Taizhou will implement the comprehensive protection of Duotian agrosystem starting from next month, according to a press conference on February 24.

The new regulation aims to organize and coordinate the management efforts, specify the roles and duties, and make clear the rights and responsibilities.

Duotian, which is the local name for "raised field", are small patches of soil created to have easy access to water for growing crops. It has been a world wonder for its unique water-land utilization method in low-lying land and its splendid Duotian landscape.

The agrosystem mainly exits in Taizhou’s Lixiahe area including Qianduo, Shagou and Duotian, all under the administration of Xinghua, Huagang Town in Hailing District, and Yuxi Town in Jiangyan District, with a total area of 60,000 mu (4,000 hectares).

More than a water-land utilization, Duotian has also showed growing importance for culture, tourism and research. In 2013, Xinghua Duotian was recognized in the first batch of important agri-cultural heritage in China. Then in 2014, it was recognized by the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), an initiative by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, also the only winner of the honor in Jiangsu. In 2019, Xinghua Duotian was further listed as a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level.

Despite the wider recognition home and abroad, the agrosystem faces challenges of the falling of the raised field and loss of traditional farming techniques. Then the Standing Committee of the Taizhou Municipal People's Congress formulated and introduced the regulation to safeguard the agri-cultural heritage system, and combine sustainable agriculture and rural development.

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