The ecological diversity of Tibet not only makes it a natural park rich with fauna and flora, but also rich in mineral, hydro, solar and geothermal energy sources. How to make use of such an abundance of resources was once a headache for the farmers and herdsmen there.But a new management model called the 'Joint Partnership' has solved many problems and has been popular among the locals.

Harvest season is always joyful and full of sweat. For Tashi, this year's wheat harvest is much easier, even though his own family faces a shortage of workers.

This new management model that cuts short Tashi's work time is called "Joint Partnership". It was introduced by the Tibetan government in 2003.

The new model combines 5 to 10 farmers into a unit, which jointly manages their land, from sowing to harvest.

Residents in Gontod village of Gongkar County make their living off of wheat and highland barley, but the earnings of each farmer was too low to make ends meet.

Pasang, runs a workshop producing Tibetan-style furniture.

But due to the long production period required by the purely manual process, he has no choice but to reject a great deal of orders when his employees are all occupied.

"This is not processed by machine. It is all done by manual production. Some of the painting is done by famous artists. And these cabinets have already been ordered. Our supply always falls short of demand. We cannot receive more orders from other clients," Pasang said.

After he heard of the new management model, Pasang competed to become the head of one unit of the "Joint Partnership".

Along with his partners, Pasang has enlarged his workshop into a factory, which has seen a great increase in production, and attracted more workers and artists.

Now, there are 90,000 Joint Partnership units, covering over three million residents in Tibet.

The Tibetan regional government has also been offering support, issuing about one billion yuan in loans to keep those units on the track of rapid development.

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