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Chinese farmers embark on a new type of cooperation

Cultivating individually will not bring prosperity, say farmers

HEFEI (CHINA): Twenty-eight years ago, Guan Youjiang signed a secret agreement under which farmers of Xiaogang village in China's Anhui province decided to divide the then People's Commune-owned farmland into pieces for individual households to cultivate.

On Thursday, Mr. Guan, now 60, signed a very different agreement: to lease his 0.13 hectares of farmland to the Xiaogang Village Development Cooperative for an annual rent of 1,000 yuan ($125). ``Division of farmland helped my fellow countrymen become well-fed but did not bring as much wealth as we had expected,'' said Mr. Guan.

``Today, we are leasing our farmland to the cooperative to explore a way that can lead us to prosperity.''

Lease of land

Mr. Guan is one of the 23 Xiaogang villagers who signed the agreement on Thursday.

A total of 13.3 hectares of farmland will be leased to the cooperative.

The practice will be a development of a contract system initiated 28 years ago rather than being a throwback to a planned economy, said Lu Zixiu, an expert of rural affairs in Anhui province.

``Land division and the contract system did help release production forces, yet farming individually will not grant the farmers a prosperous life,'' said Mr. Lu. — Xinhua

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