Writer: Xiao Wei, Project Assistant  

Fengdu County, located in the eastern part of Chongqing, has a terrain that is high in the southeast and low in the northwest, with mountains, hills, and plains alternating between them, forming the topographic feature of "four mountains enclosing three valleys." Under this unique topography and the global warming trend, Fengdu's climate has been affected, with frequent meteorological disasters such as drought and prolonged overcast and rainy weather.  

Since the beginning of May, which should have been the time for transplanting rice seedlings, villagers have been worrying about their rice fields due to the lack of rain for a long time. Even when applying base fertilizer in the rice fields, there is not enough water, and the fertilizer applied cannot dissolve into the soil. On the other hand, villagers' seedlings grow too long and miss the optimal transplanting period, which may cause the seedlings to age, shorten the later growth period of the rice, accumulate insufficient photosynthetic production, and result in poor plant growth, smaller panicles, fewer grains, and lower yields.  

On May 13, the project team invited relevant personnel from the village committee to jointly supervise and visit households to follow up on the transplanting of rice seedlings and organize training activities for mutual assistance groups.  

In the Shanchengyan area of Group 4, Hejiaba Village, Sanyuan Town, which is covered by the Farmers' Clubs project in Fengdu County, villagers led the project team to the fields to check. They found that many of the fields had not been plowed, raked, or watered, let alone transplanted. "For more than a month, our group has been severely short of water. My seedlings were transplanted just two days ago, and there are still a few fields that haven't been planted. The next few households above have hardly plowed their fields. If we keep waiting like this without rain, the seedlings won't survive much longer," said a villager from Group 4.  

The project team then learned from the team leader and other villagers that there was a stream of water flowing out of the mountain on the inner side of the road at the foot of the upper mountain. However, due to the porous structure of the soil, most of the water seeped into the soil, and only a little flowed into the rice fields of the villagers below, making it difficult for them to get irrigated. The project team proposed to go to the water outlet to check the situation and summoned more than ten nearby households to discuss the solution on the spot. The situation was indeed as the villagers had said: the water had seeped into the soil, and some parts of the roadbed were suspended. After some discussion, the villagers came up with a feasible plan. The weir and ditch would be poured with concrete for about 100 meters, and the construction materials would include five cubic meters of sand and stones and one ton of cement. Secretary Liang Hong of the village committee and the team leader of Team 4, along with the villagers, made a request to the project, hoping that the project would provide as much support as possible for the materials needed to pour the ditch, and that the villagers would contribute their labor. They also planned to organize nearby villagers in need of water sources to start digging the waterway in the next two days to bring water into the fields.  

The project team said they could consider doing their best to help solve the problem within an appropriate range. After discussion, it was decided that the project would be responsible for purchasing the materials needed for construction, the funds for the construction of the weir gully would be contributed by the Fengdu Farmers' Clubs project, and the villagers of Group 4 would contribute their labor. The next day, the materials were delivered to the weir renovation site, and the villagers worked together to complete the weir pouring in just two days. The completion of the weir enabled the villagers to prepare the fields and transplant the seedlings as soon as possible, and also ensured the safety of irrigation water for nearby villagers in the future.  

The construction of the weir ditch is a strategy explored by the project team and the villagers to adapt to climate change in the face of its hazards. This strategy aims to mitigate and minimize the impact of climate disasters on agricultural production. It also deepened the effective connection between the project and the covered villagers, as they negotiated and resolved problems in a timely manner, embodying the project's main idea of "mutual assistance" and playing a crucial role in better implementing related activities in the local area.  

Project Introduction:

The  Hejiaba Farmers' Clubs Project in Fengdu County, Chongqing City is implemented by the Chongqing Representative Office of FAIHPP (Switzerland) and the Fengdu County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Starting from December 1, 2024, the project cycle will take three years. Through the establishment of Farmers’ Clubs and core groups, the project will distribute high-quality rice seeds to villagers to carry out ecological rice pilots, plant fruit trees, raise free-land chicken, organize villagers' training, establish a direct selling cooperative with its own product brand, and build an Internet marketing platform, so as to help villagers develop appropriate productions and drive economic income growth. While fundamentally promoting rural development, the project also pays attention to improving of rural women's self-awareness, mobilizing women's enthusiasm, improving the household environment and promoting the construction of human eco-environment. At the same time, we should develop productions with women as the main force and encourage them to actively participate in the construction of family and rural production activities.

The article only represents the author's personal views.