Chinese farmers now use the phrase "environment-friendly", one
of the goals in China's strategic plan of building up new socialist
countryside, as a focus of their discussions.
"The phrase 'environment-friendly, mentioned by Premier Wen
Jiabao in his annual work report to the nation on March 5, will
bring actual benefits for us," said Hu Guochen, a farmer in
northeast China's agricultural province of
Heilongjiang.
Living in Mingshui County, remote and poor with a vast land of
salina, Hu as well as other local farmers had not previously paid
any attention to environmental protection in their farming
activities.
"We have begun suffering from our wrongdoings in the past, such
as overusing chemical fertilizers and cultivating land by simplex
machinery that causes the hardening of soil and reduction of
yield," Hu said, adding that poor quality causes grain prices
drop.
In China, the natural environment and soil quality in rural
areas are deteriorating. Without the conservation of soil and
water, the land is doomed to become arid from over-development.
Therefore, the Chinese government has set the building of a "new
socialist countryside" as the first of the programs during the
nation's
11th Five-Year?Guidelines (2006-2010) period.
At the same time, the government is making efforts to step up
the protection and supervision of water, soil, grassland to build
an environment-friendly society.
In the next five years, the government will pour huge investment
into projects to boost rational development conducive to social
harmony in rural areas.
The number of protests and disturbances across the countryside
has been on rise, prompting the central government to seek more
palatable rural policies.
"The premier's remarks on building an environment-friendly
countryside drew a prosperous blueprint of new life for farmers,"
Hu acknowledged.
Hu and many other farmers in Mingshui County have ceased to
overuse chemical fertilizers in farming and begun constructing
houses using new building materials instead of mud bricks, which
often produce dust that pollutes the air on windy days.
The village folks in the county are also preparing to implement
cooperative farming by jointly using combine harvester and other
farming machinery to save energy resources and raise production
efficiency.
Zhao Yanbin, director of the Heilongjiang provincial office on
promoting environmental protection, urged local governments to
improve farmers' self-awareness and their duty to practice
environmental protection.
"We cannot possibly materialize the goal of building up a
socialist countryside in three or five years," he said, adding that
environmental protection education for farmers as well as rural
students will play a positive role in reaching the long-term
goal.
Governments at all levels have launched a series of education
programs such as spread of agricultural science, self-study via
information networks and attending field classes led by
experts.
Deng Zhijun, a farmer living in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, said it is necessary to develop a healthy
lifestyle and maintain a sanitary environment in rural areas.
With booming economic development, more and more villages in the
agricultural province have taken measures to improve farmers'
living conditions as well as the appearance of farmers' houses.
Some villages have even hired local farmers as full-time workers
responsible for cleaning roads and the surrounding environment.
Firewood and manure, which used to be placed in or around farmers'
houses, have been moved to special sites outside of villages.
Instead, flowers and trees are planted for decoration and enjoyment
in farmers' lives.
Local officials convey confidence in creating clean and
beautiful rural areas. They are making efforts to push forward
environmental-improvement projects in rural areas across the
province, including comprehensive reconstruction of houses with
better sanitary conditions, establishment of garbage treatment
centers and development of healthy behavioral habits.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)