Farmer Sun Xiaoming used to be a victim of the ever-fluctuating prices of tomatoes. Even when the harvest was plentiful he was anxious, because more produce on the market meant a lower price.

However, Sun has now acquired a bargaining tool. The 49-year-old from Zengjiawan village in Caofeidian, Hebei province, is a member of a vegetable farmers' association. The association buys vegetable seeds and fertilizers at wholesale prices and sells the resultant produce to dealers at a higher price.

The association was the brainchild of three officials who were dispatched to Sun's village from the nearby State-owned No 6 Farm. Each of the 58 households in the village that grows tomatoes and celery has joined the association since it was founded in September.

Since February, more than 15,000 officials from different levels of the provincial government have stayed in 5,010 villages, at the request of Hebei's Party Secretary Zhang Qingli. Their task is to help improve people's lives.

The villages chosen were the bottom 10 percent of the 50,000 villages in Hebei, those with weaker grassroots leadership, a backward economy or internal struggles.

Most of the villages are located in the area close to Taihang Mountain, or are near Beijing. They are two of the less-developed areas in the province.

The officials have conducted roughly 81,685 projects, with a total investment of 7.6 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), according to a report published by the provincial government.

Li Jingmin from No 6 Farm said he is optimistic about the future of the farmers' association. "The provincial government may promote the model in 2013 because it has performed really well," he said.

When we met, Farmer Sun wore a broad grin on his tanned face. He had made an agreement with the celery dealers at the village committee. The average price of a kilo of celery will be 1 yuan higher than last year, increasing his income greatly, since the annual yield often reaches 50,000 kilos.

In addition to price bargaining, the association has invited agricultural experts to introduce new technology in greenhouses, at least twice every year, said Li.

The three officials also helped build a road into the village. "The new cement road provides a smooth exit from my greenhouses. It was a great favor," said Sun.

In his greenhouse, pipes as long as 70 meters run along the ground, providing fresh water for the tomatoes and celery. The pipes were provided free of charge to the farmers.

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