China - Agricultural Technology Project

Page 1 INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AC221 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: November 6, 2003 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: China Project ID: P069862 Project Name: Agricultural Technology Project Task Team Leader: Juergen Voegele Estimated Appraisal Date: February 9, 2004 Loan/Credit amount ($m.): IBRD: 100 Estimated Board Date: June 24, 2004 Managing Unit: EASRD Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan Sector: Agricultural extension and research (100%) Theme: Rural services and infrastructure (P) Safeguard Policies Specialists in the task team: Gregory Guldin Other financing amounts by source: ($m.) B. Project Objective The objective of the project is to raise rural incomes in selected areas in China by supporting restructuring and modernizing agricultural production, processing and marketing through viable models featured by a high science and technology content, and sustainable and efficient natural resource use. Specifically the project will: 1) strengthen the management of agricultural resources particularly in resource constraint areas, 2) improve the efficiency and speed of transfer of agricultural technologies, 3) support the emergence, inclusiveness and sustainability of new institutional arrangements and 4) make research and technology development more demand oriented. C. Project Description The project is designed to pilot novel approaches for setting enabling environments for agricultural technology development and transfer, as well as for creating partnerships between technology generating institutions, private sector industrial/marketing concerns and small farmers for the purpose of increasing rural incomes. The project would include the following components: Page 2 1. Capacity Building for Agricultural Resource Management Strategy and Technology Policy in Resource Stressed Areas Under this component, the Project would finance the establishment of new or the strengthening of existing policy and strategy units to guide the sustainable management of agricultural resources in the four project provinces. 2. Technology transfer and information markets and services Financing for this component would include the building of a set of large scale technology transfer markets in or near the Yangling Demonstration Zone to be used for exhibition and/or trade of agricultural technologies and information. The proposed technology market concept builds on modern communication technologies and is designed to respond to farmers