Guangdong Pilot for Eco-Agricultural Cooperative Construction Set to Launch

Reported by our correspondents Fu Wei and Zheng Kehuan. Recently, the launch meeting for the sixth supervision round of the World Bank-loaned Guangdong Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Control Project was held in Qingyuan City, Guangdong Province. It was learned at the meeting that the project now covers 15 counties, with 290,000 mu of farmland under treatment and 150 large-scale livestock and poultry farms included in the treatment. In the project areas, fertilizer application and pesticide use intensities have shown a "two declines," while yields and incomes have shown a "two increases," creating a favorable situation. On this basis, Guangdong will also launch a pilot for eco-agricultural cooperative construction.

Monitoring results by third-party institutions for the six pilot counties of Huicheng, Huiyang, Boluo, Taishan, Kaiping and Enping in Huizhou showed that farmers in the new project had an average rice fertilizer application intensity of 46.37 kg, a decrease of nearly 10 percent year-on-year; farmers in the old project maintained fertilizer application below 45 kg, with pesticide application frequency reduced by 1-2 times; farmers in the new project had an average rice yield of 381.82 kg per mu, an increase of more than 10 percent year-on-year. Nearly 80 percent of surveyed farmers said that after participating in the World Bank project, their household income had increased significantly. At the same time, the pesticide packaging recycling rate rose substantially, farmers' planting habits improved, and environmental awareness continued to strengthen.