Once known for its barren grasslands, Inner Mongolia is now becoming home to innovative agricultural and industrial techniques. (Image: Beijing Review)Once known for its remote, barren grasslands and deserts, Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region is now becoming home to innovative agricultural and industrial techniques through the efforts of its once nomadic people.
Cao Youtang, a local herdsman in his 40s, is a prime example of how much things have changed for the people there. At the No.6 Pasture of the Yili Industrial Group where Cao tends his herd, he and 40 other families make their livelihood from the 2,000 dairy cows they have imported from the Netherlands and New Zealand. Yili, located 20 km from Hohhot, the region's capital city, is now one of the major dairy producers in China. At 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day, cows owned by herdsmen proceed to the milking stations to be milked, just like they are going to work.
With two modern milking stations equipped with machines from Sweden, the pasture where Cao works can produce 15 tons of fresh milk every day, destined for Chinese markets and points further away that Cao has likely never heard of.
It was only several years ago that life dramatically changed for Cao and the people of Yili. In 2003, Cao decided to borrow 300,000 yuan from relatives and friends and another 200,000 yuan in loans from the Yili Group to purchase 30 cows.
Cao's family now owns 55 cows, and each cow brings in nearly 3,000 yuan each year. Most of his excess profits go towards buying more cows in order to reach his goal of 100. In these last four years, Cao has also learned more modern techniques for feeding cows as well as modern ideas on implementing disease prevention. "In the past when the cows were ill, I had to ride my motorbike to ask for a veterinarian, but now, I can deal with some minor illnesses myself," Cao told Beijing Review.
Pan Gang, President of the Yili Group, speaks freely of the advantages of raising cows in the pasture. At first, the group granted loans to the herdsmen who sold milk to Yili and paid off loans with the income. Later, the group built milking stations, milking the cows separately fed by herdsmen. However, these two procedures failed to ensure the quality of the milk since some herdsman did not choose quality feed and others did not know enough about disease prevention. Now in Yili, feed is monitored and new technologies have been introduced for feeding and disease prevention, helping secure the quality of the milk.
Due to the demands of productivity, along with the aid of the government, herdsmen have gradually abandoned their traditional nomadic lifestyle. Bilige, of the Ewenki ethnic group, is a herdsman living in the Ewenki Autonomous Banner (county) of Hulun Buir City.
His family has 200 hectares of grassland, 28 cows and 20 sheep. In recent years, the family has erected a brick house and settled down. Besides raising livestock, they are now receiving tourists in their Mongolian-style yurts and are able to tap into the stream of cars that pass by on the road in front of their home.
Breeding practices have also changed in some places. January is the coldest month in the Ujimqin Grassland of Xilin Gol League (prefecture), but now has become the busiest lambing season. According to Batu, a resident of the Mongolian ethnic group in Shutong Gacha (village), they used to deliver lambs in April, and most of the lambs were fully grown by September or October of the next year. Not only did this practice waste the grassland, but certain kinds of grass also damaged sheepskins, leaving them full of holes and of little value. Lambs delivered in winter can be fully grown by June of the same year when the harmful grass is not yet ripe.
In Batu's estimation, good sheepskins can be sold at 70-80 yuan per piece. Deducting his expenses for delivering lambs in winter, he can make 40 yuan from every lamb. Every year, Batu's family delivers 400 lambs in winter. If these lambs are fully grown by June, the grassland can get two extra months of rest. As a lamb eats 1 kg of grass every day, the 400 lambs can save 24,000 kg of grass a year.
"Delivering lambs in winter can make more money and save grass, but we need to build warming shelters and store more grass," said Batu. "The old habit of feeding sheep just depending on nature must be changed."
Besides traditional animal husbandry and agriculture, people in Inner Mongolia are seeking ways to upgrade their primary industries. In order to do so, they have chosen to rely on the intensive processing of livestock and agricultural products. Among the 16 famous brands from Inner Mongolia, 13 are from processing of livestock and agricultural products, according to figures from the Bureau of Statistics of Inner Mongolia.
With nearly 56 million sheep, Inner Mongolia is home to some famous cashmere producers such as the Erdos Group from Ordos City.
According to Yang Zhiyuan, Vice President of Erdos, the group's annual output of sweaters has reached 10 million. Of these, 4 million are exported. Erdos controls 40 percent of the cashmere sweater market in China and 30 percent in the world.
Located in the Hetao Plain along the Yellow River, Baynnur City is famous for its agriculture. Hetao Liquor has become the largest distilling base in north China for liquor, producing 80,000 tons every year from its 3,422 cellars. Hetao Flour is also a well-known brand from the area.
Throughout the Chinese mainland, people can find a hot pot chain restaurant named Little Sheep. Using mutton of the highest quality grown in the grassland in Inner Mongolia, its unique flavor has attracted millions of customers. It is not only famous on the mainland, it has also made its way into Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Japan and Canada.
When the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, Baotou was positioned by the state as an important industrial city in north China. Now, the Baotou Iron and Steel (Group) Co. Ltd. has become an important iron and steel production base and the largest rare earth industrial base in China. According to Huercha, Mayor of Baotou, the deposit of rare earth in Baotou amounts to about 100 million tons, or 62 percent of the world's total and 87 percent of the country's total.
Inner Mongolia has a total of 223.9 billion tons of coal reserves, ranking second in China. Of the total coal reserves, 149.6 billion tons are in Ordos, where wealth is rolling in. However, the city used to see too many small coalmines, most of which only had an annual output of less than 100,000 tons. Since 1998, the city has closed and reorganized small coalmines, reducing the number of coalmines from 1,900 to 276 by 2006. In Shangwan Coalmine of the China Shenhua Shengdong Coal Branch, the 11.44 million tons of output created a new world record in 2006, yet the number of workers directly engaged in mining is only less than 50. Modernized production and transportation leave no trace of coal on the ground for people to see in the mining area.
The abundant coal resources have brought a large electricity generation capacity to the autonomous region. According to Chu Bo, Secretary of the Inner Mongolia Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, every year the autonomous region supplies more than 10 million kw of electricity with preferential prices, reducing the cost of electricity in Beijing by 20 billion yuan.
Besides thermal power, Inner Mongolia also has huge potential for wind power, with the capacity now accounting for one third of the country's total. For example, Huitengxile Wind Power Plant in Ulan Qab City is the largest wind power plant in the country, with a total installed capacity of 68,500 kw.
Textsource: Beijing Review