Ancient farming wisdom nurtures rural vitalization

Living landscapes

In Southwest China's Yunnan province, in Yuanyang county, ancient landscape management is yielding massive economic returns.

"Agricultural culture is not frozen in time. It is the living source of rural revitalization," said Pu Rong, deputy head of Yuanyang in the Honghe Hani and Yi autonomous prefecture.

For over 1,300 years, local people have carved terraced rice fields into the mountainsides, creating a unique agricultural ecosystem integrating forests, villages, terraces and waterways.

Yuanyang's Hani terraces hold three international titles — a UNESCO World Heritage listing, a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems designation, and World Heritage Irrigation Structures recognition.

Pu said villagers have kept alive traditional agricultural practices such as water diversion and distribution with slotted timber, regular ditch patrols and sustainable forest management.

"We have more than 2,400 local rangers who walk the mountains, clearing ditches and guarding the woods. As long as the mountain forests remain healthy, the terraces will never lack water," he said.

This eco-friendly agricultural model has brought concrete economic benefits to local people. Li Wenliang, a local farmer, has experienced this transformation personally.

"In the past, I only grew rice, and life was difficult," he said.

Today, his fields support a rice-fish-duck integrated farming system. This model now spans about 6,700 hectares across the county.

The local government has also transformed traditional agricultural celebrations such as harvest festivals into cultural tourism attractions, boosting rural incomes.

Pu said: "We are not only protecting the natural environment and scenery. We are keeping this living landscape alive, which in turn sustains our people."

Cao Xingsui, deputy director of the national expert committee on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, said Yuanyang is a global model of agricultural civilization and proof that ecological integrity and human prosperity can reinforce each other.