Farming experts plant seeds of Tibetan friendship

Zheng Yu could be viewed as an ordinary man from Fujian province. But he had an extraordinary life in Tibet while he worked there as a volunteer.

Zheng, as deputy director of the agricultural department of Nyingchi prefecture many years ago, walked more than 200 km across Medog county to inspect local farming conditions.

He wanted to find out what grew well and what else could. His painstaking efforts were rewarded by the introduction of fruit trees that now bring profits to locals.

Beginning in 1995, hundreds of professionals in five groups went to work in Nyingchi prefecture of the autonomous region to cultivate modern farming techniques and improve the lives of local people.

And they worked hard. They listened to the needs of local people, meeting with them inside their tents to understand and give advice.

Fujian also offered free assistance to the Tibetan prefecture in projects, funds, materials and technology.

Decisions about specific aid projects were made according to the requirements of locals in Tibet. To date the agricultural department of Fujian has directly invested more than 11 million yuan in projects in Tibet, including houses, farm machinery, planting orchards, establishing animal quarantine inspection centers and starting rural education programs.

In Mainling county helpers from Fujian raised more than 10.8 million yuan for farms to develop their own specialty produce. They also donated large numbers of lab instruments and modern office equipment, as well as improved poultry breeds, fruit and vegetable seeds.

Rice seeds brought to Nyingchi prefecture in 2001 sharply increased the area's rice harvest. In 2003 dozens of breed pigs from key State farms in Fujian and techniques to raise them were warmly welcomed by local people.

In recent years the department has paid more attention to training local technicians. More than 670 Nyingchi locals have been trained by the department since 2005.

Nyingchi won top honors for the whole of Tibet for animal disease prevention in 2005 after trailing in the effort for years. With the help of Fujian, Nyingchi prefecture has had its best harvests in history over recent years.

Tax revenues of Nyingchi rose 36 percent last year to surpass 200 million yuan. The average per capita income of local people grew 16 percent to reach 3,600 yuan.

Fujian will continue to support Nyingchi and better people's lives by enabling sustainable growth.