China launches campaign to train scientifically-literate farmers

BEIJING - China on Thursday announced a three-year campaign to improve the science literacy of its rural population.

The campaign was launched by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Beijing.

In three years, the country will train 4 million scientifically-literate farmers, who understand science, master modern agricultural technology and have certain business management capability.

The rural proportion of the scientifically-literate population last year was 4.93 percent, lower than the national average of 8.47 percent.

Improving rural people's science literacy is key to China's rural revitalization and will promote science popularization, said Huai Jinpeng, vice chairman of CAST.