Henan in central part of China is well known as an agricultural power in the country. During the past year, the total grain output of the region was 50.55 million tons, more than one tenth of the national total.

In recent years provincial leaders in Henan have set a goal of "becoming China's barn and kitchen," so it was natural for agriculture and farmers' welfare to dominate a group discussion with the Henan delegation at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).

In recent years' work reports to the NPC have been breakthrough events for rural communities--in 2004 a plan to abolish agricultural tax was introduced and pilot projects for building a cooperative medicare system in rural areas were expanded, and in 2006 students from rural families were made exempt from paying tuition fees for their nine-year compulsory education.

There are no such dramatic reforms set for 2007, but the government has upped investment in rural areas with the intention of "improving work and life conditions".

Talks with the Henan delegation highlighted areas that could benefit from that investment, including the problem of unemployment in the countryside, especially during the farming off-season.

Henan farmer Xu Dequan, who has led others in his village to build a conglomerate of agricultural product processors over the last 20 years, proposed that agriculture-related manufacturing companies in the province should play a major role in providing jobs for farmers. "We successful companies should build better highways to enable farm workers to get to our companies," he told the meeting in a strong local accent.

Cao Jiafu, president of a company that breeds and processes ducks, backed the proposal to help unemployed farm workers find employment at local agricultural companies, and added that such a move would help to relieve social problems caused by the massive migration of rural laborers to China's cities. "We cannot ignore the problems caused when children are left behind in the countryside without parental care, and schools in rural areas become empty while city schools refuse to enroll children from migrant families," he said.

Liu Zhihua, 65, a Henan village deputy, submitted two proposals to the meeting. Firstly she suggested changing the frequency with which new village leaders are elected from three to five years, with a procedure for both township government's and village representatives to name candidates. She said there had been "chaos" in her own village last year during local elections and accused some candidates of bribing or bullying voters.

Her second proposal was for better environmental protection in the countryside. As pollution control is improved in China's cities many companies are moving their factories to rural areas, she said. She accused nearby paper mills of causing pollution in her won village. "Villagers, forced to breath polluted air and drink polluted water, are angry," she said. In making the petition, she said that she expected little to come from it, as local manufacturers were big tax contributors to local government and adept at dealing with environmental inspection teams

"People in a nearby village drilled more than 100 meters for a well but still got yellow water, which really worries me," she added.