Problems on Chinese farm

Press, 1 April 1981, Page 16

Problems on Chinese farm

By

ROBERT HORROCKS.

of

NZPA Peking Chinese agricultural officials are becoming impatient about progress at a model beef farm being developed for. them by a New Zealand consortium. The head of China’s'Livestock Project Bureau * (Mr Qiu Zhan Yuan), asked whether New Zealand’s expertise was sufficient to cope with the climatic conditions faced at the Qian Jiang farm in Laibin County, Guangi’s Zhuang autonomous region. Saying that south China’s sub-tropical, continental climate with its wet and dry seasons and extremes of temperatures differed from that in oceanic New Zealand/, he asked: "So in these climatic conditions, how db we make use of your expert, ence?"

New Zealand diplomats in Peking conceded that there were some problems over the project, but they seemed confident that the trouble would be overcome. Mr Qiu said there were problems with pasture development and water supply which had led to “some unnecessary losses.” “If we can deal with these in a proper way, construction of the farm will go smoothly,” he said. He declined to discuss the nature of the losses, but said they had resulted from the work of the Chinese and New Zealand sides in a project which was still experimental. Mr Qiu said the problems were insignificant in terms of the over-all relationship between New Zealand and China, but they were “ an important matter” when it came to the implementation of a contract. A director of the New Zealand consortium, Dr J. D. Stewart, who is also principal of Lincoln College, is

expected to visit China this week for discussions about the project, and Mr Qiu said friendly consultations by the two sides should settle any differences. The Qian Jiang problems have" come when Chiria is closely appraising and reappraising manj’ projects involving overseas spending.Under the Qian Jiang contract with the China-New Zealand Agricultural Consortium, China, meets all development costs, which include the wages and accommodation of a New Zealand farm manager and his assistant and the buying of some materials from New Zealand.

A similar project with sheep in Shianxi Province, south-west of Peking, and involving the same New Zealand consortium, has met approval delays which sources said had resulted in a missed’ breeding season, putting the proposed programme back a year. “We are now making active preparations on how to construct the farm,” Mr Qiu said when asked about the Shianxi project. “We have to further study the problem.” Agriculture has been accorded the priority in China’s four modernisations policy, taking precedence over the development of light industry, heavy industry and defence.

The senior agricultural economist in the Agriculture Ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Affairs (Mr Wu Tianxi) said that agriculture was regarded as the ■ foundation of China’s economy. Abput : 80 per cent of the one billion people lived in rural areas and 70 per cent of the raw materials used in light industry came from agriculture. But there was an irrational distribution of agriculture and only 14 per cent of the value of all agricultural production/ including for-

estry and fish, came from livestock.. he said. Livestock development had been very slow.:'Most arable land (100 million ha under cultivation) was close to the eastern seashore of China, and there was some potential for more development. "In the western part of China there are vast areas to be developed. It will need investment and will take a long time.” Mr Qiu said that although livestock development had been slow, some successes had been achieved since the Communists came to power in 1949.

Because, of China’s size and varying climates and terrains," different policies had to be applied in different areas.

"We think there is a new topic in front of us. and that is how to make full use of

our natural resources,” he said.

There had been a long history of co-operation over livestock with New Zealand and in recent years China had imported breeding sheep from New Zealand. Plans for New Zealand cooperation with the development of livestock farms started in 1979. Mr Qiu said fencing at Qian Jiang would be finished soon, ahead of time, and blamed weather problems and a limit on availability of local materials for the development of only 329 ha of a 400 ha target in 1980. In some respects development had been rapid. Experiments with various grasses and legumes had shown that some legume varieties were very suitable for local conditions. “But we can’t say there is

no .problem in the work. We must further study the problem of how to run. a pasture farm well,”-he said. The Qian Jian farm covers 1200 ha, and in Hong Kong late last wear the farm manager. Mr A. G. Logan, said there had been “quite good progress”- despite drought and an early setback in the breeding programme.. He said only half of the rolling hill country farm, which is devoid of trees, would be cultivable and it should eventually carry 800 breeding cows. At that stage (end of last year) the farm carried 500 cattle of all ages and 230 Merino sheep. The cattle were a local yellow breed, which he described as being like a small Jersey, but a poor milker. Mr Logan was encouraged then by the manner in which the cattle adapted to pasture grazing.