Encouraged by the market opportunities opened up by the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Tibet is starting to adopt a more
innovative, market-oriented approach to farming and animal
husbandry in order to lift its rural and pastoral population out of
abject poverty.
An official from the Office for Poverty Eradication and
Development of Tibet Autonomous Region said a range of ventures
would be set up in the altiplano region's rural and pastoral areas
in the years to come.
"Most Tibetan farmers and herders live in far-flung areas which
are hard to access because of a lack of infrastructure," said the
official.
According to him, the new ventures will target cereals, oils,
fruits and vegetables, farms capable of raising more than a million
head of cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, and will be accompanied
by a new processing and marketing network.
The ventures are designed to ensure that 964,000, or 46 percent
of Tibet's total rural and pastoral population, will have enough to
eat and wear and that a further 500,000 residents will be able to
live a comparatively affluent life.
Initial results have been encouraging, according to the
official.
A total of 312 ventures were set up at a cost of 340 million
yuan (about US$ 42.5 million) between 2004 and 2006. Half of the
investment funds came from state coffers.
Sheep wool, the raising of yaks, highland barley and medicinal
herbs unique to Tibet proved to be the most lucrative businesses,
followed by dairy cattle, chickens and pigs, and the production of
organic vegetables.
Tibet now has a population of 2.7 million, 80 percent of whom
are farmers and herders. The central government has provided Tibet
with more than 6.2 billion yuan (US$ 775 million) of assistance in
the past decade.
Last year, farmers and herders posted a per capita net annual
income of 2,078 yuan (US$ 260), about 64 percent of the national
average.
Tibetan herders and farmers will earn a per capita net annual
income of 3,820 yuan (US$ 477.5), close to the national average for
farmers, by 2010.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)