Rice-fish symbiosis, although "heritage" UN officials marvel

Original title: FAO Director-General Graziano visits Qingtian, Zhejiang Province

The rice-fish symbiosis system amazed senior UN officials.

Network photo: on June 5, the Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Graziano, came to Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province to inspect China's first pilot project for the protection of the world's important agricultural cultural heritage-the Qingtian rice-fish symbiosis system. Photo taken by people's Daily online reporter Xing Xue

Comprehensive report on agriculture, rural areas and farmers: a few days ago, at the end of the series of activities of the G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting, Jos é Graziano da Silva, Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), immediately rushed from Xi'an to Qingtian, Zhejiang Province, accompanied by Niu Dun, former Vice Minister of Agriculture and Ambassador of China's permanent Representative Office to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Huang Xuming, Vice Governor of Zhejiang Province. He inspected the Qingtian rice-fish symbiosis system, China's first global important agricultural cultural heritage (GIAHS) project, and it was also his first special visit to the GIAHS conservation project in Asia.

In June 2005, Qingtian rice-fish symbiosis system was listed by FAO as one of the first six GIAHS protection projects, which is also the first in China.

GIAHS: has won a general international consensus

"in 2002, we put forward an initiative to protect the world's important agricultural cultural heritage, which aims to protect the knowledge and experience accumulated by farmers around the world for thousands of years. We firmly believe that the precious heritage created by our ancestors will benefit not only the present, but also future generations. " Graziano said.

Why does agricultural cultural heritage spread so far? Niu Dun pointed out that because it embodies the advantages of high yield, good quality and strong disease resistance. It not only produces high economic benefits, but also maintains good interaction with nature, resulting in important ecological benefits.

Now in China, "the central government and local governments attach great importance to this." Niu Dun said. This year, the No. 1 document of the CPC Central Committee clearly proposed to "carry out general survey and protection of agricultural cultural heritage." On March 30, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a circular to comprehensively deploy the general survey of agricultural cultural heritage nationwide.

The protection of agricultural cultural heritage is winning more and more consensus, which is not only welcomed by many developing countries, but also attracted the attention of some developed countries, and the influence of GIAHS is increasing.

The APEC Beijing Declaration on Food Security, adopted by the third APEC Conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Food in 2014, emphasizes the need to "strengthen the protection of agricultural cultural heritage in all economies and support the efforts of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in the area of important global agricultural cultural heritage".

The just-released communiqu é of the G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting states that "welcomes the promotion of appropriate models conducive to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, including the inheritance and development of good agricultural practices, such as the work of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization on Global important Agricultural Cultural Heritage (GIAHS)."

Qingtian: worthy of the first protection pilot

During the inspection, Graziano enthusiastically visited the Fangshan Township Agricultural Culture publicity and Education Exhibition Center, watched the "Fish Lantern Dance" and "Bird Dance" performed by primary school students and villagers, and excitedly experienced transplanting rice seedlings and releasing fish fry in the fields. had a discussion and exchange with local farmers.

"I am glad to see that China's traditional farming culture is still full of vitality, very good for the protection of the natural environment, and is also a model of sustainable development." During the inspection, Graziano praised Qingtian's work from time to time. "what I am surprised to see here is that the protection significance of this project has gone beyond agriculture itself, such as bringing a lot of jobs and promoting local tourism." It has set a global example for the rational use of resources without damaging the environment. "

Liu Kun, head of Fangshan Township, told China Science Daily that in order to improve the ability of local agricultural cultural heritage protection, expand production functions, and inherit agricultural culture, the local government has carried out a lot of work and produced very good benefits. It has not only produced "model Asian farmers" such as Jin Yuepin, and stimulated the enthusiasm of farmers to grow rice and fish, but also through the construction of the school "farming Culture Garden", the compilation of popular science textbooks, the performance of "Fish Lantern Dance" and other ways. let children realize the importance of agricultural culture from an early age, and actively participate in the protection and inheritance activities.

Min Qingwen, current chairman of the GIAHS Scientific Advisory Group of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and deputy director of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Research Center of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has long been responsible for the implementation of the GIAHS China project, told reporters that thanks to the brand of heritage sites and conservation measures, although the income of Longxian villagers has increased and their housing has improved, the area of rice and fish farming has not decreased compared with 2005. This is rare in the era of rapid development of urbanization and industrialization.

"in the past, it was to eliminate farm cattle, but now it is to protect them." Yang Dahai, director of the Industry Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Agriculture Department, joked that he had been the director of the Agricultural Machinery Bureau for many years, but now one of his jobs is the protection of agricultural cultural heritage. For him, who majored in plant protection, this is a job he is very interested in.

Protection: special attention should be paid to function expansion

Agriculture not only embodies the economic function, but also has many other functions, such as ecological, cultural and social functions, which is more prominent in the agricultural cultural heritage. In Min Qingwen's view, 11 years of protection practice in China shows that agricultural cultural heritage sites are the best testing ground for developing multi-functional agriculture and promoting the integration of "three industries".

"the protection of agricultural cultural heritage should have a sense of urgency, which is a very valuable treasure." Yang Dahai experienced that China's "three industries" are developing relatively fast, the phenomenon of homogenization of leisure agriculture is widespread, the content is single, and there is a lack of core competitiveness, while agricultural cultural heritage sites have unique advantages. Agricultural cultural heritage is a very good starting point to enhance the soft power of agricultural culture and the competitiveness of rural economy for the development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism. The development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism, in turn, helps to better explore the connotation of agricultural cultural heritage.

Graziano suggested that consideration should be given to unified planning of all GIAHS in China, building a unified brand, establishing a network of tourist routes, and promoting the development of rural tourism in heritage sites. This is very attractive for people who are accustomed to traditional travel. (our reporter Wang Hui)

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