Edible mushrooms flourish, grow into poverty relief goal

Wang Xuechao, a farmer from Chunyangshan village in southwestern Sichuan province, said planting edible mushrooms has helped him move away from heavy labor and earn more money for his family.

In July 2016, the local government partnered with edible mushrooms-processing company Sichuan Sentai Group to build a related industrial park as part of broader efforts designed to help lift locals out of poverty.

Wang not only participated in the construction but also bought a share, after borrowing 50,000 yuan ($7,602) from the bank.

Now the annual income of Wang's family - through working at the park, receiving dividends and other allowances from official departments - tops 18,900 yuan.

"Every day, I feed raw materials into the machine, collect the finished products, do watering as well as monitor the temperature and humidity," he said.

"It's much easier for men like me who have high blood pressure and heart disease."

Besides Wang, the industrial park has served all the 27 poor families in the village.

Nanbu, where Wang's village is located, had been one of the country's poorest counties for 30 years, but it is now expected to have completed a complete transformation by the end of 2017.

By introducing companies, establishing cooperatives, creating jobs and providing financial insurance, the county has built 206 such industrial parks, helping the average per capita income of the local poor families to grow to 4,200 yuan last year.

Liu Dezhi, a villager in Minzhu village in the county, said he didn't pay a penny for treating his broken patella due to the insurance and civil assistance.

Last year, Liu fell down while farming on the mountain and injured his his knees. He said he nearly gave up, when hearing the treatment needed cost 20,000 yuan.

According to the government, citizens from poor families can get support from the insurance system if they are diagnosed with chronic diseases, serious illness or are disabled.

It said 98 percent of poor patients have received allowances.

Some 63 newly established grassroots clinics in the county are equipped with about 5,000 facilities to meet basic medical demands.

The county also invested 1.5 billion yuan over two years to provide water for both the rural and urban populations.

It renovated residential houses and some 60 percent of the families of farmers how have access to hard cement roads.

According to statistics, the number of poor decreased from more than 100,000 to 26,000 between 2014 and 2016.

Sichuan, one of the six major provinces involved in the country's poverty-relief initiatives, has taken a range of measures in recent years to help citizens shake of their poverty.

Baoqiseha is farmer from one of the 54 poor families in Tebunaiwu village of Puge county in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan.

Three years ago, the annual income of his family was only about 5,000 yuan. But that increased to around 17,000 yuan when he began to plant tobacco and walnuts in the planting base.

He said the local government plans to establish 240 hectares of walnut farmland and 53.3 hectares for tobacco, to help locals to improve their incomes.

In the past five years, Liangshan reduced its poor population by 709,800, built 69,600 houses and allocated a housing rental allowance to 71,000 families.

It is targeting lifting its remaining poor population - numbering 528,300 in 11 counties - out of poverty in the next five years.

Other plans include building a clean energy base, real earth innovative applications base, an international leisure tourism resort and an agricultural production base.

By 2016, the number of poor in Sichuan declined from 6.25 million in 2013 to 2.72 million. The incidences of poverty dropped from 9.6 percent in 2013 to 4.3 percent.

This year, the authorities plan to lift 1.05 million people out of poverty.

chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/19/2017 page18)