China fosters a new kind of professional farmer

China is going to great lengths to foster a "new type" of professional farmer to inhabit the empty farmhouses across its vast rural areas and entice more migrant workers to return home to till fields and feed the world's largest population.

If it succeeds, China will solve a major problem that cropped up after its urbanization process resulted in a population split 50:50 between rural and urban areas. Decades ago, nine in 10 people lived in rural areas, where their lives were not as good as that of their urban peers.