Eighteen people involved in the agricultural sectors of seven countries in Africa are in Beijing on a two-week training program in Integrated Plant Management (IPM).

The program has been organized by the National Agro-tech Extension and Service Center (NAESC) under the Ministry of Agriculture of China.

The 18 participants, from Uganda, Congo, Zambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Kenya, are touring villages in the suburbs of Beijing, learning about bio-technologies used in agricultural sector, such as the use of wasps to control caterpillars who eat away at crops.

"I will take back home all I have learnt to advance my country's agriculture," said Ethiopian Hussein Fetene.

Sheku P.A. Jacob, an employee of the agricultural ministry of Sierra Leone, said, "I will share these low-cost, effective and energy-saving technologies with my government and farmers."

In recent years, China's Ministry of Agriculture has organized training programs for more than 1,000 officials and staff from over 40 African countries, and has sent nearly 700 experts to work in Africa.

According to the NAESC, the training program is aimed at strengthening exchanges between Chinese and African agriculture experts and promoting the application of IPM technologies in African countries.

"China does better work in pest control than Ghana. That's why we are here - to learn techniques which can benefit our farmers," said Charles Kwoseh from Ghana.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)