Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, July 30, 1996

LHASA (July 26) XINHUA - Farmers and herdsmen in Tibet have improved their standard of living over the past five years as a result of steady growth of agricultural production and livestock breeding.

Per capita net income of Tibet's rural residents has risen at an average annual rate of 8.6 percent since 1991, an official of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Department of Agriculture said, explaining that rural residents earned 878 yuan each on average in 1995.

Over the past ten years, 80 percent of farmers and herdsmen have built new house, increasing per capita floor space to 21 square meters.

Agricultural production and livestock breeding were valued at 2.31 billion yuan in 1995, up 18 percent from 1990, the official said, attributing the achievements to government efforts to improve farming conditions.

Among these have been financing the construction of 114 small hydroelectric power projects with a combined generating capacity of 20,000 kilowatts over the past five years.

Farmers have also improved nearly 6,000 hectares of low-yield farmland and planted trees on 16,700 hectares of land.

Seventy-five centers for spreading the use of advanced farming techniques have been set up in Tibet since 1991, the official said, and 1.6 million farmers and herdsmen have attended various technical training courses and fine strains of crop seeds have been sown on nearly 16,700 hectares in Tibet.

He said that the regional government has built 51 "Hope" schools for 5, 000 students from poor families.