Farmers in Three Gorges Fight Soil ErosionIn the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze River, where the huge dam is being built, soil erosion has become a serious problem. But new, more efficient and environmentally sustainable farming practices are being introduced to check the loss of good farmland.The Three Gorges project in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has caught world-wide attention. The dam will be completed in 2009 after 17 years of construction; the dam's reservoir will flood nearly 30-thousand hectares of farmland; and one point six million people are being relocated. Farmers who have moved locally to higher ground have cut down trees on the slopes of the mountains to clear farmland. This has greatly damaged the forests on both sides of the Yangtze River along the Three Gorges sector. Scientists estimate nearly six thousand square kilometres of land around the Chongqing damming area has been eroded, accounting for 73.6 percent of the total land area. Agronomists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are helping the relocated farmers grow more food on the reduced land area available while also helping to check soil erosion. The experts have introduced new techniques such as tiered fields interspersed with fruit trees, grass and livestock. Since the program started a year ago, the local environment has shown an improvement. |
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