MID-YANGTZE AG DEV

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The Government of China has requested Bank Group assistance in financing a fruit production and development project in Sichuan and Hubei provinces and Chongqing Municipality. The Mid-Yangtze Agricultural Development Project's objectives are to increase production, productivity and marketability of fruit in low income areas and thus increase income and alleviate poverty. This will be achieved by structuring production to satisfy domestic and export demand for quality, variety and seasonality, and by stimulating the development of effective marketing institutions. The project will : 1) develop 11,986 ha of new orchards on presently uncultivated hilly slopes and rehabilitate 2,473 ha of existing ones; 2) increase the provincial Agriculture Bureaus' abilities to identify, propagate and distribute healthy, disease-free planting material to institutionalize virus indexing and budwood registration programs; 3) provide technical assistance for research and extension and training for managerial and technical staff in all aspects of fruit development and marketing; and 4) establish new and strengthen existing commercially independent Fruit Development Corporations including three new joint stock companies to market quality fruit in local, distant and export markets by introducing modern post-harvest techniques, packing and storage facilities.