Module 4 - China: Fruit Promotion in the Mid-Yangtze

Only about 137 million hectares of China’s 960 million hectares of land are arable. Farming systems are intensive, with heavy use of inputs. Food grains occupy about 70 percent of total crop land, and although intensive farming has allowed China to meet its basic food needs, the government’s central concern in recent years has been stagnating grain production. One element of the agricultural strategy involves exploring ways to increase the use of uplands and other underused areas to expand productivity of nonstaple food and commercial crops to meet demand, increase farmers’ incomes, and reduce the pressure on land suited to grain production.

Project Objectives and Description

The main objectives of the Mid-Yangtze Agricultural Development Project were to increase the production, productivity, and marketability of fruit production in low-income areas of Sichuan, Hubei, and Chongqing as a means of increasing incomes and alleviating poverty. The project was designed to provide a demonstration model for the development of hilly wastelands—unused or underused lands—into orchards. Other specific objectives were to:

• Develop 12,000 hectares of new orchards and rehabilitate 2,500 hectares of existing orchards.
  
• Increase the provincial agriculture bureau’s ability to: identify, propagate, and distribute healthy, disease-free planting materials; institutionalize virus indexing and budwood registration programs; and provide technical assistance for research and extension programs, and training for managerial and technical staff.
  
• Establish commercially independent Fruit Development Corporations to market fruit in local, distant domestic, and export markets.

The project focused on bringing hilly areas into productive, high-value citrus production. It emphasized the extension of existing research results to farmers, community participation in investment and operation, and an integrated approach along the value chain, from the selection of better varieties to the use of market-enhancing postharvest treatments. Villagers participated in terracing and planting the land, and (aside from terracing) soil conservation measures, such as contour planting and green cover crops, were introduced to improve environmental conditions. The new and better varieties included some with longer harvesting seasons, allowing greater production in off-peak months and consequently higher prices. New irrigation, planting, and postharvest technologies were adopted. Grading, packaging, and storage facilities were installed, and independent commercial corporations set up to market the output.