A farmer works on a plot of farmland in Songjiang.

Flowers along a plot of farmland in Songjiang

Farmers exam quality of pears at an orchard.

Fruitful results have won a place for Songjiang in the second batch of 41 national green agriculture demonstration zones.

Songjiang has 47 companies with green food certification, with 67 certified products and certified yield of 49,000 tons. Its green food certification rate is 23.22 percent, ranking second citywide, according to Songjiang Agriculture and Rural Committee.

At the Tingmeng Food Cooperative in Maogang Town, green manure is flourishing on 500 mu (33 hectares) of harvested land. A winter plowing will add fertility and get rid of pests to pave the way for another bumper year.

“We sold more than 50,000 kilograms of rice several days ago. The national green food certificate we won this year sets our customers more at ease. When word of mouth spreads next year, we believe our rice will sell even better,” said Zhang Xiaodi, chief of the cooperative.

“Green food certification isn’t merely a paper certificate. Behind it are strict technical standards, harsh production requirements and a thorough monitoring system,” said Zhang Yuefeng, chief of the committee’s agricultural products quality and safety supervision bureau.