently, farmers in Lutai Economic Development Zone of Tangshan city, north China's Hebei Province, have been busy harvesting rice and crabs raised in the same fields.

In recent years, Lutai Economic Development Zone has vigorously developed the rice-crab commensal eco-agriculture mode. The total area of farmland planted with rice in the locality has amounted to 75,000 mu (5,000 hectares), of which 20,000 mu of farmland is cultivated with both rice and crabs. Compared with one mu of farmland planted with rice only, one mu of farmland where both rice and crabs are raised can generate an extra income of more than 1,000 yuan ($142.6) for farmers in a year.