Chinese farmers back in fields after earthquake

Chinese 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 theearthquake 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 reliefefforts. The farmers said they had to depend on themselves.