Regional Environmental Technical Assistance 5771
Poverty Reduction & Environmental Management in Remote Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Watersheds Project (Phase I)

UPLAND AGRICULTURE

Yunnan, China

By

Eija Pehu

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

The individual country briefs present the general features of agricultural production systems with particular focus on upland agriculture. The production systems are viewed in their agroecolocial, policy and socio-economic contexts. The connection between poverty and environmental degradation is accepted as the platform for analysis. The analytical framework for decision-making in search of alternative environmentally, economically and socially sustainable livelihood options is presented in the Regional report and the present country report applies that in broad sense to the situation in Yunnan Province of China.

2. UPLAND AGRICULTURE IN YUNNAN

2.1. Agroecology

Yunnan Province is rich in biodiversity because of its wide range of topography and ecosystems at the intersection of four major ecosystem types (Indian, East Asian, Tibetan Highland, Central Asian Arid zone). This is further amplified by the variation in altitude yielding a combination of semi-tropical and temperate zones. Besides having an impact on natural biodiversity the wide variation in ecology also enables diversified crop production.

The total land area of Yunnan is 394,000 sq km. Mountainous areas account for 94% of the province. Population of Yunnan is 40 million, of which ethnic groups account for 33%. There are four agro-ecological zones in the Yunnan province: 1) South/Thai-border area, 1500 m altitude, 2) the tropical/sub-tropical area, 3) the Central Plateau, 2000 m. and the northernmost 4) Northwest high mountain area of about 3000 m altitude. Shifting cultivation is common at the border zone. The upland rice cultivation area, which is a good estimate for shifting cultivation is estimated at 100 000 ha in the province.

Yunnan is an agricultural province. In 1997 food production was 12,9 milj. tons. Main cash crops are tobacco, sugarcane, tea and rubber. Tobacco production in 1997 was 1,35 milj.tons, sugarcane 14 milj.tons, tea 700 000 tons and rubber 150 tons. Yunnan is almost food self-sufficient. Shortages occur only in three prefectures Kun Ming city, Chao Tung, Dijing and Lushang (the latter two in the Mekong Basin). Import from other provinces include 1 milj.ton of high quality rice and soybean. The Agriculture Department has had 14 foreign projects since late 1980s. Main concern of donors is the interaction of human population and the environment. Yunnan has the largest portion of poor people in China. 73 counties score to be under poverty level of the total of 123 counties. So far the international projects have covered 11 prefectures.

2.2. Input and service provision systems

The government subsidises the production inputs. In terms of extension the aim is to have each township to have an extension service station. In the Langchan area the coverage is presently less than 30%. In the plains the coverage is 40%. Production and distribution of crop seed is organized by the National Seed Management Station, which works on the following crops: rice, corn, wheat, oil crops, beans and potato. Their capacity for the different crops is: rice 88% of hectarage; wheat 86%, corn 68%, oil crops 80%. Private companies are involved mainly with vegetable seeds, but are not allowed to do seed production of food crops. There is a need to improve the seed production, testing and distribution systems. Since 1995 there has been a government initiative, Seed Project, to unify the chain from breeder to seed producer, distributor and the farmer. Each county has a representation of the seed company and a distribution station of seed.

An important export commodity from Yunnan to the rest of China is beancurd (tofu). High mineral content in the water makes the curd taste superior. Now most of the soybeans are imported from other provinces, but soybean production is encouraged in the South of the province to be included in the upland crop rotation.

3. Environmental impact research

Professor Wu’s group in the Yunnan Agricultural University has been working on erosion for several years. The first period was from 1993 to 96 as Yunnan Council of Science and British Council cooperation. Research was started with on-station management trials. The treatments included: wheat mulch, maize-soybean intercropping and contours. The results showed that the management measures can be ranked in descending order from the most effective: 1) wheat straw mulch, 2) contours 3) intercropping. Short term data on maize-soybean intercropping shows that there is very limited increase in the amount of nutrients in the soil (Wu, 1996). In 1998 Yunnan Agricultural University got an INCO-DC (EU fund for International Co-operation with Developing Countries) project to do on-farm trials in a small watershed on soil erosion prevention and crop productivity. The experiments include testing of contour grass strips and improved varieties. The overall goal is to make cultivation permanent, have the farmers to do grass-strips on contours, and to use more of organic fertilizer and green manuring crops or better rotations like 2 years of soybean and then uphill rice.

It is worth noting for future planning exercises that there are good erosion vulnerability (5 categories) and land-use maps available of the entire province in the Environmental Office.

4. Agronomic research on upland rice

There is in total 100 000 ha in upland rice production. Average yield is 1,5 tn/ha. 50% of the production is located in Mong La, Ching Hong, Mong Lai, Monlie and Simon areas. Upland rice is a staple for people in these areas. In the hilly areas the important food crops are wet rice and upland rice. Then comes maize, which is used as animal feed. Of all the GMS countries Yunnan is the only one with an active upland rice-breeding program. The upland rice breeding strategy in Yunnan has three aspects: 1) conventional breeding with local and improved materials, 2) introduction from abroad, 3) introduction of indica rice for upland planting. In 1998 2 new varieties were released. Of exotic germplasm two japonica type rice lines were released in 1998, Jilat 104 and Jilat 359 (Ivory Coast). An indica type from Indonesia will be released in 1999. The Jilat varieties are adapted to elevations below 1200 m. Now breeding aims for higher elevations. Yield potential is good ranging from 2 to 4 tons/ha on farmer’s field. For the third goal of introducing lowland indica-type rice for upland it has been observed that if elevation is less than 1200 m combined with high rainfall, high fertility, use of herbicides and pesticides, it is feasible. Presently about 1% planted with lowland indica rice. The cost and the risk re too high. Government has promoted indica rice for upland areas now for 10 years but the production has not really taken off. The new Indonesian line has good potential.

5. Policies and trends in upland crop production

The government policy now is to stabilise the upland production system. Terrace construction is being promoted together with production practices such as use of chemical fertilisers, herbicides and promotion of intercropping. Many of the ethnic minorities do not want to plant in terraces, but prefer the slopes. Soybean is a good crop for the rotation with upland rice. To diversify the rotation more of low temperature tolerant species of green manuring legumes are required. To cut production cost the species should be able to produce seeds in Yunnan conditions. Southern part of the province is not used to soybean production, but now it is on the increase. Intercropping with groundnut is also pursued.. For upland rice lines with good competitive ability are required. To diversify the crop rotation drought and low temperature tolerant species are required. The population pressure in the South is not so pressing and thus a rotation could be practised. As mentioned earlier the governmental seed production system is a big problem.

The number 1. disease problem is blast. As it is a very common problem in the field Yunnan is a good natural testing site for blast resistance. Other aspects that are naturally selected for in Yunnan include soil acidity, drought, high altitude and P-deficiency.

Resistance breeding has been very successful as all of the new cultivars are resistant to blast. Mr. Tao, the upland rice breeder, has an idea for a regional upland rice program: biodiversity collection of both blast strains and rice varieties, characterisation of disease resistance, and then agronomic work. The Mekong basin would be an excellent research area as it is the centre of diversity for both blast and upland rice. Up to now the individual countries have concentrated on their own activities and have not been interested in international co-operation.

To recap, the key issues in the hilly areas in Yunnan are: 1) identification of good green manuring crops both for hills and terraced land. 2) increased cultivation of improved varieties and effective seed production and distribution system, and 3) protection of biodiversity of food crops including upland rice varieties.

6. Research on agricultural economics

There is a Faculty of Economics and Trade in the Yunnan Agricultural University, which has four departments: economics, management, finance and trade, accounting and Rural Development Institute. They have recently carried out a research program on ecological economics. In this program the province was divided into zones, both economical and environmental. The zones were ranked good, middle and bad. Then environmental class x economic class combination categories were formed (in total 9). General findings indicated that: if forest cover <20% the economic situation is bad; if 20-38% forest cover the economic development can go either way: improve or decline; if it is over 38% there is good potential for sustainable development (Weibang, 1996).

7. Case-studies from the Nanguahe watershed in Xishuangbanna Prefecture

The wealth of Xishuangbanna Prefecture rests on rice, tea, sugarcane and fruits. The figures on dry rice are usually not revealed because dry rice production refers to shifting cultivation. A reference can made to the total area of upland rice production in Yunnan which is 100 000 ha, most of which is located in the South.

Source: Environmental Protection Bureau, Jinhong

The following case-studies provide real life situations of farming families in a watershed including the farming systems practised and the push and pull factors to transform the production systems.

7.1. Description of the area

The Xishuanbanna prefecture is located in the South close to the Thailand border. This area is in the Lanchang river basin. The prefecture’s highest point is at 2100 m and lowest at 600m. The ethnic groups living in the area include: Han, Thai, Lahu, Aini, Pula, and Ji. Before 1992 practiced slash as burn. Now it is illegal. After the protection area was established the farmers had to change their production patterns. The local government assisted the farmers to shift to fruit production, especially citrus fruits. The local government also assisted in access to water and other infrastructures like roads. The help came in the form of quarantining interest free loans for the improvements. Some farmers were provided funds for terracing. The government also encourages wood saving stoves and the use of solar power.

7.2 Discussions with farmer families in the protected area

The farmers have secure 30 year lease contracts for the land. The main crops of the upland system are rice and maize. Major part of the rice comes from irrigated and sometimes terraced fields of about 5-10 mu. This is supplemented with upland rice and maize grown on the slopes mainly for animal feed. Production inputs are used in the irrigated fields. Surplus rice is sold to merchants that come to the village.

In some villages the farmers have a contact with agricultural technicians, but in most there is no agricultural extension. The provincial MOA staff estimated that the extension service coverage is about 30% in the upland areas.

To improve provision of primary education for the minority language groups the government has a teacher training program, whereby young people from the ethnic villages are trained as teachers and employed to schools in their ethnic region.

The government efforts to reduce erosion and deforestation intensified in early 1980s. The government also saw that farmers had to be offered alternative livelihood options to motivate the change from shifting cultivation. Yunnan is a poor province with about 30% of the townships under poverty level, which is determined as availability of 220 kg of rice/year. In and near the protected areas the Environmental Management Office implements the poverty reduction programs.

In Hui Lao village in Mum Shung the process has included the following steps: First the arable land was fixed and parcels allocated to farmer families and shifting cultivation banned. The forest user rights were also divided among the families (1982-83). There was no discussion with the farmers, this was simply ordered by the local government. After the land was fixed, the Agricultural Techniques Department introduced improved varieties of rice as well as tree crops like pommels and rubber. Environmental management office gave the seedlings. Taro was promoted as an annual crop. It gave a good economic return: if village invested 1000 Y in taro they got 3000 Y back next year. The initial investment for taro production was done by the villagers and guaranteed by the environmental office. Rubber trees were and are still promoted as a cash crop for altitudes below 800 m. The families own the rubber trees. The Environmental Office also assisted the communities with roads, electricity, drinking water, etc. How has the situation improved? Family income in 1996 was 200 Y and in1998 it is over 400 Y. All the families are above the poverty line and can provide over 300 kg/person of rice. Drinking water is still a problem. The village wants to construct a small damn to help in irrigation. Once the water is available they would like to plant bananas, fruit trees and a production forest plot.

The desire to diversify crop production to temperate and sub-tropical vegetables as well as fruit trees is very common among the Napan river valley villages. Family finances are controlled by women in most of the ethnic groups and they have a good understanding of monetary issues. Most of the cash is generated from the sale of rice and vegetables. This is supplemented with the sale of NTFPs by the women in the local markets. Production inputs, like fertilisers, are used for irrigated rice.

7.3. Visit to Liusahe river catchment.

The altitude difference between Liushahe and Langchan is 500 m, which has been utilised to generate hydroelectric power. There are four power stations along the Liusahe river, which is 129 km long. The hill slopes along the river are very severely degraded, utilised often all the way to the top. Rubber plantations are common in the lower altitudes (upto 800m). There is also tea, sugar cane and some coffee production. The Department of Forestry has provided China fur tree seedlings for farmers to plant strip along the river bank to prevent erosion. The prominent ethnic group in this area is Aini.

7.3.1 Life of the women farmers in an Aini village

Through the government programs to reduce poverty a lot has changed in the area within the past 10 years. Introduction of improved wet rice cultivars and know-how for new crops has transformed the livelihoods and improved the standard of living in many villages. Modern agriculture, which has replaced human labour with mechanical or chemical energy, has reduced the labour burden of women.

A typical crop calendar for this area combines the low-land irrigated rice cultivation with the upland rainfed crop production.

The upland plot is allocated to each family by the village management committee. Hilly area is covered by bush vegetation that is cleared and burned. Both men and women are involved in land preparation of the hilly land. The man chops the bush and women do the hoeing. Planting is done together and it takes 3-4 days. Women do the weeding. In sugarcane the first weeding is done chemically with herbicides to reduce the labour burden. The message from the government in 1989 was to reduce poverty through increased production of cash crops and good quality rice varieties. The women estimated that family income had increased by 50% since then. Nearly all have TVs, radios, tractors, bicycles, furniture, modern clothes, etc. When the women were girls they wore the traditional clothes, but now there is a school in the village and the pupils ware a uniform. There is a bare-foot doctor in the village. For serious illnesses the villagers go to the county hospital. Before 1991 the Aini were allowed to have three children, now the policy is only to have two. Women are sterilised after the birth of the second child. The workload of women has reduced after more tractors and agrochemicals could be purchased. The goal of the women farmers was to increase their upland sugarcane production.

7.3.2. Village administration of land resources

The village has a self-control committee for which the representatives are selected by the villagers. The committee decides on the upland land allocation. To make the land allocation the villagers themselves divided the upland area into parcels. One representative of each family selected a parcel and discussed with the committee to approve the allocation. The hilly land parcel is a fixed, not a shifting area of about 10-12 mu/person. The paddy rice field allocation is 1,5 mu/person. The villagers have contracts from the government on the wet rice area on a long term lease, and had the second round for 30 years just signed. Field tax is 18 kg of rough rice/mu. Yields are around 800 kg/mu and the farmers use about 10 kg of urea/mu. Sugarcane is sold to the Jinghen Sugar Factory about 30 km away. Farmer gets 59Y/ton. As the average total production/family is 3.5-4 tons/mu, the family incomes comes to about 1600 Y. The tea crop of the farmers is processed in the village and the income depends on the quality of the tea (1,6Y/kg of first grade tea, 1.4 2^nd grade, etc.). The village has 140 buffaloes and 250 pigs.

From discussions with committees from other villages it became apparent that the upland land allocation system described above is a common practice. The village committee in many cases is also involved in allocating forest area for fire wood and NTFP collection for the families. Sugarcane production has expanded very rapidly and is reaching a saturation point in terms of processing capacity and markets. The government has initiated schemes to replace part of the sugarcane fields on the slopes with reforestation with fur trees.

8. Concluding remarks

Poverty alleviation programs have been rather efficiently implemented by the Government channels. Intensification and diversification of production systems by provision of improved seeds, inputs and rural financing started in late 1980s are having an impact. These experiences should be utilised carefully in developing the investment program for remote watersheds.

The strengths and challenges for watershed development in Yunnan are summarised in the following table.

References

Weibang, Z. 1996.

Strategies for developing the economy in China’s mountain areas. Ecological Economy 3: 15-23.

Wu, B., Liu, L., Zheng, Y., Xia, Z., Fullen, M.A., Mitchell, D.J., Barton, A.P. and Hocking, T.J. 1996.

Effect of cultivation practices on soil erosion of subtropical arable ultisols in Yunnan province, Southwest China. International Symposium on Soil Erosion and Sustainable Development on Steep Lands, Kunming, China, June 17-21, 1996.