On June 7, the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) held the third phase of the Inner Mongolia Sugar Beet Farmer Field School Trainer Training (TOT) in Wengniute banner, Chifeng city, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. It is the leading unit of the Technical Cooperation Project (TCP) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on " Support to sustainable use and management of sugar crop residues for sustainable production and natural resources conservation ".

More than 40 participants including officials, technical experts, project cooperation representatives, and farmer field school tutors from FAO Representative Office in China, the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, IARRP, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Chifeng Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau and the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Technology Promotion Center participated in the meeting.

The meeting was presided over by the project coordinator, associate researcher Liu Hongfang of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The training was co-hosted by FAO project training expert Guo Rong and technical expert Wang Xu. The TOT training was successfully concluded on June 8.

Group photo of the opening ceremony of the third TOT training session of the FAO-TCP sugar crop project in Inner Mongolia [Photo/IARRP]

During the opening ceremony, Zhang Zhongjun, deputy representative of the FAO Office in China, pointed out that the Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) is a typical project of the FAO for providing technical assistance and promotion in developing countries. Farmer field schools are crucial in the project, and training of facilitators is of utmost importance. It is hoped that facilitators can acquire new concepts through training and disseminate them to farmers through field schools, so as to promote and apply the project's model and achievements.

Zhao Liancheng, the chief engineer of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, expressed that the department attaches great importance to the FAO-TCP project. He expressed gratitude to the FAO Representative Office in China and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for their support to Inner Mongolia's agriculture. He also thanked the experts for their hard work on the project. At the same time, he hopes that the instructors and trainees will promote and disseminate the concept of ecological safety planting methods and resource recycling in Inner Mongolia, contributing to the goal of high-quality development.

Wang Jinhuan, deputy director of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau of Chifeng City, pointed out that sugar beets are an important cash crop in Chifeng city. In 2020, the planting area of sugar beets reached its highest level at 540,000 mu, with a production of 1.94 million tons. Due to factors such as the increase in corn prices and land rental fees, the planting area of sugar beets has been decreasing year by year. In 2022, the planting area is 250,000 mu, with a production of 900,000 tons. The sugar industry is also the largest agricultural processing industry in the city. Sugar companies such as Inner Mongolia Lingyunhai Sugar Industry Technology Group Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. have promoted the cultivation and processing of sugar beets. They hope to take the opportunity of implementing the FAO technical cooperation project to promote planting techniques in the main sugar beet producing areas and promote the development and growth of Chifeng city's sugar beet industry.

During the meeting, Liu Hongfang from the IARRP, Wang Xu, a technical expert from the FAO project, and Guo Rong, a training expert from the FAO project, gave special reports and conducted group activities on the progress and effectiveness of the project, the announcement of the test production results of eco-safe sugar beet planting demonstration, the analysis of sugar beet planting benefits, and the farmer field school participatory training program and technical points.

Training farmer field school instructors and organizing farmer field schools are the key activities of FAO projects. In Chifeng city, through the three-phase training of farmer field school instructors, agricultural extension personnel, sugar factory technicians, and growers from the main sugar beet-producing counties have been trained. This has improved the management and planting capabilities of the instructors, cultivating their ability to identify, analyze, and solve problems. It has laid the foundation for the widespread dissemination of the concept of "ecologically safe cultivation of sugar crops and the use of resources in a circular manner" and the effective promotion of quality-enhancing and efficiency-improving technology models.