After five years of recovery from a massive January 1998 earthquake, farmers of Zhangbei County in north China's Hebei Province are benefiting from the local ecological agriculture recovery project begun eight years earlier.  

More than 112 million yuan (US$13.7 million) has been injected into the area and 9,700 hectares low-yield land has been transformed, 10,200 hectares ecological forestry and 7,300 hectares of grasslands have been planted during the period from 1990 to 2002, according to local agricultural bureau statistics.

Meanwhile, the project has helped local farmers develop its breeding industry and 2,500-plus cattle and sheep have been raised by local farmers, officials say.

Since the project was introduced, farmers' income has been on the rise, and the growth structure of local agriculture has been optimized, said an official from the local agricultural bureau in a telephone interview on the condition of anonymity.

He said that thanks to the project, the quality of ecological environment in local area was elevated, producing a wind break belt to reduce the chances of sandstorms hitting neighboring cities of Beijing and Tianjin.

Lying 250 kilometers to the north of the country's capital city, Zhangbei is in a cold and semi-drought sandy area at an average height of 1,400 to 1,600 meters above sea level. Agriculture and animal breeding and ranching has been the mainstay of local economy.

Considering the local climate and natural conditions, local government initiated the ecological agriculture project in 1990.

The project involves the transformation of low-yield land, ecological forestry construction, grassland plantation, home breeding industry and the promotion of agricultural science and technology.

On January 10, 1998, an earthquake registering 6.2 on Richter scale hit Zhangbei County, leading to a direct economic loss of 1.5 billion yuan (US$ 182 million) in the area.

(China Daily September 4, 2003)