Technology for a Growth in Grain Production ����China will not depend on land cultivation to increase its grain production, says Vice-Premier Wen Jiabao. ����China will focus instead on enhancing productivity through technology, Wen told 500 scientists on January 12 . ����This is a new change in policy, he added. Wen was addressing the annual session of China Association of Science and Technology. ����"The leadership has recognized we must be very cautious about use of cultivated land. Most of the uncultivated lands are wetlands and forests. How can we destroy these precious gifts of nature?" Wen asked. ����He recalled the drafting of the Ninth Five-Year Plan in 1995, which he participated in. Planners, Wen said, spent a lot of time determining the amount of uncultivated land in China. ����They believed the hope of achieving an annual grain output of 500 billion kilograms by 2000 lied in uncultivated lands, Wen said. ����However, China reaped good harvests in four consecutive years without expanding cultivated lands. ����"It proves the goal can be reached with the use of agricultural technology," Wen said. ����He asked scientists to devote their wisdom to technological upgrading of the agriculture sector, enterprises and infrastructure construction. ���� HomeNews 1999-01-13 Page4 Full Story in Chinese