A farmer catches fish in a paddy field in Qingtian county. [Photo/Lishui Daily]

The World Conference on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems or GIAHS was held in Qingtian county – administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province – from July 17 to 19.

On July 19, the talks focused on three themes – GIAHS and sustainable rural development, GIAHS and the resilience of food systems and GIAHS and improvement of farmers lives. They were held online and on-site in Qingtian.

Experts and academics from around the planet carried out in-depth discussions. The seminar aimed to guide Qingtian on how to protect and develop its rice-fish cultural system – which was recognized as a GIAHS in 2005, becoming the first GIAHS system in China – and to improve the lives of its farmers.

Shahbaz Khan, director and representative of the UNESCO office in Beijing, said via a video conference, that GIAHS was an organization that was living and developing human community systems. He said it was ensuring food security, high-quality nutrition, malaria prevention, biodiversity conservation, pest regulation and the establishment of carbon and nutrition cycles.

In terms of ways to promote rural revitalization and increase farmers incomes, Li Xiande, deputy chair of the science advisory team of GIAHS, was positive about the future.

"We must improve the diversity of farmers income through resource development, increase farmers employment by extending the industrial chain and improve the added value of agricultural products by innovating brands," he added.

The rice-fish culture system of Qingtian has fed local people for more than 1,000 years. The fish are raised in rice paddies, saving space and labor so farmers can produce more crops and fish, while rice can also provide shade and bait for the fish.