China is going to great lengths to foster a "new professional farmer" class to inhabit farmhouses in the country’s rural areas.

This year, the central government will allocate 1.5 billion RMB ($220 million) to train 1 million professional farmers, said Liao Xiyuan, head of the agriculture ministry's Department of Science, Technology and Education.

China is home to 14 million such professionals. The cultivation project has already trained more than 4 million farmers since 2012, with most becoming leaders or key employees of family ranches, farmers’ cooperatives or agricultural enterprises.

Labor shortages in rural areas are a major problem these days, as many Chinese farmers, especially young farmers, flock to cities and towns, leaving the countryside largely inhabited by the elderly, women and children.