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 | Monday, April 17, 2000, updated at 09:51(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Grain-for-Green Project Takes Off in West ChinaChina has launched the project of Grain-for-Green in its west, China Radio International reported.Accounting for more than one half of China's total area, the west is known for its backward economy and vulnerable ecological environment. For years, farmers in the region were short of grain and cut down huge tracts of forest, much of it on steep slopes, to turn it into farmland, and also ploughed up large areas of grassland. This has resulted in severe soil erosion and flooding. In the 1980s, the Chinese government started working on the problem of soil erosion, but achieved little due to its failure to deal with the link between grain production and deforestation. As China has unveiled its ambitious plan to develop its west, greater attention has been attached to environmental protection, since the west must be turned not only into a modern, prosperous region, but also a land of green where humans and nature harmoniously co-exist. To this end, the government has initiated a programme to help restore ecological balance in the western region by turning low-yielding farmland back into forest and pasture. Zhang Yanhong, an official with the State Forestry Bureau, says it is an appropriate time to launch the programme. Zhang Yanhong says in recent years, China's grain output has grown steadily and, after several consecutive bumper harvests, the country now has huge stockpiles of grain. Since 1996, annual grain production has exceeded 500 million tons. This has created good conditions for implementing a massive farmland-to-forests campaign. Farmers in the west will now receive subsidies in the form of grain and money for turning cultivated land back into forest and pasture. Where conditions are suitable, many of the trees to be planted will be fruit and other commercially valuable trees. While the government provides the seedlings, the farmers are allowed to retain all the profits from planting trees and grass on cultivated land. In return, they will be responsible for taking care of the restored forests and pastures. The policy is welcomed by most of the farmers. State Forestry Bureau official Zhang Yanhong says this project marks a fundamental change in the style of economic growth in China, and will have a profound influence on the sustainable development of the economy. Zhang Yanhong says that the grain-for-green project will not only reduce stockpiles of grain in the short term, but also help increase grain output in the long term by improving the environment. It will also help optimize the agricultural industry and increase farmers incomes in the western region. In addition, the reforestation project will eventually eliminate the threat of flooding in China's longest rivers. The grain-for-green project involves an investment of two billion yuan, about 250 million US dollars. By the end of this year, the project will turn more than 340,000 hectares of cultivated land in 13 provinces back to forest and pasture. The project will be spread nationwide in the years to come.
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