Pepper farmers add spice to their lives with profitable crops

An early winter sun shone on the glossy, green screw peppers clutching the vines of a hillside greenhouse as Liu Guangjie, with a smile of contentment, looked on knowing that harvest was just around the corner.

The 45-year-old farmer owns three pepper greenhouses in Pengyang county of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, each one bringing him a net profit of over 10,000 yuan ($1,529) last year.

"The pepper-picking period will last until next July," Liu says, standing on a stool to reach the higher branches.