Technology gives a hand to China’s industrial poverty alleviation
By Feng Hua
To cure diseases, finding the root causes is important,
and this also applies to poverty alleviation.
Boosting local industries is one of China’s major
policies to realize targeted poverty alleviation, specifically to get the
impoverished rural households out of
poverty via distinctive and advantageous industries based on local resources.
However, problems in developing local industries
with special characteristics are inevitable for impoverished regions, such as
the lack of reliable resources, quality and competitiveness.
Fortunately, relying on the modern technological
system of agricultural industry and the National Agricultural Science and
Technology Innovation Alliance, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Affairs has mobilized the country’s agricultural research resources to target
the technological bottlenecks in developing local industries with special
characteristics and improve the effectiveness of poverty alleviation.
Meigu is a county of Liangshan Yi Autonomous
Prefecture located in the hinterland of the Daliang Mountains, southwest
China’s Sichuan Province. Thanks to the assistance offered by the country’s
national buckwheat industry technology system, Tartary buckwheat has become a
pillar industry for the county to shake off poverty.
Three breeding systems have been established there
at prefecture, county and township levels, significantly improving the coverage
rate of improved varieties and putting an end to the previous extensive
planting in which the seeds were sown by scattering, crops were never
fertilized, and pesticides were blindly applied.
As a result, the unit yield of spring buckwheat in
the county grew from 100 kilograms to 150 kilograms per mu (667 square meters).
According to incomplete statistics, the Ministry
of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has deployed 120,000 scientific and education
personnel, as well as 540,000 agricultural technicians to impoverished regions,
establishing over 4,100 teams of experts to provide technical support for
poverty alleviation through industrial development in 832 impoverished
counties.
These teams have practically improved the quality
and economic effectiveness of agricultural products made in impoverished
regions, the endogenous power of the impoverished households, and their
capability to achieve independent development.
Li Bingwu is the head of an agricultural service
station in Manshuihe township, Anhui province’s Huoshan county, a county that
has a long history of pig breeding. Many of the impoverished households used to
think of breeding pigs for making more money, but they hesitated to put it into
action due to their lack of related knowledge.
As a grass-root technician, Li is offering
assistance to local farmers now through pairing programs together with his
colleagues, teaching knowledge of breeding to the impoverished households.
“Li visits me a dozen times a year, helping me
with our pigpen renovation, sow reserve selection, and pig disease prevention
and treatment,” said farmer Zhou Peichuan from Manshuihe township, adding that
it will not take long to get himself out of poverty and live a wealthy life.
Effective technical guidance is indispensable for
the sustainable development of agriculture in impoverished regions.
From 2016 to 2018, China has invested a total of
1.64 billion yuan (US$230 million) to build an agricultural technical guidance
system for impoverished counties, and now such technological service is
available in all impoverished Chinese counties.
Thanks to the caring guidance and meticulous
services offered by agricultural technicians, the industrial development and
poverty alleviation in impoverished regions have achieved fruitful results in
recent years.
Training the independent development capability of
the farmers is the ultimate solution to tackle the issue of poverty.
The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Affairs has stepped up efforts to enhance education and
training for farmers in impoverished regions. Since 2017, nearly 1.7 billion yuan
has been spent on rural education and training for poverty alleviation via
industry development.
By training the
registered poor households and those who can lead other people to get rich,
more farmers will embrace a better future with their own hands.
Technology gives a hand to China’s industrial poverty alleviation
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