By Xinhua Writer Wang Chenxi and Yang Di
YA' AN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) - Not long after Spring Festival, firecrackers echo through the misty morning in village of Miaoxia in the southwestern province of Sichuan, where armies of greenhouses loom out of the fog.
Yang Zhihua, a farm worker in her 40s, lifts the plastic film and opens a greenhouse.
"This winter is not cold. The mushrooms have already start to grow," she says, pointing to brown canopies popping out from the mushroom bed.
The greenhouses belong to Hongguang Organic Mushroom Farm, a firm that has rented over 500 mu (about 33 hectares) from 150 households. The farm pays 600 to 800 yuan (about 100 to 130 U.S. dollars) per year for each mu, and hires farmers to work in the greenhouses.
"The work is easy for women and old people, and makes much more money than before. Most families earn at least 40,000 yuan," Yang said.
Hongguang's mushroom business paid 12,000 yuan to each worker in 2013. Miaoxia is in Ya'an county, where the average farmer's income in 8,003 yuan last year. Nationwide the figure of 8,896 yuan is not much higher. This higher income means a lot to farmers in Ya'an, where 196 people were killed, and over 11,000 injured in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in April 20, 2013.
"Those nice people helped us rebuild our homes, but more importantly we can work it by ourselves," Yang said, pointing to a Red Cross Society of China construction site in the distance.
Eight months after the quake, aid programs are mainly in working in infrastructure and housing sectors, but the key to sustainable recovery lies in the economy and in people's livelihoods. In Ya'an, where 75 percent of the population live in rural areas, modern agriculture can play a big role.
Two weeks ago, Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued their first policy document of 2014 -- "No.1 Central Document" -- focused on rural reform, developing modern agriculture and maintaining agriculture as the foundation of the economy.National food security is to be improved, the rural land system needs yet more reform, and steps forward are needed in rural governance. Support and protection for agriculture and finance in rural areas are top of the bill.
"We started modern agriculture pilot programs several years ago, which have increased farmers' incomes significantly." said Liao Yong, head of agriculture for Yucheng District in Ya'an.
"Now we have policy from the top recognizing and supporting our practices. We feel confident in the future," he added.
Rural land reform means farmers can rent their small, often fragmented, collective fields to other farmers or enterprises. They can even join the business as shareholders.
Larger scale, farms and plantations make higher profits by growing high value produce such as organic fruit, mushrooms and traditional Chinese medicinal plants. It is nearly impossible for individual households to do this on their own. Farmers who rent out land either go to work in cities or work in the plantations. Whichever path they follow, they end up better paid.
Another way to increase income is by making better use of marginal land that has been difficult to make profitable. In Xinhua Town, Tianquan Prefecture, Fan Jie, 31, led other 104 households in starting a poultry farm in 1,000 mu of bamboo forest. Each household earned 40,000 yuan from this business in 2013, almost unimaginable wealth compared to before the farm was started in 2012.
"Our income shrank in 2013 due to the earthquake, but this year we are positive about the market. I expect 50,000 yuan profit for every household," said Fan.