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A Golden Plan For China: Farmer Training

Cargill has been working in China since the early 1970s, introducing its expertise in agricultural best practices to harvest and move crops to the places where they are needed most. Today, more than 9,000 employees work across 51 divisions, improving efficiency and adding value in the production, processing, distribution and trade of food and agricultural products. The company has already trained 3.4 million Chinese farmers since 1992, improving productivity in animal nutrition, sanitation, genetics and farm management

To help farmers conserve water, the training also includes the Water Saving Irrigation Improvement Plan. Currently, many farmers use flood irrigation, a controversial system that is largely inefficient and leads to major water loss. The plan investigates the geology, water and irrigation conditions in several areas recently hit by major drought, like the Henan Province of China, to uncover the best solutions for conserving water and energy.

"Working with anti-drought officials and local farmers, we aim to help farmers with practical solutions to increase yields and productivity, which ultimately helps to increase income."
— Robert Aspell, President, Cargill China

Since 2009, in partnership with government, Cargill launched four "water-saving irrigation" projects in Henan, Sichuan, and Xinjiang provinces, and achieved water savings of 20% to 40%.

Beyond China, Cargill's work with farmers is taking place in agricultural communities across the hemisphere, including other Asian countries, as well as throughout Africa and Central America. By instilling sustainable, scalable farmer training programs, Cargill not only empowers farmers, but also supports improved crop yields for its customers, improves the efficiency of its distribution systems, and enriches countless communities in need.

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