China has launched an experiment with crop rotation and fallow farming

Almaty. July 19. Silkroadnews – China has launched an experiment with introduction of crop rotation and fallow farming to involve more than 400 thousand hectares of farmland, Xinhua reported.

“China’s Ministry of Agriculture considered such an experiment as “important decision made by the center”.

According to deputy of the head of the department, crop rotation will be carried out on an area of 330 thousand hectares in the Northeast China – a cold region – and in the northern regions which economy has half-an-agricultural and half-a-stock-raising direction,” the statement said.

As noted, until recently there was a tradition to rotate cereal crops with technical and primary cereals with non-primary ones in these regions. However, over the last years the local farmers have switched to growing corn and soybeans on a massive scale, giving up wheat and other crops that are less cost-effective. Such a situation resulted in a number of serious problems, including the spread of plant pests and diseases and soil fertility reduction.

“About 78 thousand hectares of land in the provinces of Hebei, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu have been chosen for the fallow farming experiment, when the soil is left to rest for one year. These are mainly sites subject to soil settlement due to groundwater overdevelopment (Hebei), contamination by heavy metals (Hubei), desertification (Guizhou and Yunnan) and environmental degradation (Gansu)”, the report says.

The deputy of the head of the department does not exclude the extension of the experiment scale in the next 3-5 years. Farmers involved in the experiment will be provided with due financial aid, said the deputy minister.