China
Efforts to preserve agricultural heritage promote sustainable farming
By Ji Jing  ·  2021-07-08  ·   Source: NO.27 JULY 8, 2021
 

 

 

Farmers in Xiaozhoushan plant rice seedling in the paddies on June 11, 2020 (XINHUA)

In Qingtian, Zhejiang Province, fish swim in the paddy fields and at night, one can hear the sound of fish gulping up falling rice flowers. This unique agricultural practice has existed for over 1,000 years.

The legend goes that farmers in ancient times inadvertently released fish fries, or newly hatched fish, into the paddy fields when channeling brook water into the fields. When harvesting rice in autumn, to their surprise, they found a lot of adult fish roaming the paddies.

The farmers have since adopted the practice and under this system the rice provides the fish with food and shade while the fish clear the weeds, loosen the soil, and consume rice crop pest. Coincidentally, their feces serve as fertilizers for the rice.

The farmers there usually grow four rice varieties, including black and glutinous rice. Although the output of these traditional rice varieties is lower than that of their modern counterparts, they contain ample nutrients and other special benefits. Black rice has medicinal value and glutinous rice is indispensable for making glutinous rice dumplings. 

The fish itself has evolved into a unique species which looks like carp, but tastes better.

In 2005, the rice-fish farming system was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as one of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). To date, China has 15 GIAHS sites, the most in the world.

China boasts over 10,000 years of history in agricultural civilization and agriculture has shaped the nation's culture. Thus to a certain extent protecting agricultural heritage is protecting the cultural roots of the Chinese nation.

Saved from extinction 

However, the traditional farming system was hard to sustain and even ran the risk of disappearing altogether. Qingtian has very limited land resources. There is a saying that 90 percent of Qingtian is mountain, 5 percent water and 5 percent farmland. 

Due to the limited farmland, it became difficult to produce enough grain for people to live on. In many families, if the eldest son inherited the rice field, the other children usually had to venture outside their hometowns, or even abroad, to make a living.

Moreover, the terraced rice fields make it impossible to employ modern agricultural machineries. Also, farmers used organic fertilizers under the traditional farming system, which are not as effective as chemical fertilizers and result in low output.

"To pursue economic benefits, some farmers have given up the traditional farming methods and switched to chemical fertilizers and pesticides to increase output," Wu Minfang, a former official with the Qingtian Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, told the People's Daily. 

Moreover, "some farmers used to plant new rice varieties and raise new fish species in the rice fields, posing a challenge to the traditional species," Wu added.

Worse still, as local farmers could not make enough income from farming

due to the low rice output, many abandoned their farmlands and moved elsewhere. 

After the rice-fish farming system was listed as a GIAHS site, the local government encouraged and supported both overseas Chinese and other talented people from Qingtian to participate in the protection and development of the area's agricultural heritage.

Jin Yuepin, an overseas Chinese from Qingtian who went to Paris to first work at a Chinese restaurant 42 years ago and then started his own restaurant, never imagined that one visit back home in 2006 would change his course of life.

In autumn of that year, he returned to his hometown of Qingtian which he had left behind nearly 30 years earlier and found some great changes had taken place in the county. There were many new high-rises and the roads had become wider. However, he also found that many of the rice fields had become overgrown with weeds and some were abandoned.

After returning to his home in Longxian, a village in Qingtian, Jin's mother cooked a rice-field fish from the family's own paddy for him, a dish that reminded him of his childhood, when a ceremony was usually held following the autumn harvest. Rice-field fish was served during those ceremonial procedures and the appetizing fish dish always left him with fond memories.

After learning about the local government's policies to beef up protection of the rice-fish farming system, Jin had the idea of returning home to engage in rice-fish farming.

 

 

 

Farmers in Xiaozhoushan Township in Qingtian, Zhejiang Province, carry fish fries to release into the paddy fields on June 11, 2020 (XINHUA)

Fulfillment of dreams 

In 2010, Jin established a rural cooperative for rice-fish cultivation together with several other farmers. Today, the cooperative comes with a 2,000-square-meter base for cultivating fish fries and over 26,000 square meters of fields for rice-fish farming. The government offers subsidies for raising fish, growing the traditional rice varieties and applying organic fertilizers.

Jin owns registered trademarks for the dried fish and rice produced by his cooperative. The rice can sell for 60 yuan ($9.3) per kg and the dried fish can sell for 760 yuan ($117.6) per kg. These products are so popular on the market that they are often booked up well before harvest has even arrived. In 2020, Jin's cooperative made a profit of over 2 million yuan ($309,000). Over 80 local households have joined Jin's cooperative and they have increased their income by 15,000 yuan ($2,321) per capita per year.

Qingtian has established a returned overseas Chinese agricultural development company for selling locally bred rice. Now, the local rice is sold to over 440 cities in China.

Xu Guanhong, who previously worked as a teacher and a chef, returned to his hometown of Renzhuang, a township in Qingtian, in 2011 to launch the Foolish Old Man's Farm.

In addition to following the traditional practices of rice-fish farming of not applying chemical fertilizers or pesticides, he has been dedicated to innovation with the goal to improve farming efficiency. 

"Next, Qingtian will further explore effective ways of turning the brand value of agricultural heritage into industrial and economic value. On the one hand, we will develop new types of businesses such as the Foolish Old Man's Farm; on the other hand, we will develop industries that combine agriculture, culture, ecology and tourism to promote the protection of agricultural heritage," Zhou Heping, Secretary of the Communist Party of China Qingtian County Committee, said. Zhou said the county plans to offer agricultural courses in local schools to acquaint children with the rice-fish farming system and relevant customs.

(Print Edition Title: Fields of Dreams) 

Copyedited by Elsbeth Van Paridon

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