Sichuan launches targeted agricultural technical aid for plateau rural revitalisation
According to China News Service, paired assistance teams and municipal agricultural research institutes in Chengdu have delivered on-site technical support for characteristic crop industries in Derong County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The move follows provincial-level arrangements for cross-regional paired support designed to consolidate poverty alleviation outcomes and advance rural revitalisation across Sichuan province.
Joint teams consisting of paired support staff and agricultural researchers have carried out multi-scenario assistance across the whole territory of Derong County. Activities include thematic industry seminars, field site surveys and hands-on farming training sessions. Local agricultural departments have coordinated cross-party consultations to map out industrial bottlenecks tailored to Derong’s dry-hot valley climate. Priority improvement targets cover large-scale tendrilled fritillary planting, local chili quality upgrading and circular crop-livestock farming systems in remote plateau villages.
On-site technical rectification has targeted grapes, the pillar cash crop of Derong County. Vineyards across the region suffer from dense branch coverage, excessive fruit loads, poor ventilation and frequent powdery mildew infestations. Researchers have demonstrated standard branch pruning and fruit thinning procedures, and formulated three green field management measures adapted to high-altitude arid conditions. Unified operational standards have been released to stabilise grape yields and improve fruit quality.
Technical guidance has also been extended to diversified plateau specialty crops including Tibetan citrus, red-fleshed potatoes and olives. Adjusted planting and pest control plans are released for different altitude and soil conditions to resolve long-standing technical barriers restricting household agricultural income growth. Crop germplasm samples of local specialty varieties have been collected systematically during field surveys for subsequent laboratory improvement.
Four structured industrial support priorities have been confirmed by county agricultural authorities, paired support teams and municipal research institutions. The framework aligns specialty agricultural expansion with plateau ecological conservation, supporting supporting farmland water conservancy upgrades. It also promotes value-added processing for existing competitive products such as grape wine and tendrilled fritillary, while fostering olive cultivation as an emerging agricultural sector to diversify industrial layouts.
Germplasm optimisation research will be conducted at Chengdu municipal agricultural research bases. Researchers will carry out variety purification, strain screening and trait improvement based on collected local crop samples to strengthen the market competitiveness of Derong’s plateau agricultural products.
Long-term institutional cooperation will be formalised via a tripartite strategic agreement. Regular academy-local collaborative mechanisms will be established to promote localized application of advanced plateau farming technologies. Standardised field management guidelines will be rolled out for village collective economic cooperatives and large-scale growers. A detailed industrial assistance report will be compiled to quantify follow-up implementation indicators, and post-harvest processing chains will be extended to raise overall agricultural product added value.
