Integrated Farming Systems at Different Scales 447
Case study II: Eco-county construction in Dazu
Background
Dazu County is located in the south-eastern part of Sichuan Province. It covers an
area of 1390km^2 , of which 6.9 per cent is mountains, 55.7 per cent is low hills and
37.4 per cent is medium hills. The population of the county is 890,000, 90 per
cent live in rural areas and provide a labour force of about 404,000. The climate is
subtropical monsoon, with an annual accumulation temperature (>10°) of 63–66°C,
annual precipitation is 1006mm. The arable land of the county totals 680,000 mu
with an average per capita of 0.85 mu. The soil is predominated by purple soil,
which is relatively fertile and suitable for cultivation of different kinds of crops.
However, due to a soaring population and irrational use of natural resources, the
development of the county has fallen into a vicious circle.
In the early 1980s, an integrated survey for diagnosis and design of an eco-
county was carried out. It was discovered that a series of disasters dominated the
area: degradation of forest resources; increased soil erosion; degradation of soil
fertility; worsening of local climate; shortage of rural energy; and poor economic
development. Based on this situation and agroecological principles, the county
government established a general framework and concrete measures for construc-
tion of an eco-county. In order to implement the development plan, the following
measures were thought essential (Figure 18.7): (1) a leading group and special
Figure 18.7 The layout framework for Dazu ecoagriculture construction