International students at Jiangsu University in Zhenjiang, East China's Jiangsu province and 105 people from eight countries along the Belt and Road, including Pakistan, Zambia and Ethiopia, are attending an online training program on agricultural mechanization.
The training, which started in late March and will last until the end of August, was organized by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Jiangsu University. It involves classes on cultivation, crop field management, water-saving irrigation, grain harvest, horticulture, food processing and agricultural product quality inspection.
Group work, research tasks and discussions are held during the training to improve understanding of the subjects, said a doctoral student from Botswana who is studying at Jiangsu University. He recently shared his findings on the use of agricultural power machinery in Botswana at a class conducted by Wei Shengli, a professor at the School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering of Jiangsu University.
The Botswanan student said he plans to work in the field of agricultural engineering management and introduce China's experience in agricultural development as well as poverty alleviation to his home country. Agricultural mechanization, he pointed out, has been crucial in China's ability to feed its 1.4 billion citizens.
Another participant in the program is a Pakistani farmer who is also a teacher from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. He said the courses will help agricultural machinery manufacturers and operators deal with matters related to grain production and environmental protection.
The principal of Jiangsu University Yan Xiaohong said the school has trained over 1,400 agricultural technicians from countries involved in the BRI over the past five years.
