Announcement of China Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Project on June 7, 1991

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. *Telephone: (202) 477-1234 BAN NEWS RELEASE NO. 91/85 Contact: Pastor B. Sison A NEWS RELEASE NO. 91/91 Tel: (202) 458-0344 CHINA: IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE INTENSIFICATION PROJECT The following is additional information on a project announced in the latest issue of World Bank News, which was faxed to you on Thursday. DATE: June 7, 1991 WORLD BANK GROUP SUPPORT: World Bank loan: $147.1 million; International Development Association (IDA) credit: SDR 139 million ($187.9 million). The World Bank loan is for 20 years, including five years of grace, with a variable interest rate, currently 7.73 percent, linked to the cost of the Bank's borrowings. It also carries an annual commitment charge of 0.25 percent on the undisbursed balance. The IDA credit is for 35 years, including 10 years of grace; it carries no interest but has an annual charge of 0.75 percent on the disbursed balance and a variable charge of up to 0.5 percent (currently zero percent) on the undisbursed balance. 1L COST: $593 million OTHER FINANCING: Government of China, $106 million; Provincial governments, $46.4 million; Prefecture/municipal governments, $13.6 million; County/township governments and self-raised funds, $92 million IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: Shandong Provincial People's Government; Anhui Provincial People's Government; Jiangsu Provincial People's Government; Department of Rural Works ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1997 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The objective of the Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Project is to increase the production of staple food by reducing the effects of drought, waterlogging, soil salinity, and surface flooding and by improving and expanding irrigation and drainage systems. The project includes: (a) improving and expanding irrigation and drainage on about 1.14 million hectares covering sections of 73 counties in the three provinces with improvement, new construction, and completion of canals and drains; irrigation pumping stations; tubewells, sub-surface pipe systems, control structures, culverts, bridges, access roads, and construction of on-farm works; (b) agricultural support services, which include: land leveling (333,000 hectares) and deep plowing (470,000 hectares) to improve soil texture; provision of fertilizers, agro-chemicals, and plastic sheeting; strengthening of 73 county seed centers through provision of facilities, machinery, and equipment; construction of 18 new county agro-technical extension centers (CATECS); and expansion and upgrading of about 55 existing CATECS and 688 township stations; improvement and upgrading of 500 township agro-machinery service stations with facilities and equipment; establishment of field border , windbreaks, and shelter belts to increase forest cover; and construction of 2,165 imeters of rural roads in Anhui to link 776 villages to existing roads; and (c) institutional development, including: training of farmer technicians and demonstration households in agricultural practices and training of project staff in irrigated agricultural technology, project management, monitoring, and evaluation; engineering-related technical assistance to upgrade technical skills; and applied research programs in irrigation, drainage, and agricultWl practices.