Agro-project aims for sustainable, efficient farming

High-tech robots help Bayer CropScience in Monheim, Germany search for new active ingredients. CHINA DAILY

With the burning sun above his head and sweat soaking his shirt, 51-year-old farmer Wang Jingzhong carefully examined the rice seedlings in his 30-hectare farm.

He was anxious to see other farmers spraying pesticide in their fields earlier this month, but technicians from Bayer CropScience told him not to worry as the solution featured low pesticide use but high crop yield.

Wang has run the farm since last year when he took part in the land trust project in Hanshan county of Anhui province.

The land trust, innovated by China International Trust and Investment Corporation known as CITIC, is one of the models under the rural land-use right transfer policy unveiled in 2008.

Under the model, villagers receive subsidies to entrust their fields to the village committee, which then authorizes CITIC Trust to manage the land in an integrated way.

CITIC Trust operates 1,300 hectares of land in Hanshan, the largest project of its kind nationwide. The land is divided into smaller farms, which each cover 20 to 30 hectares and are run by farming contractors like Wang.

In the Hanshan project, CITIC Trust rent the land to a local partner Daping Oils & Grains. Daping place orders with farmers and manage the land with the support of Bayer Crop-Science based on its expertise in agricultural sciences.

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