Hainan Changjiang's pro-farmer policies help farmers broaden their path to prosperity

Dirt roads have become concrete roads, poor households have moved into new homes, and more than 40 farming households have become silkworm farmers... The changes in Pianshi Village, Shilu Town, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan Province, have left villager Lin Xinghua full of emotion: "Thanks to the government's good poverty alleviation policies, we have been led onto a good path out of poverty and toward prosperity."

Pianshi Village is one of the villages in Changjiang with a relatively large poor population. Located in a drought-prone area, its per capita net income in 2014 was only 3,000 yuan. In 2015, Changjiang implemented whole-village advancement poverty alleviation and development in Pianshi Village, completing dilapidated housing renovations for 30 households and hardening more than 8,400 m of village roads; it brought in enterprises to participate in poverty alleviation, developed the mulberry and silkworm industry, and more than 40 villagers began raising silkworms; it established a Wagyu cattle breeding cooperative and developed Wagyu cattle breeding.

"Planting mulberries and raising silkworms, and raising Wagyu cattle - these industries are all funded by the government." said Wang Zilin, first secretary of Pianshi Village. The government funded the construction of 38 silkworm rearing rooms for the villagers, leased low-yield sugarcane fields from farmers, converted them into mulberry fields, planted 500 mu of mulberry trees, and supported the villagers in developing the mulberry and silkworm industry. In addition, the government also supported 44 poor households in raising Wagyu cattle, with a subsidy of 32,000 yuan per household to purchase 4 cows.

Lin Xinghua is a poor household in Pianshi Village, with a family of 5. In 2014, the family's annual income was less than 10,000 yuan. With government support, he planted 18 mu of mulberry trees and built a 90 sq m silkworm rearing room. "In 2015, I sold 5 batches of silkworm cocoons and earned more than 10,000 yuan!" Lin Xinghua said happily. The government brought in enterprises to help, and the company was responsible for providing silkworm seedlings, technical guidance, and purchasing silkworm cocoons. "We can raise silkworms boldly without worrying about sales. This year the mulberry trees have all grown, so we can raise more silkworms and earn more."

Lin Dong, secretary of the Changjiang County Party Committee, said: "The people have become prosperous, which proves that our poverty alleviation path is the right one." He said that after study, the Changjiang County Party Committee and county government decided to take the implementation of the "five major poverty alleviation" approaches - industrial poverty alleviation, infrastructure poverty alleviation, tourism poverty alleviation, education poverty alleviation, and targeted poverty alleviation - as the starting point, and would never let a single poor household fall behind.

Lin Dong said that in terms of industrial poverty alleviation, Changjiang highlights the "three upgraded versions." First is variety upgrading, introducing new industries with new varieties, high yields, and good returns; second is technology upgrading, focusing on technical training for poor households and maximizing industrial returns through scientific and technological means; third is cooperation model upgrading, using models such as capable people leading the way, company + farmers, and joining cooperatives with shares to guide poor households to invest land or funds as shares. At present, Changjiang has developed a total of 380 farmers' professional cooperatives, 6 agricultural associations, and 36 consortiums such as family farms and farmers' professional cooperative federations, with a total of 3,000 households joining the cooperatives, radiating and driving 10,000 farming households. The annual per capita net income of cooperative members is 13,800 yuan, nearly 84% higher than the county's per capita net income of farmers, and farmers' cooperatives have become a strong booster of farmers' income growth.

In terms of infrastructure poverty alleviation, Changjiang County focuses on improving infrastructure construction in rural areas, especially in poor villages. In 2015, a total of 16.315 million yuan was allocated to support the construction of 13 roads in poor villages, greatly improving the production and living conditions of the people in poor villages. In addition, Changjiang County also implemented a poverty alleviation work responsibility system of "leaders taking charge of villages, units stationed in villages, and cadres helping households." In 2015, a total of 464 cadres at or above the deputy section level, including the "four leading bodies," paired up with 625 poverty-reduction households for assistance.