By QI JUAN

Picturesque Jingxian County is located at the intersection of Mt. Huang and Mt. Jiuhua, both famous scenic spots in southern Anhui Province. It is a mountainous region, with a terrain high in the southwest and low in the northeast. The Qingyi River runs from south to north, forming small patches of alluvial plain, which comprise the major food production areas of Jingxian County.

With rich agricultural resources and a large rural population, accounting for 90 percent of its total population of 360,000, Jingxian County runs on an agricultural economy. Although it was harvesting time when we visited, we could see only a few people operating machines in the field. Where was everyone?

Teaching Farmers to Cultivate Land with Machinery

Chinese peasants have cultivated land by traditional methods for thousands of years, relying mainly on man and animal power. There are few, particularly in places with a dense population and scarce land, that have ever considered substituting these forms of labor with machinery, thereby reducing physical hardship and enhancing working efficiency. Such a situation makes it difficult to promote the use of agricultural machinery.

Wang Xiaomin, director of the Agricultural Machinery Bureau of Jingxian County, told us this story.

During seeding time last year, in order to promote the use of seeding machines, technicians at the Agricultural Machinery Bureau drove one of them to Zhexi Township. They wanted to show the farmers how to use the machine, and how helpful it could be to their farm work, but not one farmer would allow them to demonstrate the seeding machine on their land. Eventually, after patient persuasion on the part of the technicians and township cadres, one of the farmers reluctantly agreed to let them have a try. As soon as the machine started to work, the situation changed. Farmers could then see a whole day's work accomplished faultlessly within just one hour, and they all clamored to be first to use the machine. As a result, with the help of the Agricultural Machinery Bureau, the farmers completed their seeding with ease.

In order to promote agricultural mechanization, the Jingxian County Agricultural Machinery Bureau established an all-process paddy growing mechanization demonstration area in Zhixi village. One of the farmers who had contracted for land on the demonstration area said, "In the past, one person was able to cultivate one mu (1 hectare = 15 mu) field only. Now, with the help of agricultural machines, we can each cultivate 20 mu. The field for which we have contracted is tilled and harvested by our village agricultural machinery service team, and surplus labors are free to do sideline work. These machines are really very helpful."

The Old Man Cultivating Land up a Mountain

Halfway up the mountain, at over 500 meters above sea level, we interviewed an old farmer who lives and cultivates his land there.

He said, "We grow paddy and tea here. We used to have a water buffalo that we depended on to do almost all the heavy farm work, from tilling the fields to harvesting. At that time, although we worked very hard we could only earn around 500 yuan each year. We were so poor that our furniture consisted of beds, a table, and a few stools, and we had to borrow money to pay for our children's school fees. Agricultural machinery has made a huge difference. Now, with its help, my wife and I can do the work in the paddy field and tea garden, and our children all work on outside sideline production. One of my sons is doing business in Nigeria, and earns US $700 a month. We have consequently rebuilt the house and bought new furniture. Life is much better now than before."

Although they live halfway on the mountain, they seem nonetheless to have the necessary equipment for a comfortable life, such as electric lighting, a color TV, a washing machine, gas stove, and even tap water. They would never have dared to dream of living such a good life ten years ago. "It is mechanization that enables us to have a better harvest with less labor. In future we shall also take on scientific and technological modernization," the old man declared.

China's entry into the WTO means that China will open further its domestic market, and that plenty of imported low-priced agricultural products will flood the Chinese market, thus imposing more pressure on Chinese agriculture and farmers. The price of Chinese wheat, corn and cotton is higher than the international market figure, and the key to this problem lies in lowering agricultural production costs. The Chinese government has therefore decided to implement an agricultural industrialization policy and scale management, so as to increase the competitiveness of Chinese agricultural products. It is consequently imperative that agricultural machinery bureaus throughout China help farmers to master more scientific technology, especially the utilization of agricultural machines, so that they may prepare for the international competition they will inevitably face.