A: The development of the middle reaches of the 'Yi Jiang Liang He' (the Yarlung
Zangbo River, the Lhasa River, and the Nyang Qu River) is the largest agricultural
comprehensive development program so far, and calls for the largest investment.
The project covders 18 counties in Lhasa, Shannan, and Xigaze, totaling 65,700
square kilometers, with a population accounting for 36 percent of the total population
of Tibet. The goals of this comprehensive development projects are to turn Tibet
into a commodity grain base, a livestock products base, a light industry base
and food processing base, and a science and technology demonstration and popularization
base. This will entail an investment of 1 billion yuan. The project also includes
the building of irrigation works, which will establish a solid foundation for
ecological protection and agricultural production and enable the utilization of
hitherto low-yield farmland and grassland as well as the planting of trees. It
will increase grain production capacity by 150 million kilograms and meat production
capacity by 24 million kilograms. More than 800,000 Tibetan people have participated
in this program of 40 projects, including 18 water conservancy projects, seven
agricultural projects, 10 animal husbandry projects, and five forestry projects.
On completion of these projects, 100,000 hectares of cultivated area (accounting
for 45.6 percent of the region's total) and 4.5 million hectares of grassland
will benefit, while the total installed capacity of power generation will amount
to 250,000 kilowatts. |
