Rooted in sustainability
Ancient cultivation system lauded as global green model sows seeds of success, Alexis Hooi and Zhang Yu report in Chengde, Hebei province.
Heritage protected
In July 2022, President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the World Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, saying that it is the common responsibility of humankind to protect agricultural heritage.
China has actively responded to the program initiated by the FAO and the country has been protecting and inheriting agricultural heritage, Xi highlighted.
Local authorities, recognizing the pillar agricultural sector, will "improve policy mechanisms and give full play to the county's advantages, study and formulate chestnut industry development regulations and work plans, and comprehensively promote the protection and inheritance of Kuancheng's traditional chestnut cultivation system", says Wang Xin, deputy director at the county's agriculture and rural affairs bureau.
"We will also look at increasing capital investment, expanding and strengthening chestnut and fruit industry areas, and work toward a network that brings together leading enterprises, cooperatives, farmers and markets, under a comprehensive ecological industrial chain to increase local farmers' incomes," he says.
"The third step is to build on our branding, help expand sales channels in multiple directions, and leverage our farm-culture heritage, to further promote our chestnuts and better serve the people of Kuancheng," Wang says.
