Agriculture & Food

At present, the global COVID-19 epidemic is still lingering and the world economic recovery is unbalanced. The implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is facing unprecedented challenges. South-South cooperation is an important solution to the challenges of global hunger, malnutrition, poverty and inequality. China has strengthened agricultural cooperation with many countries, focusing on the improvement of food production capacity, the protection of agricultural biodiversity, and the improvement of the value chain of small farmers, and promoted the implementation of a number of development projects with strong inclusiveness, high practicability, and a wide range of promotion. Under the framework, jointly promote the sustainable development of international trade in agriculture and rural areas.

"Now production has doubled and income has doubled"

In July, Myanmar is in the rainy season, and the Indian Ocean monsoon pours a lot of rain on the land every day. Abundant rainfall has provided a large amount of irrigation water for Myanmar's agriculture, but it has also caused troubles to local farmers - excessive rainfall has caused rice lodging from time to time, which also means that the harvest may be poor.

"These years have been different!" said Gou, a farmer in the Yangdong area of Ayeyarwady Province. Chinese experts have brought good news to Myanmar rice farmers. The new rice seeds they brought have high yield, good resistance to diseases and insect pests, and the characteristics of lodging resistance in the rainy season are even more prominent. "When the company came to introduce the new varieties, we were a little skeptical and set aside a few acres (1 acre is about 0.4 hectares) for trial planting. The results proved that the yield has indeed increased a lot! The original yield per acre was more than 1,400 kilograms, and new rice seeds were planted. After that, the yield per acre can reach about 2,800 kilograms. Now we can expand the planting with confidence!” Now, under the guidance of Chinese experts, Gou has planted 21 acres of new varieties of rice.

It is understood that due to limited production, the annual income of local rice farmers was only about 600,000 kyats (about 2,100 yuan). "Now the output has doubled, and the income has doubled. Chinese experts have been here for a long time, providing planting training for us, inspecting the farmland with us in the field, and paying attention to the growth of rice. They explain in detail, and often demonstrate hands-on, without reservation. Taught us the skills from sowing, field management to the final harvest." Gou said, "We learned planting techniques from Chinese experts and deeply felt the friendship rooted in each other's hearts."

"I see huge opportunities for Guyana's fisheries development"

In recent years, the Guyana government has attached great importance to the development of fisheries, formulated the "Strategic Plan for the Development of Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture (2021-2026)", increased capital investment, actively introduced new technologies through international cooperation and other means, and strengthened relevant department officials. and professional training of technicians. Guo Haiyan, Chinese ambassador to Guyana, said that China's aquaculture production has ranked first in the world for more than 30 consecutive years, and the development of cage fish culture technology is relatively mature. The online course hosted by the China-Caribbean Development Center can answer questions for local students on cage and purse seine aquaculture technology, marine aquaculture technology, feed development and formula design, marine fish disease prevention and control, etc., and assist Guyana to promote Cage aquaculture promotes the increase of local fishermen's income and the transformation of fishery, and improves people's livelihood and well-being.

"This training course has been widely welcomed. The Chinese experts are very knowledgeable and experienced. They not only provided us with valuable experience in cage farming and fish farming management procedures, but also gave detailed answers to the questions of the trainees. We It has benefited a lot.” Dukey, Chief Fisheries Officer of the Ministry of Agriculture of Guyana, has been working in the fishery field for 9 years. Before that, she had never heard of cage fish farming, let alone how to operate it. This is the first time she heard about this I felt "very fresh" during the course.

With the in-depth explanation of the experts, Duki got more and more "surprises". For some non-traditional fishing areas and indigenous communities in Guyana, cage fish farming can not only bring more abundant food to local residents, but also create many jobs and increase people's income, which is "significant". “From the lectures in the training class, we can discover the capabilities and technologies of China as a world leader in the aquaculture industry. The experts also introduced to us in detail how to adapt to local conditions and improve fish farming practices in Guyana. I saw the huge development of the fishery industry in Guyana. Opportunity!" Dukey said.

The Director-General of Guyana's Ministry of Agriculture, Ram Raj, thanked the Chinese government for its strong support for Guyana's agricultural diversification and sustainable fisheries development. He said that the training course brought China's advanced technology and practical experience in cage aquaculture to Guyana, which will help Guyana improve its fishery production capacity, fully release local development potential, increase fishermen's income, and promote Guyana's sustainable economic and social development. At present, the Guyanese government has pledged to invest more funds in new fields represented by cage fish farming, and has identified some communities to carry out pilot cage farming projects, and the government will distribute cage farming tools.

"It has significantly reduced the local dependence on imported cotton textiles"

Tajikistan's Khatlon State has good light conditions and is one of the world's famous high-quality long-staple cotton producing areas. In 2014, driven by the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the Sino-Tajikistan Agricultural Textile Industrial Park project jointly built by relevant departments of China and Tajikistan was officially launched. At present, the industrial park is equipped with hundreds of thousands of acres of cotton fields and several ginning plants, and adopts advanced digital and intelligent agricultural machinery and textile equipment, which not only improves the cotton processing capacity, but also enables the local yarn fabrics to enter the global high-end market, and the products are exported to Turkey , Russia, Italy and other countries.

In the workshop of the first phase of the industrial park, hundreds of machines are running at high speed, and there are not many workers. The person in charge of the plant said that this is due to the introduction of a full-process automated production line from China. It is understood that the Sino-Tajikistan Agricultural Textile Industrial Park actively builds the entire industrial chain of cotton from planting to garments, filling the gap in Tajikistan's advanced textile technology. Saadi Karimzoda, Minister of Agriculture of Tajikistan, told reporters that Tajikistan can produce about 120,000 tons of high-quality cotton fiber every year. In the past, the annual processing capacity of cotton fiber of local textile enterprises was about 12,000 tons, and about 80% of textiles were imported. After the industrial park is fully put into operation, the cotton fiber processing capacity will be increased to 20,000 tons, "significantly reducing the local dependence on imported cotton textiles".

There are hundreds of thousands of acres of cotton fields supporting the industrial park. Yasaviyev Alijiang, deputy director of the second field of Jiliku of Zhongtai (Hartlon) New Silk Road Agricultural Industry Co., Ltd., said that now cotton is grown, and fertilization is carried out with water-based irrigation, in which fertilizer is incorporated into irrigation water and applied to the field. There is also a cotton picker for picking, which saves a lot of labor. "Farmers living near the cotton fields saw that our cotton plant density is getting higher and higher, and they also learned our methods, strengthened field management, timely and scientifically planted and topped, and the harvest has also increased a lot."

"The income here is good, and more importantly, you can learn advanced technology and management experience." Samanda is a native of Hatlon State and went to China for training in 2016. "The experience of studying in China has left a deep impression on me. Since then, I have determined to study and work more diligently to make my hometown more beautiful." Today, Samanda has become a production workshop in the industrial park Assistant Director, not only can independently operate the full-process ring spinning production line, but also undertake management tasks such as training new employees. "Thanks to Chinese companies for creating opportunities for us to realize our self-worth."