Two of the most barren areas of the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions are experimenting with the sustainable agricultural development with the help of the Italian government.

"After trickle irrigation, application of biodegradable film and reduction of fertilizer use, the tomato biomass has jumped," says a midterm report about the base in Inner Mongolia.

The Italy-supported application of biologically friendly technologies has improved moisture utilization efficiency for tomatoes, squash and Chinese cabbage.

The Xinjiang base reports that a combination of trickle irrigation and biodegradable film helped shorten the growing season by about a week.

"The results are amazingly good, although we find that the biodegradable film breaks easily and is expensive. So we are doing further research to localize the technology," said Zhu Liucai, deputy manager of the Sino-Italian program.

Zhu said the effect of the new technologies on produce quality will be tested until next March, when the program ends.

Luo Gaolai, a senior official with the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), pointed out that the Chinese government is placing increasing emphasis on the sustainable development of agriculture.

"Only if our product quality meets the international standard, can we garner a share of the global agriculture market," said Luo, who is head of SEPA's Foreign Economic Cooperation Office. "Organic food is bound to have a bright future in China."

Currently, organic food accounts for no more than 0.1 percent of China's food market, far less than the world's average of 2 percent.

China's rural areas are now suffering from serious pollution as a result of excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, manure and non-degradable film as well as over-irrigation.

The program for sustainable agriculture is among a number of initiatives launched jointly by China and Italy, covering such sectors as biodiversity conservation, air quality monitoring and clean energy.

Earlier this month, Italy signed an agreement with the Ministry of Science and Technology to tap solar and geothermal energy in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

"A cooperative project on the application of hydrogen energy in automobiles will soon start in Shanghai," said Corrado Clini, director general of the Italian Ministry for the Environment.

(China Daily September 20, 2004)