The argument began in August when growers in Eryuan county, Yunnan province, were told they would no longer be able to use the site for planting, but would be compensated for their losses. According to a government notice issued on August 28, households would be paid 1,200 yuan ($175) for each mu (a unit measuring 7,200 ft2) of garlic they had already cultivated, and 600 yuan for each mu they were planning to use but had not yet planted.
Farmers, however, said they had been growing garlic in the area for nearly two decades and that the compensation was insufficient.
Sg.news.yahoo.com reported how officials on Saturday warned they would start pulling up the garlic plants the following day, but tempers flared in the town of Sanying when they arrived at the site with excavators and weeding machines. The ban on garlic growing was imposed in 16 towns in Eryuan as part of the local government’s efforts to protect Erhai Lake, a local tourist attraction.
Garlic cultivation often involves the use of large amounts of fertiliser and pesticide, which were found to be the main pollutants in the lake, downstream from Eryuan.
