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| Friday, November 09, 2001, updated at 15:37(GMT+8) |
Agricultural Blueprint Benefits Farmers |
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Bettering the diet for its 1.3 billion people and fattening farmers' wallets are priorities in China's agricultural blueprint for the new century, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Zhang Baowen said. Now China is busily learning and adopting new technology in agriculture and preparing for cooperation with foreign countries.
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Bettering the diet for its 1.3 billion people and fattening farmers' wallets are priorities in China's agricultural blueprint for the new century, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Zhang Baowen said, according to today's China Daily.
Government focuses on quality-oriented agricultural developmentThe country will shift from the present quantity-based agricultural production to quality-oriented development, as it has enjoyed a basic balance of grain supply and demand, Zhang said yesterday at the ongoing International Conference on Agricultural Science and Technology in Beijing.
Together with the three-day conference, Zhang's ministry is also staging the China International Agriculture Exhibition in Beijing from Wednesday to Monday.
New technology will be learned and adoptedStarting this year, farmers will learn new techniques, such as how to save water and how to produce high-value farm produce, so as to improve their living standards under a sustainable agricultural development climate.
The State will help government-subsidized agricultural institutions to turn into technological firms, to accelerate the commercialization of agricultural technology, said Zhang.
More efforts will be made to upgrade technology needed to increase grain and cotton yields, and edible oil output, and to ensure food security for animal husbandry products.
Statistics indicate that the per capita income in rural areas has reached 2,253 yuan (US$271), 17 times more than in 1978 when the country implemented its reform policies.
China ready to cooperate with foreign countries Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Li Xueyong said China has optimized its agricultural fields in order to co-operate with foreign countries.
The country will introduce more foreign agricultural expertise and technology to crop growing and farm produce commercialization, said Li.
China welcomes foreign agricultural institutions to collaborate with their Chinese counterparts, based on protecting intellectual property rights, he added.
Governmental officials, agricultural experts and entrepreneurs from home and abroad held forums yesterday to discuss such topics as the promotion of international co-operation, the utilization of information technology in agricultural sectors and the role of enterprises in agricultural development.
In another development, scientists from China and the United States have started a water conservation project to help quench the thirst of arid Northwest China, China Daily learned from Joseph Jen, vice-secretary of the US Department of Agriculture.
The two sides have set up a research centre in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to hammer out water-saving technologies.
"China and the United States should have promising prospects of agricultural co-operation in the future," said Jen.
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