Food security drive takes root in China's rugged west

NANNING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- As is customary in Huidong County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a major local plantation owner, Luo Deyu, secured a bountiful harvest of pomegranates early this October. But in 2024, the soil beneath Luo's fruit-bearing shrubs exhibited an unexpected mix of crops not typically associated with this ethnic enclave.

Huidong boasts 60,000 mu (4,000 hectares) of pomegranate-growing area. Amid the vast expanse of the pomegranate trees, Luo inter-planted soybean, dry rice, chili and oil sunflower.

"This year, inter-cropped produce has shown exceptionally high yield," Luo said, adding that the peppers stood out for their impressive size and top-notch quality, and the estimated yield per mu would exceed 2,000 kg.

Luo's decision to inter-plant soybeans in May 2023 resulted in an extra income of 600 yuan (about 84 U.S. dollars) per mu. Encouraged by this success, he opted to step up his inter-planting efforts by introducing 20 mu of dry rice to his arsenal, spearheading the growth of inter-planted rice paddies on slopes.

While China seeks to broaden its food production and ensure food security through diversifying a food supply system that encompasses farming, animal husbandry and fishery, the country's mountainous western regions have intensified their quest to grow and nurture own-brand products in recent years.

The food security drive is particularly important for the country's rugged west, given the predominantly hilly and extensively terraced topography of these regions.

Notably, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China has leveraged its unique agricultural landscape to become a vital source of food for the country.

Guangxi, a leading fruit producer in China, currently boasts over 20 million mu of fruit-growing areas that yield some 32 million tonnes of fruit annually, accounting for one-eighth of the national total. This region has also consistently bagged top spot in the country in terms of production volumes of persimmon, dragon fruit and passion fruit.

In 2023, Guangxi alone churned out about 18 million tonnes of mandarin oranges -- representing roughly one-tenth of the total global production.

In addition, the lush woodland in Guangxi also provides an ideal environment for free-range pig farming, and its Luchuan pig, named after the county of the breed's origin, is celebrated for its tender and aromatic meat, making it one of the most sought-after varieties in the country.

Meanwhile, the city of Beihai has emerged as a key production center for white shrimp, a species native to South America.

Through the adoption of advanced rearing technology, local farmers have seen a jump in their shrimp production. A shrimp farm manager says his farm is now able to generate three crops a year -- tripling the yield produced by traditional methods.

It is also worth noting that the country's vast western regions have improved connectivity with the outside world, expanding the use of cold-chain logistics and developing better infrastructure.

This has made its high-quality produce more readily available to global consumers, thus bringing trade ties between China and the world even closer.

Inside a warehouse under the supervision of Kunming Customs in neighboring Yunnan Province, rows of refrigerated trucks packed with crates of pea shoots, choy sum and Chinese kale are preparing for departure. In less than 24 hours, the fresh vegetables will be transported to Singapore, some 2,600 km away, and put on the shelves of local selected supermarkets.

As one of China's main vegetable production centers, Yunnan has successfully established itself as a trading hub, with a special emphasis on ASEAN markets. Yunnan exports vegetables to 28 countries and regions across the world, making this province famous as a premier vegetable export center that accounts for over 5 percent of the national total in value.

The China-Laos Railway, which connects the Lao capital Vientiane with Kunming, captial city of Yunnan, has transported a total of 45 million tonnes of cargo since its launch in late 2021.

"Our firm used to be mainly domestic-facing," said Wang Feng, a manager of an agricultural development company in Yunnan. "But now, thanks to cold-chain logistics via the China-Laos Railway, we have cracked open the southeast Asian market and exported over 20 different types of produce."

In the first eight months of 2024, China exported a total of 103.43 billion yuan worth of agricultural produce to the ASEAN, with vegetables, apples and grapes seeing respective increases of 17.2 percent, 23.8 percent and 26.1 percent, compared with the same period last year.