Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Agriculture (Part 1)
Chapter 4 Agriculture. Before the founding of New China, agricultural production in the region was backward and cultivation crude; in many mountain areas the primitive practice of slash-and-burn farming still lingered. After 1949, Party committees and people's governments at all levels, in order to change the backward face of agriculture in ethnic minority areas, granted preferential policies, gave key funding support and provided extensive technical...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Chapter Four Agriculture
Before the founding of New China, agricultural production in the region was backward, with extensive farming, and many mountainous areas still retained the primitive farming custom of 'slash-and-burn cultivation.' After the founding of New China, Party committees and people's governments at all levels, in order to change the backward agricultural production situation in ethnic minority areas, gave preferential policy treatment, focused funding support, and vigorously provided technical support. Through the hard work of farmers of all ethnic groups in the prefecture, agricultural production made great progress and development.
Section One Crop Farming
I. Focus on Solving the Problem of Food
In 1949, the sown area of crops in the 10 counties of the prefecture was 213,480 hectares, including 191,410 hectares of grain crops, 11,100 hectares of cash crops, and 10,967 hectares of other crops; the output value of crop farming was 52.2 million yuan (at 1952 constant prices), of which grain crop output value accounted for 82.9%, and cash crops and other crops accounted for 17.1%; grain output was 307,450 tons. Grain crop production was mainly rice, with main varieties including Dabai Gu, Xiaobai Gu, Bamao Zhan, Dama Gu, Erma Gu, Wubai Gu, Gaicao Gu, Anhui Gu, red rice, Jiuyue Nuo, Banbian Nuo, etc., all belonging to tall-stalk varieties; planting techniques involved broadcasting unsoaked grain, raising water seedlings, transplanting sparsely, and irrigating with deep water, with little intertillage and topdressing, and yields were not high, with only more than 100 kilograms per mu. Due to extensive farming, most areas could not be self-sufficient in grain and needed to transfer grain from elsewhere year-round to make up for shortages.
In the early 1950s, the people's government did its utmost to restore and develop agricultural production, issued agricultural loans, organized the masses to carry out mutual aid and cooperation, and agricultural authorities actively promoted local fine varieties and advanced cultivation techniques, publicized the production experience of agricultural model workers, and crop farming continued to develop. By 1957, the total grain output of the 10 counties in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was 577.33 million kilograms, and agricultural output value was 158.84 million yuan (at 1957 constant prices), an increase of 89% and 77.8% respectively over 1949, higher than the average development speed of Hunan Province, and people's living standards improved significantly.
From August 1958 to 1962, due to the mistakes of the people's commune movement and the 'Great Leap Forward,' the masses' enthusiasm for production was suppressed, productivity suffered severe damage, and coupled with severe natural disasters, agricultural production declined continuously, and people's lives were very difficult. Beginning in the autumn of 1962, the whole prefecture implemented the national economic adjustment policy and the CPC Central Committee's 'Rural Work Regulations (60 Articles),' and agricultural authorities actively promoted fine seeds, chemical fertilizers, and new pesticides, and crop farming was restored and developed. Thereafter, driven by 'Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture,' agricultural production conditions gradually improved, new agricultural technologies were promoted, multiple cropping areas expanded, and agricultural production continued to develop. In the early 1970s, the prefecture one-sidedly implemented the policy of 'taking grain as the key link,' blindly expanding the area of 'double-season rice,' and cash crop production was suppressed. In the late 1970s, agricultural production conditions improved somewhat, planting according to local conditions was implemented, agricultural technology improved markedly, especially hybrid rice was vigorously promoted, and crop farming development accelerated.
II. Rural Pillar Industries Began to Take Shape
After 1981, the household contract responsibility system was generally implemented in rural areas, greatly mobilizing the production enthusiasm of the broad masses. With the help and support of the government, hybrid rice fine seed varieties increased, cultivation techniques improved, and production developed rapidly. After 1985, the internal structure of crop farming was adjusted. While ensuring stable growth of grain production, cash crops such as tobacco, fruit, and tea were continuously developed, commodity production bases were built, and crop farming advanced steadily. In 1988, the total sown area of crops in the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture was 292,567 hectares, including 193,673 hectares of grain crops and 98,894 hectares of cash crops and other crops, accounting for 66.2% and 33.8% of crop farming respectively; total output value was 246.36 million yuan (at 1980 constant prices), with grain crops and cash crops accounting for 64.8% and 35.2% respectively; total grain output was 533,000 tons.
After 1989, the total sown area of crops in the prefecture expanded year after year, reaching 385,810 hectares by 1995, an increase of 31.9% over 1988, of which cash crops and other crops expanded by 49.2%. Total output value reached 899.17 million yuan, an increase of 62.2% over 1988, with an average annual growth of 7.2%. Among this, grain crops were 436.17 million yuan, accounting for 48.5%, an increase of 21.5%, with an average annual growth of 2.8%; cash crops were 463 million yuan, accounting for 51.5%, an increase of 137.3%, with an average annual growth of 13.1%. Total grain output was 755,620 tons, an increase of 42% over 1988, with an average annual growth of 1.3%.
From 1996 to 2000, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture Government conscientiously implemented the Party's various lines, principles, and policies in rural areas, strengthened the foundational position of agriculture, closely focused on the goals of increasing agricultural production, raising farmers' incomes, and stabilizing rural areas, strengthened agricultural infrastructure construction, implemented the strategy of invigorating agriculture through science and education, strengthened agricultural structural adjustment, and vigorously pursued poverty alleviation, enabling comprehensive development of agriculture and the rural economy. In terms of crop farming, grain output grew steadily, with the whole prefecture increasing from 809,100 tons in 1996 to 833,000 tons in 2000; per capita grain production for farmers increased from 376 kilograms in 1996 to 385 kilograms in 2000; and per capita net income rose from 968 yuan to 1,277 yuan. In particular, starting from 1996, the whole prefecture achieved a balance between grain supply and demand under normal weather conditions for five consecutive years, basically solving the problem of grain self-sufficiency without importing grain from other places.
The construction of rural pillar industries began to take shape. By the end of 2000, the cumulative mountain development area in the prefecture reached 1.8 million mu. The forest and fruit industry mainly based on ponkan and the cash crop planting industry mainly based on flue-cured tobacco each had annual output values exceeding 100 million yuan. Citrus area was 350,000 mu, with output of 118,000 tons, of which ponkan output was 100,000 tons. A high-quality flue-cured tobacco base of 300,000 mu was built, with total output of 18,200 tons in 2000. The prefecture had 80 townships with cumulative fruit, medicinal herb, tea, and mulberry areas of 5,000 mu or more, of which 17 townships had 10,000 mu or more; 115 villages with 1,000 mu or more, and 210 large households with 100 mu or more. A 300,000-mu ponkan industrial belt was formed in the Youshui, Wushui, and Fengtan Reservoir areas, and a 40,000-mu high-quality tea development belt in Guzhang County. Emerging lily, kiwifruit, and off-season vegetable industries rose rapidly. Lily developed to 50,000 mu, and off-season vegetables to 30,000 mu. The traditional tea industry developed in the direction of industrialization. The lily, kiwifruit, and high-mountain off-season vegetable industries became important pillars of the county economy.
Rural poverty was significantly changed. The rural poor population in the prefecture decreased from 400,000 in 1996 to 230,000 in 2000.
Remarkable results were achieved in invigorating agriculture through science and education. Since 1999, agricultural departments organized and carried out large-scale agricultural science and technology training in 'a hundred townships, a thousand villages, and a hundred thousand farming households.' They organized and implemented the promotion and application of 10 major practical technologies, including plastic film mulching cultivation of corn, double-two-large dry seedling cultivation of rice, multi-cropping cultivation with compartmentalized intercropping and relay cropping on dry land, soil testing and formula fertilization, and comprehensive prevention and control of pests, diseases, weeds, and rodents. The coverage rate of hybrid rice fine seeds in the prefecture reached over 95%, hybrid corn coverage reached over 96%, double-low rapeseed accounted for over 80%, and the quality rate of other cash crops and grain crop varieties also further improved. The household penetration rate of agricultural science and technology reached over 80%, and the broad masses of farming households generally mastered 1-2 practical agricultural technologies. In recent years, while conscientiously doing a good job in the selection and breeding of two-line hybrid rice, three-line hybrid rice, new hybrid corn combinations, seedless ponkan, early-maturing ponkan, and western melon varieties, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture organized experimental demonstrations of new varieties and combinations such as super-high-yield two-line hybrid middle rice, early rice, virus-free miniature potato, hybrid two-line glutinous sorghum, and hybrid corn. Breakthroughs were achieved in topics such as the introduction and experimentation of deciduous fruit trees, improvement of low-yield dry land, demonstration of rainwater harvesting and water-saving dryland agriculture, and off-season vegetable cultivation. Agricultural high-tech demonstration parks were also built at the Prefecture Citrus Research Institute and the Prefecture Agricultural Science Research Institute, intensifying the introduction, experimentation, and demonstration of varieties.
The four major agricultural projects progressed smoothly. First, the high-quality seedling project. Focus was placed on seedling bases and market development. Second, the commercial grain base construction project. In the 50 commercial grain base townships across the prefecture, the household penetration rate of major practical agricultural technologies reached over 90%, and the coverage rate of improved double-hybrid seeds exceeded 95%, achieving the goal of each person in commercial grain base townships supplying 120 kg of commercial grain. Third, the grain self-sufficiency project focusing on the construction of basic ration fields and land. By the end of 2000, the per capita area of drought- and flood-resistant land in the prefecture had increased from 0.376 mu in 1997 to 0.44 mu. Fourth, the agricultural science and technology benefit project focusing on the "Double Thousand." That is, in accordance with different agricultural types at high, medium, and low altitudes, varieties and related technologies were assembled and matched to achieve the goal of grain output or income exceeding the "Double Thousand." Since 1998, the agricultural system of the prefecture has established more than 20 hundred-mu Double Thousand demonstration sites each year, with a total area of more than 7,000 mu, most of which achieved the "Double Thousand" goal. Driven by these demonstrations, by 2000 the prefecture's "Double Thousand" fields and land reached more than 50,000 mu.
In agricultural structural adjustment, the initial transformation from a dual structure of grain and cash crops to a triple structure of grain crops, cash crops, and feed crops was achieved.
During the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" period, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China formulated and issued a policy on extending rural land contracting by 30 years without change. Accordingly, in August 1998, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government issued the "Notice on Extending the Land Contracting Period" (Prefecture Issue [1998] No. 61), and organized 82 cadres to conduct a pilot in Tuojiang Town, Fenghuang County. From October 1998, the work of extending the land contracting period was carried out generally in rural areas throughout the prefecture. After more than two years of effort, 498,900 farming households in the prefecture (97% of the total) had signed land contracting contracts with village collective economic organizations and received collective land management rights certificates, clearly stipulating that the land contracting period would be extended by 30 years without change. Farmers took a long-term reassurance pill, which further mobilized their enthusiasm for protecting cultivated land, vigorously undertaking farmland and water conservancy construction, and developing agricultural production.
III. Possessing a relatively strong capacity to resist natural disasters
From 2001 to 2005, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government firmly seized the historical opportunity of the Western Development Strategy, adhered to the scientific outlook on development, and continued to lead the people of all ethnic groups in the prefecture in carrying out various rural and agricultural work, achieving new and greater progress.
The prefecture intensified the adjustment of the planting structure, and an agricultural adjustment trend featuring regional layout, specialized production, intensive operation, and scale-driven advancement initially took shape.
In 2002, the sown area of grain crops in the prefecture was 3.2505 million mu, and the area of cash crops was 3.3481 million mu (including other crops). The ratio between the two was adjusted from 1:0.96 the previous year to 1:1.04, with the area of cash crops exceeding that of grain crops for the first time. In Jishou City in particular, after structural adjustment, the ratio of grain crop area to cash crop area changed from 1:1.21 in 2001 to 1:1.71, with the cash crop area reaching 246,000 mu, exceeding the grain crop area by 102,000 mu. Ponkan, vegetables, and seedlings became pillar industries for increasing farmers' income in the city. By 2005, pillar industries such as the fruit industry based mainly on ponkan and kiwifruit, and special cash crops based mainly on flue-cured tobacco, had grown rapidly, and industrial bases continued to expand. Among them, the ponkan area reached 550,000 mu, with an output of 350,000 tons and an output value of 400 million yuan; the sown area of flue-cured tobacco was 222,900 mu, with a total output of 24,000 tons and a per-unit yield of 107.9 kg; the kiwifruit area was more than 75,000 mu. The prefecture developed 747,300 mu of characteristic high-efficiency cash crops based mainly on melons and vegetables, among which off-season pollution-free vegetable production in medium- and high-altitude areas showed good momentum. Flowers from the Prefecture Agricultural Science Institute, off-season peppers from Yongshun, dry miscellaneous grains from Huayuan, Baojing, and Fenghuang, yellow ginger from Luxi, flowers and greenhouse vegetables from Jishou, lilies from Longshan, and vegetables and tea from Guzhang and other characteristic agriculture began to take shape. Lilies in Longshan County developed to 53,000 mu. In Huangjin Village, Tanglang Township, Baojing County, among more than 600 mu of tea area, more than 50 households developed more than 300 mu of "Huanjin tea" and established the "Huanjin" tea production consortium. Through processing and packaging to add value, the average unit price of Qingming tea was 750 yuan/kg. The village's tea income was more than 1 million yuan, accounting for 85% of the village's total income.
In the internal structural adjustment of the planting industry, the quality of grain and cash crops was continuously optimized. In particular, vigorously promoting super hybrid rice became an important measure during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period for adjusting the prefecture's agricultural industrial structure, ensuring increased grain production and farmers' income, and was also a foundational project for the prefecture's agricultural industrial structural adjustment. This project started in 1988, when 1.19 mu was trial-planted in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture and succeeded. In 1999, demonstration planting of two-line super hybrid rice was expanded to 1,016.94 mu. After acceptance at an on-site super hybrid rice acceptance meeting organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture with the participation of 13 well-known rice experts from across the country, it was solemnly announced that this project had achieved successful demonstration in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, and at the same time it was announced that it would enter the stage of large-scale nationwide promotion. This was another historic breakthrough in rice production nationwide and also made new contributions to bringing Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture's rice production to a new level. Thereafter, super rice was rapidly promoted in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. By 2004, the prefecture completed 315,700 mu of super rice planting, an increase of 18.8% over the previous year, involving 206 townships, 1,865 villages (neighborhood committees), and 251,400 farming households across the prefecture, with coverage rates of 94.5%, 66.7%, and 48.8%, respectively. In September of that year, upon acceptance by relevant departments and agricultural experts, the total output of super hybrid rice in the prefecture reached 187.344 million kg, with a weighted average per-unit yield of 594.3 kg, an increase of 12.4 kg or 2.13% over the previous year's average per-unit yield of 581.0 kg; and 134.6 kg more than the average per-unit yield of 457.8 kg of other hybrid combinations in similar rice fields in the prefecture, with a new total output increase of 42.809 million kg. Compared with the previous three years, the new per-mu output value was 355.88 yuan, and the new total output value was 112.3513 million yuan; the new per-mu net income was 230.74 yuan, and the new total net income was 72.8446 million yuan, achieving remarkable economic and social benefits. In 2005, a total of 339,100 mu was promoted and planted, also achieving a good harvest.
Remarkable achievements were also made in the promotion of improved varieties of other crops and cash crops. By 2005, the prefecture had developed 1,027,800 mu of high-quality rice planting area, accounting for 74% of that year's rice planting area; promoted 313,700 mu of high-quality high-yield corn with early sowing, accounting for 72%; promoted 62,000 mu of virus-free potatoes and 113,200 mu of high-quality soybeans. Among cash crops, more than 390 improved varieties such as ponkan, kiwifruit, and vegetables were introduced and promoted.
The pace of agricultural industrialization accelerated markedly. The prefecture treated agricultural industrialization construction as a top priority in rural economic development and achieved new breakthroughs.
First, pillar industries were consolidated and developed. The prefecture strengthened the increase in quantity and quality of the fruit industry based mainly on ponkan. The pace of low-quality improvement and variety improvement of ponkan was increased, with more than 50,000 mu of orange pomelo and ponkan newly developed, more than 20,000 mu of kiwifruit, and more than 50,000 mu of other small fruits. Through scientific cultivation management and technological transformation, the prefecture's fruit output exceeded 400,000 tons, realizing an output value of more than 400 million yuan. Flue-cured tobacco became a new economic growth point for the broad masses of farmers. Governments at all levels intensified efforts to reverse the sharp decline in flue-cured tobacco in previous years, vigorously grasping publicity and mobilization, technical training, and material supply. Counties such as Yongshun and Longshan partnered with Changde Cigarette Factory and Changsha Cigarette Factory to create flue-cured tobacco bases. In 2004, the prefecture's tobacco planting area was 181,300 mu, achieving an output of 183,000 tons and an output value of 180 million yuan. The industrial approach was adjusted, and medicinal materials were developed as the industry with the greatest potential in Xiangxi, making full use of the platforms of 8 pharmaceutical enterprises such as Xiangquan Pharmaceutical, Chongqing Holley, and Hunan Bencao to vigorously promote the development of medicinal material planting. The prefecture's planting area of Chinese medicinal materials based mainly on sweet wormwood, yellow ginger, phellodendron, eucommia, scrophularia, lily, and clover was nearly 200,000 mu, with an output value of more than 150 million yuan.
Second, large-scale household economy promoted industrial development. The CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government established the work guideline of grasping large households to promote industrial development, treating large-household economy as a key point and breakthrough in rural work and incorporating it into the target assessment of counties, cities, and departments. The prefecture government issued policies guiding the development of large-household economy, implementing preferential policies such as exemption or deferral of agricultural tax, fiscal interest subsidies, guiding bank loans, and arranging work-relief projects to create conditions for infrastructure construction for large households, so as to support the development of large-household economy. Counties and cities also formulated more preferential policies according to their own realities, encouraging cadres, staff, and scientific and technical personnel to engage in large-household economy and industrial development while retaining salary and position, and facilitating land transfer for large-household economy so that land could be concentrated in an orderly manner toward large households. Huayuan County also issued measures for generous rewards to large households, awarding 180,000 yuan in bonuses to large households to encourage the development of large-household economy. In 2005, the prefecture's planting households with more than 20 mu and initial scale developed to 2,123, with 12 households of more than 1,000 mu, among which 112 households had an output value of more than 100,000 yuan.
Third, the radiating and driving role of leading enterprises was markedly enhanced. The prefecture made full use of the platform of leading enterprises to develop the rural economy and increase farmers' income. To support leading enterprises, the prefecture government implemented preferential policies for leading enterprises at or above the prefecture level, such as interest subsidies, loan support, tax reductions and exemptions, and support for industrial development funds, to help them become bigger and stronger. It actively supported leading enterprises in establishing bases, adopting the "company + base + farmers" model to provide industrial bases and raw materials for deep-processed products for leading enterprises. It actively opened markets and built carriers for leading enterprise products. Through local markets, border-area markets, and window markets of prefecture offices in various places, leading enterprise products were vigorously promoted. Well-known brands such as Laodie Guowangsu, Xiangxi Ponkan, Guzhang Maojian, and tea polyphenols became widely known in markets inside and outside the province. The prefecture's 14 leading enterprises achieved sales revenue of 750 million yuan, realized profits of 150 million yuan and taxes of 50 million yuan, and drove 100,000 planting and breeding households, effectively driving the development of the rural economy.
Fourth, rural cooperative economic organizations developed at an accelerated pace. The prefecture treated rural cooperative economic organizations as the link for industrial development and built them as bridges connecting leading enterprises and farmers, actively organizing farmers to take the path of cooperation, helping farmers establish associations, engage in intermediation, and cultivate professional farmer brokers. In accordance with the principle of "run by the people, managed by the people, and benefiting the people," rural capable people and enterprise capable people were encouraged and mobilized to establish and lead various rural cooperative economic organizations. In 2005, the prefecture's agricultural industrialization enterprises developed to 198, agricultural cooperative economic organizations increased from 88 in 2003 to 288, intermediary service organizations reached more than 100, and more than 500 professional brokers were trained. Rural cooperative economic organizations radiated to more than 50,000 farming households and occupied more than 200 large, medium, and small markets.
To support the construction of regional advantageous industries and promote the sustainable development of the planting industry, since 2001 the prefecture has vigorously implemented the high-quality seedling project. That year, a 50-mu Fenghuang seedless ponkan mother tree garden, a 50-mu Guzhang tea mother tree garden, and a 50-mu Jishou kiwifruit mother tree garden were built, providing seedling guarantees for the second entrepreneurial phase of the prefecture's fruit industry. The Prefecture Agriculture Bureau vigorously grasped the transformation and construction of mother tree gardens and improved-variety scion nurseries, establishing a prefecture-level virus-free high-quality improved-variety seedling breeding base of 200 mu and county-level improved-variety propagation nurseries of 350 mu, which can provide 1 million high-quality virus-free seedlings and more than 8 million high-quality virus-free buds each year. Subsequently, 28 seedling bases of various types were established successively, with an area of 2,734 mu. The area for original seed propagation of virus-free potatoes was 49.8 mu, and hybrid rice seed production was more than 2,000 mu; more than 500,000 jin of seeds were recovered. The prefecture-level high-quality fruit improved-variety seedling breeding base was built in Sanchaping Village, Shetangpo Township, Jishou City. By 2005, 12 varieties including virus-free citrus, peach, and pear, and more than 1,000 high-quality seedlings had been planted. Several new achievements were also made in independent innovation in agricultural science and technology. The Prefecture Agricultural Science Institute made a major breakthrough in the breeding of new hybrid rice varieties. Its bred "Xiangzhou 113A," "Xiangzhou 19S," and "Jinyou 108" all obtained new crop variety protection rights from the Ministry of Agriculture. Ponkan "8306" and "260" respectively passed expert on-site measurement and evaluation and obtained new variety approval and registration. The research and demonstration promotion of high-yield and high-quality cultivation technology for super rice, and the research and application topics of comprehensive rainwater harvesting and water-saving technology for dryland agriculture, passed expert appraisal.
In order to implement the strategy of invigorating agriculture through science and education, promote and popularize agricultural scientific and technological knowledge, and improve farmers' scientific and technological quality, the prefecture carried out agricultural science and technology training through demonstration models, using points to drive areas, built additional agricultural science and technology demonstration parks (farms), and carried out publicity and education activities through various means such as radio and power grid access to households, achieving good results. In 2002, the prefecture's agricultural system established more than 300 demonstration models of various types, with a demonstration area of more than 300,000 mu, playing a good radiating and driving role in doing a good job in general agricultural production. From mid-March to mid-April of that year, the prefecture, county, and city agricultural systems selected more than 300 technical personnel to form agricultural technology lecturer groups to conduct concentrated training for township and village cadres, scientific and technological demonstration households, large planting households, and main labor forces of farming households in townships with ponkan, kiwifruit, and tea bases and townships demonstrating and promoting super rice, especially in 700 particularly impoverished villages, 90 extremely impoverished villages, and 42 specialized vegetable and lily villages, which was deeply welcomed and praised by the broad grassroots cadres and farmers. Since 2001, the prefecture launched the "Cross-Century Young Farmer Science and Technology Training Project" (organized and implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Finance, and the Communist Youth League Central Committee). The five project counties of Yongshun, Huayuan, Longshan, Baojing, and Guzhang held a total of 232 training classes with 15,000 trainees, all of which passed inspection and acceptance by the provincial sponsoring department by 2005. Establishing science and technology demonstration parks (farms) was a new exploration and new means to guide the transformation from traditional agriculture to scale agriculture and modern agriculture, and became a training base for new agricultural technologies and a base for the introduction, experimentation, demonstration, and promotion of new agricultural varieties. By 2005, the prefecture had established 13 science and technology demonstration parks (farms), which played a good demonstration and driving role in implementing science and technology promotion projects. In terms of agricultural informatization, both the prefecture and counties/cities built information network systems to promote agricultural science and technology, guide agricultural production, provide market information, spread experience in becoming prosperous, publicize agricultural policies, and realize information interaction, pushing the popularization of agricultural science and technology onto a modern platform.
In short, during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, the planting industry of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture developed considerably and achieved a comprehensive bumper harvest. In grain production, in 2001 the prefecture's total grain output was 860,000 tons, an increase of 27,000 tons over 830,000 tons in 2000, setting a historical high; from 2002 to 2004 it was basically flat with 2000; after June 2005, a severe drought once in 30 years occurred, affecting 218 townships, 2,446 villages, and 1.59 million people in the prefecture, with 2.6849 million mu of crops affected (sown area was 2.8907 million mu). Through disaster relief and self-rescue, total grain output reached 712,200 tons, a decrease of 92,400 tons from the previous year. That year, the prefecture's sown area of cash crops was 2.9095 million mu, with an output value of 1.79 billion yuan, a relatively large increase over 2000, achieving reduced production without reduced income. This fully shows that the planting industry of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture already possessed a relatively strong capacity to resist natural disasters.