China's Hebei completes first phase of green village

The residents of Nanmeng village of Hebei hailed the completion of a training centre as a success in the Monsanto Green Village charity programme.

The agricultural and technology training centre in Nanmeng is the first "Green Village" in a joint program organised by Monsanto, the US agriculture products company, and China Women's Development Foundation, according to official sources.

The program, scheduled to span over two years, aims to improve overall living conditions of the local people by enhancing their farming skills, developing local educational conditions and renovating infrastructure.

With assistance from Hebei Agricultural University, the first year of the program trained both young and middle-aged farmers in high-quality food production and ecological hog breeding.

Lectures on breeding skills and growing techniques in specialty agriculture, as well as explanations of laws, regulations and ethical issues, are part of the program. Local farmers were also given field training to broaden their knowledge on wheat growing, preserving corn seed and field fertilisation.

The farmers' training centre also consists of a library, a reading room and two recreation rooms, which will be used by local farmers to exchange ideas and experience, to hold lectures and festivals and to enrich local cultural life.

The second phase of the program includes the construction of a methane pool for ecological breeding of pigs. With work commencing on the pool and nearby pigsties, it is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year.

Upon completion, the pool will produce 500 cubic metres daily and provide methane for 300 households, according to Feng Zhihua, Party secretary of Nanmeng village.