A long history of aqua-farming hooks villages to a greater income, as Ma Zhenhuan reports from Hangzhou.
Wu Lizhen used to make a living by fishing along with her husband in Longxian village, Lishui, East China’s Zhejiang province. The villagers relied on their catch to eke out a living in the past.
But Wu’s life began to take a major turn on the road to progress in June 2005, when she was selected to represent the fishermen and women of Fangshan township in Qingtian county, where the village is, at an expert seminar of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Then, she started to receive training and support, and began a project in which she planted rice, raised fish, and made delicious dishes to attract tourists.
A few years later, this model based on rice-fish farming provides Wu’s family a good, stable income on top of income from the yields. Her business income annually now is more than 1 million yuan ($150,000).
Maria Helena Semedo, FAO deputy director-general, says: “The agricultural heritage with global importance has demonstrated its enormous potential for sustainable agricultural models through the approaches of ecological agriculture. Taking advantage of the original characteristics of agricultural systems can inject new vitality into rural areas and promote rural development.”