BEIJING -- Liu Linsheng's happiest moment is strolling around his 4.5-mu (0.3 hectare) peach fields. The big, rosy,juicy peaches bring him an annual income of 60,000 yuan (US$7,500), and have also provided a generous wedding ceremony and a brand new house for his son.

"I thank my 'lucky star'," said 53-year-old Liu from Huangyakeng Village of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Five years ago, Liu Linsheng only grew vegetables and his annual income was just 10,000 yuan (US$1,250).

His "lucky star" is Wang Jixun, a researcher from the School of Horticulture at Xinjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. An expert on growing fruit, Wang Jixun was assigned in 2001 to the technical task force (TTF) staff in Fukang City, which has jurisdiction over Liu's village, to provide technical support for local farmers.

"When I first trimmed the peach trees, my hands were shaking," said Liu Linsheng. "Wang encouraged me and taught me step by step. I also learned from him to watch out for pests in autumn and cover the roots of peach trees with thick grass in winter."

"Peaches from my field now sell for 15 yuan (US$1.9) per kilogram. Even urban residents from Fukang came to buy my peaches," he said. Liu Linsheng is not the only one reaping the harvest. There are now a total of 4,000-mu (268 hectare) of peach trees in Fukang and autumn is proving abundant. Altogether, Wang Jixun introduced a total of 119 new species of fruits for local farmers to grow.

"I used to do my research on growing peaches in the lab, but the TTF gave me opportunities to transfer the technology to farmers in the field," said Wang Jixun, 40. "Using my research findings to help local farmers boost their income means a lot to me."

Wang spent almost 150 days a year in the village training local farmers,taking a shuttle bus for a two-hour return trip from Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang, to Huangyakeng Village.

Across Xinjiang, more than 1,300 TTF personnel have trained 337,400 farmers from 29 counties, helping them boost their incomes by 14.3 percent on average since June 2002, according to Jin Nuo, assistant to the chairman of the Autonomous Regional Government of Xinjiang.

China has managed to reduce its poverty-stricken population by more than 100 million in the period 1985 to 2005, but the country still has 23.65 million people who earn less than 680 yuan (US$85) a year and live in absolute poverty, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

If the internationally-accepted poverty line of US$1 per day is used, China still has 120 to 130 million poor people.

"Poor efficiency in the agricultural sector is one factor, another is the slow, inadequate transfer and application of modern science and technology in the rural areas. Also, the opportunities to increase farmers' incomes are often limited. For China to build a more affluent society by 2020 and a new socialist countryside is an enormous challenge," said Liu Yanhua, vice minister of science and technology.

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