The government plans to build 10,000 resources-efficient villages in 500 counties during the 11th Five Year Plan period (2006-2010), a senior agricultural official said on Thursday.

Wei Chao'an, deputy minister of Agriculture, said the initiative would provide clean energy produced with methane gas to 80 percent of households.

At least 80 percent of the crop waste would be used to produce the methane, Wei told a national meeting in central China's Henan Province on helping farmers raise living standards through efficient use of resources.

He said animal waste would also be used to make the gas.

Other recommended clean energies included solar power, small hydro-electric stations, biological resources, and wind power.

Wei said the ministry aimed to raise the efficiency of pesticide use five to 10 percentage points and encourage villages build facilities to dispose of domestic garbage.

The central government would offer funding support to those projects as "seed money", but he gave no further details.

The government has vowed to build a Socialist countryside characterized by sound environment where people enjoy better lives and harmony with nature.

(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006)