Tibet builds escape route from poverty
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Drolma, 53, spends time with her daughter and grandchildren at home. [Photo by HOU LIQIANG/CHINA DAILY] |
The regional government started the Pure Land project in 2013. The area produces maca, a root vegetable native to the South American Andes; snow chrysanthemum, which is used mainly for tea; organic grapes, peaches and roses; ingredients for traditional Tibetan medicine; organic meat, and dairy products.
"The industry was brought in before people were relocated to the area," said Sonam Yangkyi, a village cadre in Duishigagyi. "All the resettled families have at least one person who can work, so they benefit from the industry."
China's growing demand for organic products and traditional Tibetan medicine has proved good news for the agricultural project, which is in a clean, high-altitude environment.
"One kilogram of ordinary peaches only sells for about 30 yuan, but a single peach from the Pure Land zone can sell for 100 yuan," Sonam Yangkyi said.
Last year, the project created 127,500 jobs and increased the per capita income in Duishigagyi by about 6,000 yuan, according to the village committee, which did not provide the actual income figure. It added that the 89 enterprises with operations in the zone had a combined output of 3.7 billion yuan.
Duishigagyi was one of 353 new settlements built in Tibet last year to relocate 77,000 people from isolated areas, with most next to industrial developments to ensure abundant job opportunities, according to Lu Huadong, deputy director of the Tibet Poverty Alleviation Office.
A further 450 new villages with room for 163,000 people were also planned this year, as the region looks to build a comprehensively well-off society by 2020, he added.
