On November 23, 2018, the closing meeting of “Yunnan Xundian Climate-Smart Agriculture Demonstration Project” implemented by HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE was held grandly in Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County of Yunnan Province. The Deputy Director Generals Yang Zhipeng and Gu Guangmei, and Section Chief Wang Jinxin of the Bureau of Science and Technology, Industry, Trade and Information of Xundian County, cooperator of the project in Xundian County, Maxwell and Cheng Xia from HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE Kunming Office, Yang Fabao from Pesticide Eco-Alternatives Center (PEAC), Ma Weizu and Zhao Xu from the Agricultural Bureau of Xundian County as well as the village committee and villagers' representative of the project village attended this meeting.

Closing meeting

Deputy Director General Yang of the Bureau of Division Industry and Trade of Xundian County delivering a speech at the closing meeting

This meeting was hosted by Sheng Xia from HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE Kunming Office. Deputy Director General Yang Zhipeng first welcomed guests to attend the meeting, reviewed the process that all parties involved in the project have actively cooperated to implement the idea of developing climate-smart agriculture to the countryside along the Niulan River in Xundian County, and carried out the first climate-smart agriculture demonstration project in rural areas of western China since 2015, and expressed thanks for the hard work of the project staff.

Then, Project Manager Xiang Songjun made a summary report on the project work, and introduced the development process of the project as well as the progress and achievements of the project at the meeting. Since 2015, HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE has operated Climate-Smart Agriculture Demonstration Project in Xiaojie Village and Nuoji Village of Hekou Town, Xundian County, aiming to reduce the greenhouse gas emission in agricultural production, prevent global warming, improve the technology level of local agricultural production, increase farmers' income, improve production and living conditions and protect the local environment. By 2018, the project had been expanded to Yunlong Village, Gongshan Town, Xundian County, covering 748 peasant households.

Maxwell from HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE Kunming Office delivering a speech at the meeting

Zhao Xu from the Agricultural Bureau of Xundian County delivering a speech at the meeting

The project was carried out in the operation mode of farmer support group of HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE. The farmers were trained and supported to carry out project activities such as precise and quantitative cultivation of rice, interplanting of maize, green manuring, planting of vetiver grass, planting of ecological vegetables, duck and fish feeding during rice growing, and improvement of drinking water facilities for human and livestock. Under the technical support of Yunnan Academy of Scientific & Technical Information, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Yunnan Institute of Environmental Sciences, the sampling measurement for treatment of tail water and methane gas emission in rice field was carried out. The project was successively supported by the Blue Moon Fund, China Merchants Charitable Foundation, HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE Europe, National Geographic Air and Water Conservation Fund, global fund small grant project, Kunming Wild Environmental Development Research Institute (global fund small grant project), and PEAC.

In the past four years, positive results have been achieved for the project: 1. The project promoted precise and quantitative rice cultivation technique in the project village, with promotion area expanded from 124mu in 2015 to 738.9mu in 2018. Adopting the precise and quantitative rice cultivation technique saved the rice seeds, rice transplanting labor and irrigation water, reduced the planting cost, and improved the rice yield that was 10%-20% higher than the traditional cultivation method, which increased the economic benefit of rice cultivation. Meanwhile, this technique could be utilized to manage the quantitative irrigation for the alternation of wetting and drying of irrigation water for rice, restrain the production and release of methane in rice field and realize the emission reduction of greenhouse gases; 2. The project also supported farmers to carry out maize interplanting of 618.1mu. With maize interplanting, the fertilizer consumption and maize yield remained basically unchanged, and an average of 32kg of beans could be increased per mu and the income of RMB 256 would be increased. And 180g of chemical herbicide could also be reduced per mu; 3. Farmers were mobilized to plant 2,308.7mu of smooth vetch, and returned to the field in the full-bloom stage of smooth vetch, achieving fostering fertility and soil improvement; 4. Built rice field tail water treatment system in Changjiaba Village to intercept and purify the pollutants in the farmland tail water, thus reducing the pollution to the water. 5. Carried out crop rotation (broad bean and oilseed rape) of 386mu. 6. Planted vetiver grass for 2,000m on the barren slope along Niulan River with serious soil erosion in Xiaojie Village, so as to prevent and control water soil erosion and increase soil carbon sink; 7. Supported villagers in duck and fish feeding during rice growing, and controlled the occurrence and harm of disease, insect pest and crop smothering in rice field through biological control. 8. Supported 15 farmers in planting ecological vegetables and raising native chickens, etc. and established an ecological agricultural cooperative, with an ecological farming area of 34.5mu; 9. Supported Changjiaba Village to improve the drinking water facilities for human and livestock, solving the drinking water for human and livestock in the village.

The implementation and achievements of the project have been affirmed by all parties involved. The development concept of “climate-smart agriculture” has been implemented in Xundian County, and the experience accumulated laid a foundation for applying the development pattern of “climate-smart agriculture” to more rural areas. The implementation of the project has also been supported by the villagers, and the precise and quantitative rice cultivation technique has been comprehensively promoted and applied in the project area, bringing continuous yield-increasing potential for local rice cultivation. The enthusiasm of villagers to learn to adopt new technique has been enhanced, and they can learn to adopt new planting technique for agricultural production more actively.

Villagers' representative Yu Jiaqiang delivering a speech at the meeting

Participants and villagers' representatives also spoke at the meeting; they shared their feelings on the project and also discussed the sustainability of the project. Ma Weizu and Zhao Xu, representatives of the Agricultural Bureau of the county, affirmed the promotion and implementation achievements of the project's precise and quantitative rice cultivation technique, and indicated that they would promote the successful experience of the project after the end of the project. The villagers' representatives also said that the technique promoted by the project was very practical, and they would continue to use these techniques for agricultural production and environmental protection in the future.

In a flash, the four-year project is coming to an end, but the activities and positive impact of the project will continue. Gu Guangmei, Deputy Director General of the Bureau of Division Industry and Trade of Xundian County, made a summary speech, expressed thanks for the contribution of the project to the realization of targeted poverty alleviation in Xundian County as well as the staff of each institution and the villagers of the project village involved in the project, and hoped that all parties would continue their efforts and cooperation and make new contributions to the rural revitalization of Xundian County.

About the Project:

Yunnan Xundian Climate-Smart Agriculture Demonstration Project is funded by the GEF Small Grants Programme supported by the United Nations Development Programme, which is located in Xundian Yi and Hui Autonomous County, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. The project was launched on October 31, 2016 and lasted for a period of two years. The project is affiliated to the Kunming Wild Environmental Development Research Institute, which is operated by HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE who works with local villagers to promote crop production, increase income, and cope with climate warming.

The project is to train villagers on response strategies for climate change, advocate actions to reduce carbon emissions, improve the capacity of 200 households, local government agencies and other beneficiaries, promote land management and climate-smart agriculture for sustainable agriculture, improve crop production and income of farmers, increase the carbon content of soil, reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, and promote the healthy development of land and local ecology through agricultural planting diversification, interplanting and straw cultivation.

The Project is funded by the GEF Small Grants Programme supported by the United Nations Development Programme.

The article represents the author's own opinion only and does not represent the standpoint of the donor.