According to the plan of China-Canada Sustainable Agriculture Development Program for a technical training on conservation tillage, a training workshop on mechanized wheat zero-tillage drilling, mechanized residue returning to field and garlic field raking technologies for Sichuan Province was held in Mianzhu City and Pengzhou City respectively on 3-5 September and 5-7 September 2007. The Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets Project co-sponsored and provided strong support for the technical training of conservation agriculture in Pengzhou.

The participants of these two training sessions, totaling 300 persons, were technical specialists, key farmers and farming machine drivers from 14 counties (cities and districts) including Mianzhu, Yuexi, Fushun, Guanghan, Jinyang, Jiangyou, Dujiangyan, Xindu, Zitong, Langzhong, Shuangliu, Zhongjiang, Yingshan and Pengzhou. Zhang Tao, Vice Mayor of Mianzhu City, Liu Zhongshun, Director of Farming Machinery Bureau of Deyang City, and Diao Xuefeng, Deputy Director of Farming Machinery Bureau of Sichuan Province, attended the opening ceremony. Mr. Diao made a warm-hearted speech at the opening ceremony. He encouraged everybody to learn attentively and try to become the preachers of conservation agricultural development in Sichuan.

The trainers of these two training sessions have both profound theoretical knowledge and rich practical experience. Dr. Chi Zhang, a long-term technical consultant of SADP Sichuan Office, gave a lecture on the conservation tillage technology of sustainable agriculture development. The training workshop invited 22 experts, including Dr. Tang Yonglu, an expert of tillage and cultivation from Sichuan Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences, He Mianyan, a research fellow from Farming Machinery Bureau of Deyang City, Li Li, a research fellow from Sichuan Provincial General Station for Promotion of Farming Machinery, Cheng Shaolan, a senior engineer from Farming Machinery Bureau of Sichuan Province, Zhong Guixiang, a senior engineer from Jinyang District for Promotion of Farming Machinery, Fu Shuming, a senior agrarian from Agricultural Technology Service Center of Mianzhu City, Hu Chaoyong, a senior engineer from Mianzhu City Station for Promotion of Farming Machinery, Zhang Yue, Director of Farming Machinery Bureau of Pengzhou City, as well as technicians from research and manufacturing enterprises, to explain the complex ideas of wheat mechanized zero-tillage drilling, mechanized residue returning to field and garlic field raking technologies in simple terms, enabling the trainees to understand the conservation tillage technology required by SADP and the basic principle of using conservation tillage tools and machines. This aroused the trainees’ interest and was widely welcomed by them.

The teaching design of courses was based on the actual needs of the trainees and the production in Sichuan, using the combined method of theoretical teaching and practical operation, focusing on field school teaching, and targeting at the training of “trainers”. Particularly in the field school teaching, special attention was paid to the trainees’ capability of operating the tools and machines. The trainees operated in turns, thus highlighting their participation and interaction. The number of trainees was originally set to be 240, but the actual number was up to 355. Thanks to a proper arrangement and an orderly organization, classroom teaching and on-site operation, teaching and learning interacted and echoed to each other, and the trainees showed a high enthusiasm about learning.

Feedback shows that the trainees give a very high evaluation of the training. Over 97% of them think this training generally is “satisfactory, with a good effect”, and 100% of them give the highest grade to 10 items in the curriculum evaluation.

All the trainees said that this technical training on agricultural mechanization has enabled them to learn the conservation tillage technology, more importantly, the advanced idea of sustainable agriculture development, and particularly the new training ideas and methods. Meanwhile, they express their hope to participate in more training of this kind, and more opportunities of practice, in order to learn the experience and technology of agricultural mechanization for conservation tillage in and outside China, and apply what they have learned into the practical agricultural production, thus providing better service for agricultural production and making more contributions to a sustainable use of land in the western part of China, particularly in Sichuan.