CHINA / Migrants |
How to make a living on 0.4 mu of land?By Sun Yuqing (chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2007-04-21 14:08 The "New Three Gorges, New Life" reporting group visited two villages in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area in Fuling District, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipaltiy, April 20, 2007. People might wonder: how local people make a living with only 0.4 mu (0.027 hectare) of land for every people.
Muhe Village covers an area of 5.9 square kilometers and has a population of 2,063 people. The arable land will be reduced to 1,687 mu (113 hectare) from 2,668 mu (186 hectare) due to the rising water level in Three Gorges Project.
How the small slices of land support the life of those migrants? Liu Jiaqi, the leader of the village, seems have a good plan. "We have changed 1,000 mu (67 hectare) of land to plant fruits, such as longan," said Liu, who has made the village into a model for migrant villages. The village also works with the Fuling District government to develop the agricultural processing industry and encourage the labor forces to work in big cities. "We also plan to develop the three gorges tourism industry and improve the famers' annual income from the current 3,260 yuan to 4,000 yuan in two or three years."
The Pingyuan Village, also in Fuling District, also has its challenges. The Three Gorges Project will submerge 121.5 mu arable land of the 163.85 mu of land, reducing the average arable land to 0.35 mu. To local farmers' happiness, the village has established four fishing ponds
and one pig breeding farm that has 4000 pigs, which increased the farmers'
average annual income to 3,510 yuan in 2006. The household biogas digesters
in this village not only provides the clean energy but also protect the
environment and the water in Three Gorges Project. |
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