Yan Baoting expects a plentiful rice harvest this year in Tieling, Liaoning province. Zhang Wei

Yan Baoting, a 48-year-old farmer, feels his rice paddies with great joy. A big smile breaks out across his craggy face as he predicts it will be another plentiful year.

Living in Qinyun county of Tieling, Northeast China's Liaoning province, Yan has raised his family of three by growing rice and has built a 100 sq m bungalow adorned with beautiful Chinese traditional paintings.

Yan currently grows over 13.3 hectares of rice and has an annual income of about 100,000 yuan ($15,000), renting most of the field from other farmers.

"Some farmers have gone looking for work in other provinces, even overseas, but I still find rice farming lucrative enough to stay on. I'm supported by the local agricultural research center, experts and officials," Yan says. "They provide us with new types of seeds and teach us advanced technologies, all for free."

A paddy demonstration project is being tested at Yan's field since 2004. Chen Wenfu, an expert with Shenyang Agriculture University and a leading member of the research group, comes to visit Yan at least twice a year.

Yan says the project has helped improve the yield to about 12,000 kg per hectare, and some farmers from other provinces have written to him asking for the new seeds.

As an agriculture-based city, Tieling is known as "Northern Liaoning Barn". It covers 13,000 sq km, including 533,000 hectares of arable land, which produces roughly 3.5 billion kg of grain per year as per capita commercial grain contribution is around 1.3 tons.

About 2 million people tilling their land in Tieling contribute 20 percent of Liaoning's grain output, accounting for 0.7 percent of the country's annual production.

Combining research and innovation with agricultural production and education is the focus of Tieling's agricultural development, says Na Yongping, vice-secretary general of Tieling municipal government.

"The key to solve agricultural and rural problems lies in scientific and technological progress and in the improvement of rural laborers' scientific know-how and modern agricultural skills," Na says.

For example, "Soil Test for Recommendation Fertilization Project", which refers to fertilization options on the basis of soil testing, has been launched across Tieling.

The project has been experimented on over 373,000 hectares of crops in three years, reducing use of fertilizers by 19,600 tons and increasing income by 2.2 billion yuan ($320 million) and grain output by 140,000 tons.

Besides, more than 100 new varieties of crops are introduced every year, Na adds.

Per-hectare yield of grain in Tieling reached roughly 8,404.5 kg in 2007, increasing by 4.6 percent year-on-year.

For 51-year-old Liu Tieqiang, a farmer from Babao county, the 20,000 yuan ($2,900) he makes a year isn't enough in the face of climbing costs of agricultural inputs like fertilizer and seeds.

Liu is growing 2.7 hectares of paddies and 0.7 hectares of corn this year.

Soaring oil prices have pushed up the price of agricultural equipment, which has cut into incomes of farmers and grain processors, says Li Ninghui, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Agricultural costs have risen by around 20 to 30 percent, according to Li.

Direct financial subsidy to farmers in Tieling totaled 250 million yuan ($36.4 million) in 2007. It will exceed 400 million ($58.3 million) this year, says Na, adding average subsidy will be 750 yuan ($109) per hectare.

On the basis of voluntary, mutually beneficial and democratic management, specialized farmers' cooperatives have been set up in some counties across Tieling to unite farmers involved in similar sectors, strengthen their production ability and improve incomes.

Farmers can apply to join the cooperatives by paying any amount of money, and get dividends depending on their investment. The dividend, about 15 percent, can go up to 20 percent.

Production, processing and sales have been integrated in the cooperatives. Members also receive professional assistance in land preparation, seed selection, fertilization, and reaping.

Since 2005, the Tieling government has allocated 500,000 yuan ($73,000) a year to support 50 key cooperatives. Apart from them, the 10 demonstration cooperatives have received about 1.8 million yuan ($262,000) in investment.

There are now 154 specialized farmers' cooperatives in Tieling, with about 93,000 members. In 2006, the cooperatives helped farmers sell 43 tons of agricultural products, generating a total income of 544 million yuan ($79.3 million).

Wang Enqin, vice-mayor of Tieling, says income of farmers has increased 20 to 30 percent on average after taking part in the cooperatives.

Improving the value added and quality of agricultural products is also one way of raising farmers' income, Na says.

"Our products have entered supermarkets in large and medium cities across China," Na says.

As one of 10 emerging agricultural product export bases in Liaoning, Tieling is focusing on processed products and also green or organic food, says Zhang Jingqiang, mayor of Tieling.

Farmers' average income has increased by 19.6 percent to 5,048 yuan ($736) in 2007, and the growth rate on average has been 11.5 percent in the past five years, Na says. "More and more farmers will share the fruits of economic development in Tieling," he adds.

(China Daily)