Farmers in areas battered by the May 12 earthquake have returned to their fields to harvest grain and sow for the next season.

In Zhangjiaheba Village in the northwestern Gansu Province, farmers sought a small section of open grounds occupied by tents to thresh wheat and collect the grains for processing at granaries.

Wang Rangqin, a 42-year-old farmer, said his father died after being hit by flying rocks in the quake, but he had no time to grieve.

"There are four mouths in my family and they still have to eat and live," he said. He moved his wife and two children to a tent, and started the harvesting.

Villagers like Wang couldn't afford not to harvest the wheat either, said Wang Yiming, the head of the village government, because the wheat was what they lived on.

About 50 households live in the hamlet, roughly 200 km from the earthquake epicenter Wenchuan; many of the houses were damaged or had collapsed.

The earthquake did little damage to the cropland but buried large quantities of grains the farmers kept in stock under the rubble.

Flour, rice and tents were sent into the village after the quake, but mountainous roads and landslides had impeded the relief efforts. The farmers said they had to depend on themselves.

"We can't just lie there and wait for the government relief. The earthquake was a natural disaster. But if we left the wheat to rot in the soil, that would be an evil human deed," Wang Yiming said.

In Zhangjiaheba, wheat was grown on about half of a total of 80 hectares of farmland, with an annual output of 20,000 kg.

"The more we harvest, the more fields we will have to grow autumn crops and the more foods we would have for the winter," Wang said.

Nationwide, the earthquake damaged about 33,333 hectares of farmland, including more than 10,000 hectares of wheat and rape and more than 20,000 hectares of vegetables in the 13 worst-hit cities and counties, said Wei Chaoan, Vice Agriculture Minister, in May.

The disaster also destroyed irrigation systems in some areas, and up to 100,000 hectares of rice paddy might have to be used to grow alternative crops, he said.

The ministry issued a notice to the local governments to aid the farmers in the harvest. Village officials and soldiers stationed in nearby areas were called to help. Fertilizers and farming equipment were brought in to aid the harvest and seeding.

In Longnan City, about 730,000 hectares of wheat was yet to be harvested.

In Wenxian County in the southernmost part of Gansu Province, farmers toiled in the rice paddies.

"Life is finally calming down, we are seizing moments to sow and hope a harvest could cover some of our losses," said farmer He Chunhui.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2008)