Dang Jiuru is an ordinary farmer in his seventies. He lives in Luochuan in Shaanxi province，where he has grown apples all his life.
His long cherished wish was to make money to support his grandchildren at school.
In the past, Dang Jiuru, like other local farmers, mainly relied on chemical pesticides to ensure a good harvest. As the apples couldn't be sold at a good price, his income was meagre.
Four years ago, Dang stopped using toxic pesticides under the guidance of local technical personnel. He started using new pest-management techniques, such as cultivating grass around the base of trees to provide a habitat for natural mite predators and applying new predatory mite species into local ecosystems.
The new techniques not only helped him save costs, but also led to a significant increase in his income.
This year, Dang paid for his eldest granddaughter's tuition with the profits from his apples. And his joyful countenance bears witness to the confidence this has brought him.
As the pilot Integrated Pest Management project has come online in recent years, many farmers like Dang Jiuru have enjoyed successful results.
In 2009, a demonstration project was jointly launched by the United Nations Development Programme and the Foreign Economic Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The project was funded by the Global Environment Facility with the aim of helping the Chinese government fulfill its obligations under the Stockholm Convention. Its main focus was to reduce releases of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and to eliminate use of DDT and dicofols in agricultural production.
POPs are a major environmental concern due to their persistence, long-range transportability, bio-accumulation, and potentially adverse effects on living organisms. Reducing them will enhance ecological protection, food safety, and human health.
Now, three demonstration project sites with training facilities, along with farmer field schools, are operating in Shaanxi, Hubei, and Shandong provinces in China. More than 95,000 farmers, like Dang, have been trained, as well as over 800 technicians.
Now in Luochuan, the price of apples has increased from 2 yuan per kilogram to 6 yuan. Farmers' incomes are bearing witness to this significant change, and so is the local environment.
In Yidu, in Hubei province, XiongJiachun has adopted new techniques after growing citrus fruits for two decades. The demand for his produce now exceeds supply, and his income has doubled several times over.
The success of the pilot project has fuelled the desire of local farmers to learn more. Many have abandoned use of toxic pesticides and are embracing new techniques, turning to healthier and more eco-friendly ways of supporting agricultural production.
Their produce has attained international convention and trading standard requirements. As a result, they are now finding markets overseas.
Based on the success of the demonstration project, a national-level promotional plan has been rolled out. More and more farmers, consumers, and local ecosystems will benefit from the new techniques.
The old farmer told us he will continue to grow apples and support his grandchildren in their further education, but now he has another wish: to go live onstage on China Central Television and share folk songs from his hometown.