Zhejiang Province has dedicated funds to train a million farmers in agricultural science and technology and improve their practical skills over the next five years in hopes that doing so will make smarter, more efficient farmers and improve the livelihood of its residents. Not only will they be providing education for their students, they also intend to improve healthcare and provide living subsidies to the poor and the elderly.
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Zhejiang Province is part of the Yangtze River Delta which encompasses 100,000 square kilometers including the Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces and together they represent one of China’s leading economic forces.
The Zhejiang Provincial Agriculture Bureau explained, “[In order] to boost agricultural development, farmers need to learn more and improve their technological skills in farming." Zhejiang is in excellent company with their plans to expand investments in their rural economy and social development. Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces share the same vision.
Many years ago the city of Shanghai dedicated itself to having a “bed for every head” and has truly become a city that never sleeps. It is not unusual to hear construction workers pounding away in the night (if you’re awake or unaccustomed to it). However, municipal government sources said recently that they too will boost agricultural and rural development, and are intending to speed up urbanization as well as the modernization of agriculture and succeed at integrating development of rural and urban areas within the next five years. What this means is that by late 2010, 75% of Shanghai's rural population will live in newly developed cities and towns.
In Jiangsu Province, the provincial finance director Bao Guoxin announced that they intend to spend over 100 billion yuan on rural education, training farmers, highway construction, health projects, cultural programs and environmental protection over the next five years. "We can cut input in other fields, but we cannot cut financial support to the farmers," said Bao.
And so it seems everyone in the Yangtze River Delta is in agreement that the time has come for change and indeed it will.
