Eco-agriculture and Eco-tourism Power Nanchang’s Green Development
Nanchang plans to continue to increase its marsh gas production capacity. In addition, the municipal government is promoting the use of other types of green energy like solar and wind power.
But Nanchang’s eco-development isn’t just happening behind the scenes on farms and in power stations. Eco-tourism is blossoming in the city, and attracting record numbers of nature lovers.
The municipal government has incorporated tourism and leisure as part of the city’s core efforts to develop its low-carbon economy. It already plows RMB 10 million annually into eco-tourism projects, which attract more than six million tourists every year. Tourism revenue tops RMB one billion.
Jinxian County anticipates reaping sizable gains from this eco-tourism boom. Owing to its location outside the city center, the county is concentrating on luring urbanites hankering for a rural retreat.
“We plan to integrate suburban tourism with eco-agriculture. Currently, there are roughly 100,000 tourists coming to Jin-xian from downtown Nanchang and other neighboring areas annually. They usually come here at weekends or in spring,” Zhou said.
For many tourists, the charm of the Jinfeng Chaye Tea Garden is right up there with the appeal of Junshan Lake. Covering an area of 530 hectares, the tea garden is enormous, with more than 10 varieties of tea trees, all grown with standard organic planting techniques.
The Jinfeng Chaye Tea Garden is one of 40 official countryside vacationing spots in Nanchang, and another 160 sites are soon to be added.
Wanli District in the west of Nanchang City is also an appealing tourism destination. The picturesque Meiling National Forest Park lies in this district, and features a lush bamboo forest.
Hu Xiaogen, the 37-year-old owner of an inn within the forest park, has reclaimed a 1.3-hectare patch of land in order to plant organic grapes.
“Although the yield of fruit cultivated organically is one third or even one half less than that obtained in the chemical way, the taste and quality are way better,” Hu told China Today.
Nowadays, customers tend to value quality above all else. It’s quite common, Hu said, for customers from Nanchang’s downtown area to drive out here to buy groceries. Hu’s quaint little inn is also well known for its local delicacies, and it’s usually at full capacity on weekends.
“Through a succession of pilot programs we’ve demonstrated the merits of eco-agriculture to farmers and encouraged them to shift to organic planting. In this way, we’ve developed the local economy, increased farmers’ income and improved people’s lives,” Zhou told China Today.
“The farmers are the main beneficiaries of organic planting. Once their products are accredited as organic food, farmers can claim a price considerably higher than that for non-organic products,” Wu added.
By the end of 2011, 103 enterprises in Nanchang had been certified as organic food producers. Two hundred food brands had been officially stamped as organic food.
Nanchang plans to continue building its organic produce credentials. By 2015, the city plans to increase the number of organic food producers to 300 and of local organic food brands to 400.
Nanchang has also proposes to improve the quality standards of and testing systems for organic food. This is in response to the food poisoning scares in other parts of the country in recent years.
On the topic of food safety, Wu commented: “We attach utmost importance to all our products’ safety and quality, and every link in the production and marketing process is monitored and recorded.” Nowadays, all livestock products, grain products and fruits produced in the city meet national quality standards; the ratio of local vegetables that pass chemical residue tests is 97.5 percent; that for marine produce is 90 percent.
“In Nanchang, we are working on economic development, environmental protection and social progress simultaneously, and with equal commitment. What we want to achieve in the long run is sustainable improvement in the domestic and global competitiveness of our products,” Wu said. Eco-agriculture is clearly the way to go.
