China to pilot agricultural restoration programs: Xi
DATE:2015-11-04 SOURCE:Xinhua News Agency
BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- China will pilot programs to restore farm land through crop rotation, President Xi Jinping said in a statement on Tuesday.
He revealed the programs in a document written specially for the Communist Party of China Central Committee's "Proposal on Formulating the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-2020) on National Economic and Social Development," which was adopted at the Fifth Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee that ended Oct. 29.
Farm land has been over-exploited, resulting in issues such as water loss and soil erosion. As consecutive bumper grain harvests have caused storage pressure, China should take the opportunity to pilot agricultural restoration programs, Xi said.
The programs will be tested in places suffering from water loss and soil erosion, heavy metal contamination and other environmental issues.
The government will provide subsidies to farmers involved in the programs, Xi said.