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Rome, Italy
30 June 2008
The agricultural sector in China’s
Sichuan province has suffered enormous damage estimated at
around $6 billion caused by last month’s devastating earthquake,
FAO said today.
According to an FAO assessment mission that recently visited
Sichuan province, over 30 million people in rural communities
have been severely hit losing most of their assets. Thousands of
hectares of farmland were destroyed, millions of farm animals
died, houses and grain stores collapsed and thousands of pieces
of agricultural machinery were damaged.
“In addition to the human tragedy caused by the disaster -
mainly the loss of family members - many rural communities in
Sichuan province have lost their means to produce food and
create income,” said Rajendra Aryal, FAO Senior Regional
Emergency Coordinator. “People in the villages have demonstrated
great resilience and have expressed their strong willingness to
return back to their fields and resume farming and food
production. It will probably take three to five years to rebuild
the agricultural sector in Sichuan,” Aryal added.
Earthquake damage
A significant portion of wheat crops could not be harvested
after the earthquake due to the lack of labour as a result of
deaths and injuries in farming families. Much of the wheat that
was harvested before the earthquake - around 350 000 tonnes in
Mianyang Prefecture (one of the areas hit by the quake) - was
damaged with the collapse of grain storages.
The current shortages of pesticides and fertilizers are
jeopardizing future food production, FAO said.
In addition, thousands of green houses have collapsed causing
severe losses of vegetable crops. Major seed growing areas in
the province, producing up to 20 percent of China’s rice seeds,
have been badly hit by the earthquake with more than 20,000
hectares affected. Rice fields have dried up due to cracks and
craters and irrigation systems have been interrupted. In some
villages, up to 70 percent of rice fields have been damaged. The
next harvest could face a shortfall between 10 and 50 percent,
due to delayed planting, pests and water shortages.
Over three million pigs have been killed by the earthquake, with
some villages having lost up to 70 percent of their livestock.
Overall livestock losses are estimated at about $2 billion.
Rehabilitation and recovery
“Urgent provision of fertilizers, pesticides, farm tools and
machinery, livestock and reclaiming damaged fields will be the
main challenge for the next six months,” Aryal said.
The medium and long-term relief efforts will have to focus on
the rehabilitation of water reservoirs, dams, animal shelters,
the training of farmers in cash crop production and disaster
preparedness. Also, the Bureau of Agriculture in each county
needs support to rehabilitate damaged infrastructure, office
equipment, seed inspection and testing facilities, warehouses
and technical extension services.
The Chinese authorities have asked FAO to coordinate the
agricultural rehabilitation efforts in Sichuan province. |
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