Germany Helping China Tackle Pollution of Agricultural Products

Germany will offer technical and financial support through a Sino-German program to help China tackle contamination of its agricultural products, according to a symposium on April 19.

The program, named Environmental Strategies of Intensive Agriculture in North China, will set up pilot zones in north China to promote environmental protection strategies for intensive farming.

Zhang Baowen, vice Agricultural Minister, said at the symposium for the Sino-German program that the rapid growth of agriculture in recent years has brought along such issues as environment pollution and food contamination, which might hinder China's sustained growth of agriculture if left untackled.

"China is facing great challenges as it seeks entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) amidst pressures brought by its huge population and worsening environment. China's agriculture must be internationally-oriented and make its farm produce more competitive in the global market," Zhang said.

Zhang said the program will introduce German expertise in environmentally-friendly intensive farming to China, which may help China improve its environmental conditions while producing enough food.

With 22 percent of the world's population and only seven percent of the world's arable land, China has no choice but turn to intensive agriculture to feed its people.

Intensive agriculture, largely dependent upon massive use of chemical fertilizer and pesticides, has produced environmental problems in many regions in China due to farmers' lack of knowledge of the products they are using.

Large amounts of fertilizer, which cannot be totally absorbed by crops, pollutes both the air and the underground water. And the pesticide residue on vegetables hazards health.

China has acknowledged the dangers and taken steps to make up for the years of negligence, including promulgation of related rules and regulations, establishment of an environment supervision network, and promotion of environmentally-friendly agriculture.

Instead of placing too much emphasis on the quantity of agricultural products, as was done in the past, China is becoming more concerned with environmental protection and food security.

Dr. Klaus Wild, head of the Economic Department of the German Embassy in China, said the German Government has devoted itself to helping China strengthen environmental protection and use its resources more efficiently. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji have agreed to convene a Sino- German environmental protection conference in December this year.

Addressing the symposium, Wild said he expects the environment conditions in northwest China will be greatly improved, drinking water will be much better and chemical residue on vegetables will be substantially reduced when the preliminary goals of the program have been reached.

China has been the world's biggest recipient of German donations in terms of environmental protection, Wild said, adding that the ultimate solution to environmental problems in China lies in greater awareness of the situation among ordinary Chinese.

Sino-German technical cooperation dates back to 1982, and a total one billion DM has been directed to China since then.



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