The government plans to build 10,000 resources-efficient
villages in 500 counties during the 11th Five Year Plan period
(2006-2010), a senior agricultural official said on Thursday.
Wei Chao'an, deputy minister of Agriculture, said the initiative
would provide clean energy produced with methane gas to 80 percent
of households.
At least 80 percent of the crop waste would be used to produce
the methane, Wei told a national meeting in central China's Henan Province on helping farmers raise living
standards through efficient use of resources.
He said animal waste would also be used to make the gas.
Other recommended clean energies included solar power, small
hydro-electric stations, biological resources, and wind power.
Wei said the ministry aimed to raise the efficiency of pesticide
use five to 10 percentage points and encourage villages build
facilities to dispose of domestic garbage.
The central government would offer funding support to those
projects as "seed money", but he gave no further details.
The government has vowed to build a Socialist countryside
characterized by sound environment where people enjoy better lives
and harmony with nature.
(Xinhua News Agency November 23, 2006)