Pastoralism and Rangeland Management on the Tibetan Plateau in ...

4. The emergence of industrial <strong>and</strong> commercial activities in the agricultural
area has seen the output value of township enterprises surging <strong>and</strong> a
significant increase in income generation of a variety of sources.
We have supported the strong development of leading enterprises <strong>and</strong> accelerated
the industrialization of agriculture so that both agriculture <strong>and</strong>
pastoralism can achieve the leapfrog development. These measures have played
an important part in increasing farmer income. By guiding the focus of township
enterprises toward agricultural industrialization <strong>and</strong> by supporting their
processing capacity of agricultural <strong>and</strong> livestock products, we have seen the
rise of a number of leading enterprises with good development prospects <strong>and</strong>
strong competitiveness. In 2009, the region’s total output value of township enterprises
reached 3.15 billion Yuan, <strong>and</strong> non-agricultural revenues four billion
Yuan, an increase of 2.9 times <strong>and</strong> 3.5 times respectively, compared with 2000.
We have supported <strong>and</strong> nurtured thirteen regional-level leading enterprises
for agricultural industrialization, of which seven are key state enterprises, <strong>and</strong>
nearly 50 prefecture-level leading enterprises. Agricultural <strong>and</strong> pastoral areas
have embraced the rapid development of professional <strong>and</strong> cooperative organizations.
Mechanisms leading to enterprise innovation <strong>and</strong> market development
have developed quickly.
5. Intensified training of farmers <strong>and</strong> herdsmen has brought about positive
changes in employment structure
Faced with the new situation <strong>and</strong> new tasks, the TAR party committee <strong>and</strong>
government have identified capacity building of farmers <strong>and</strong> herdsmen <strong>and</strong>
enhancement of their job skills as the most important tasks for socio-economic
development in the agricultural <strong>and</strong> pastoral areas. Since 2006, a total of more
than 250 million Yuan of funds have been earmarked for training of farmers
<strong>and</strong> herdsmen. With the improvement of their employability <strong>and</strong> skills, the
farmers <strong>and</strong> herdsmen have secured more employment <strong>and</strong> additional income
sources <strong>and</strong> exp<strong>and</strong>ed the sub-sector division of labour in the agricultural <strong>and</strong>
pastoral sectors. According to recent statistics, the ratio of rural labour force
engaged in traditional agriculture, forestry, pastoralism <strong>and</strong> fishery dropped
from 89.4 % in 2000 to the current 78 %. Labour export has become the main
source of cash income, with labour income of the Region in 2009 totalling 1.27
billion Yuan, 2.9 times more than that of 2000.
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