Chinese farmers plant a chemical-free future

 

Dang Jiuru is an ordinary farmer in his seventies. He lives in Luochuan in Shaanxi province，where he has grown apples all his life.

His long cherished wish was to make money to support his grandchildren at school.

In the past, Dang Jiuru, like other local farmers, mainly relied on chemical pesticides to ensure a good harvest. As the apples couldn't be sold at a good price, his income was meagre.

Four years ago, Dang stopped using toxic pesticides under the guidance of local technical personnel. He started using new pest-management techniques, such as cultivating grass around the base of trees to provide a habitat for natural mite predators and applying new predatory mite species into local ecosystems.

The new techniques not only helped him save costs, but also led to a significant increase in his income.

This year, Dang paid for his eldest granddaughter's tuition with the profits from his apples. And his joyful countenance bears witness to the confidence this has brought him.

As the pilot Integrated Pest Management project has come online in recent years, many farmers like Dang Jiuru have enjoyed successful results.

In 2009, a demonstration project was jointly launched by the United Nations Development Programme and the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture.

Income of Tibetan farmers, herdsmen up in 2013

Chinese farmers look to more land reform