Guizhou gives a new lease of life to idle land

Aerial photos show fragmented fields in a village in Qianxi, Guizhou province, reorganized into orderly plots after rehabilitation. [Photo by Wu Chuanjuan/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Aerial photos show fragmented fields in a village in Qianxi, Guizhou province, reorganized into orderly plots after rehabilitation.

The mountainous land, once prone to runoff that washed away water, topsoil, and fertilizer, has been converted into arable fields through soil and water conservation work.

The local government has, in recent years, carried out small watershed management and implemented stone terraces, soil-and-water conservation forestry, and land-closure measures, reviving land that had lain idle for years.

Aerial photos show fragmented fields in a village in Qianxi, Guizhou province, reorganized into orderly plots after rehabilitation. [Photo by Wu Chuanjuan/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Guizhou lies at the center of China's karst region. With thin soils, high mountains, steep slopes, concentrated rainfall, and historically unsustainable farming practices, soil erosion became a persistent ecological problem.

According to a bulletin from the provincial water resources department, the province reduced its area affected by soil erosion by 715.26 square kilometers in 2024. The province's overall soil-and-water conservation rate reached 74.83 percent, up 0.41 percentage points from 2023.

Aerial photos show fragmented fields in a village in Qianxi, Guizhou province, reorganized into orderly plots after rehabilitation. [Photo by Wu Chuanjuan/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Aerial photos show fragmented fields in a village in Qianxi, Guizhou province, reorganized into orderly plots after rehabilitation. [Photo by Wu Chuanjuan/For chinadaily.com.cn]