China will encourage its farmers to use more environmentally-friendly fertilizers and pesticides to reduce pollution of the soil, rivers and lakes.

 

The document said the government pledges to make greater efforts to tackle serious soil erosion in areas along the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers to protect the nation's limited arable land.

 

Local governments have been ordered to restrict the amount of arable land that is lost to urban growth and industrialization, said the document.

 

Experts said the pledge is expected to guarantee the basic livelihood of Chinese farmers who have lost their land to estate development or industry without proper compensation.

 

The government also vows to use organic fertilizers and build more water conservation projects.

 

Despite a series of policies aimed at improving the incomes and lives of the country's 800 million farmers, including the abolishment agricultural tax, rural life remains hard, the document added.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2007)