Since then, the rotation farming of rice and crawfish has been gaining momentum in Baowan and has gradually been extended across Hubei.

Liu, who stepped down as Baowan's Party secretary in the early 2000s, found a new passion: researching ways to encourage crawfish to breed in crop fields.

He rented about 20 hectares of farmland in a neighboring village as an experimental site for the rotation method, and invested more than 1 million yuan to build necessary infrastructure.

"The most fundamental wish of most farmers is to increase yields and revenue from farmland," Liu said. "My goal has always been to help farmers earn more money and enjoy more secure livelihoods."

Now known as the "father of the crawfish-rice farming approach", Liu has been promoting the method nationwide. In 2017, he was hired by the authorities in Mengcheng county, Anhui province, to offer technical guidance to local farmers. The county is aiming to extend its crawfish breeding area to 13,000 hectares by next year.

Liu's innovative engine is still revving up. "I am now working on incorporating lotus plants to the crawfish ponds," he said. "The goal is to allow farmers to multiply their sources of income, and thus build a stronger safety net for their livelihoods."