What can we learn after a major disaster about how to improve agriculture's disaster resilience?
Farmland was flooded, livestock and poultry farms were washed away, and fish ponds turned into vast expanses of water. The heavy rainfall since the start of the plum rain season has brought huge losses to Hubei Province, a major agricultural province. In the face of major natural disasters, how can agriculture's disaster prevention and resilience capacity be improved? A reporter rushed to the front line to investigate.
From June 19 to July 20, rainfall in Cenhe Town, Shashi District, Jingzhou City reached 410 mm, causing total crop failure of 4,000 mu of mid-season rice and 6,000 mu of vegetables, with direct economic losses of 16.41 million yuan. Facing unpredictable disasters, the Tonghechun Vegetable Cooperative in Cenhe Town made beneficial explorations in advance. Zhou Yonghong, chairman of the Tonghechun Vegetable Cooperative, said that setting aside a certain risk fund from the money earned, and returning a little less of the money earned, has already been written into the cooperative's charter.
Villagers join as shareholders with land and share capital, and the cooperative sets aside 40% of its profits each year as a risk fund. In the three years since the cooperative was founded, although the accumulated risk fund is only more than 500,000 yuan, this beneficial exploration of a disaster-resilience approach still let Zhou Yonghong see hope amid the major disaster.
In disaster resilience and relief, technology comes first. Hu Huabo, director of the Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Shashi District, Jingzhou City, said that after a major disaster, agricultural technology departments must first take the initiative and go deep into the fields to guide farmers in scientifically resuming production. He said that after a major disaster, the key is the timing; agricultural departments must take the initiative to go to the front line, and village officials, including farming households themselves and agricultural departments, should provide separate disaster relief guidance for different fields and different disaster situations.
Cenhe Town faces the Yangtze River in front and borders Changhu Lake behind. Because the terrain is low-lying, drainage is poor, and the passing channels lack water storage capacity, its disaster-bearing capacity is weak: it cannot be flooded for even one day, nor drought-stricken for three days. Hu Huabo said that to improve agriculture's disaster resilience, the construction of farmland water conservancy infrastructure must be planned ahead. He said that government departments should plan ahead for ditches and electric drainage pumping stations in normal times and complete them in advance; family farms and specialized cooperatives, as new types of business entities, should also fully equip their own infrastructure.
Wang Zhongchun, mayor of Cenhe Town, said that in a year of major disaster, in addition to relying on government subsidies, farmers should strengthen their awareness of risk and insurance, actively take out policy-based agricultural insurance, and reduce business risks. For new types of agricultural business entities, rapidly developing and strengthening themselves is the most fundamental solution for disaster resilience and prevention. Wang Zhongchun said that the government has a certain special fund to provide certain support according to the disaster situation; rice has insurance, and the insurance company can pay part of the claims; cooperatives still need to become bigger and stronger, and once they become bigger and stronger and have a certain economic strength, their ability to withstand risks will be strong.