Ongoing dry spells in Shanghai庙 Town have taken a heavy toll on local agriculture and livestock farming. To cushion the fallout, protect production capacity, and keep families stable, authorities have rolled out a carefully targeted corn distribution program designed to ease the strain and help herders and farmers weather the crisis.
On September 4, at the distribution point in Manghatu Gacha, the atmosphere was orderly and reassuring. Rows of sturdy bags filled with dry corn sat neatly stacked while staff carried out their duties with precision. Working through standardized checkpoints—registration, identity verification, quota confirmation, signature, and collection—they carefully cross-checked each household’s allowance, walked residents through the cost-sharing and reward policies item by item, and kept the entire process transparent and efficient, making sure every bag of corn reached the hands of those who needed it most.
Local herders lined up calmly, presenting credentials and collecting their share. Their faces reflected relief and gratitude. “This year’s drought is so severe, grass just can’t grow. Our livestock feed shortage was enormous, and we were really stressing about where to get fodder. But then the gacha’s drought-relief corn came right to our doorstep—it solved our most urgent problem. What’s more, most of the cost is covered by the collective, so we pay very little out of pocket. It’s taken a huge load off our family finances,” said Nairmutu, a herder from Manghatu Gacha in Shanghai庙 Town.
This distribution effort breaks from the old one-size-fits-all handout model. Built around the village’s actual farming conditions and the pilot rural governance points system, officials designed a dual-tier allocation policy that pairs livelihood protection with civic incentives, allowing for more precise and dynamic support.
For baseline security, all eligible herder households in the gacha with grasslands receive a flat allotment of 2,000 jin of corn per household, ensuring total coverage for feeding livestock and sustaining farming needs during the drought. To further minimize financial pressure, a tiered payment scheme was introduced—households contribute just 0.5 yuan per jin, while the gacha’s collective economy absorbs the remaining 0.73 yuan per jin, ensuring the benefit genuinely reaches everyone without heavy cost burdens.
Adding to this, the corn distribution makes history with its first-ever special incentive linked to the rural governance points system. Households that have actively supported community development, promoted ethnic unity, joined emergency response efforts, or volunteered regularly are eligible for an extra 200 jin of corn on top of their standard quota—and these bonus allocations are fully funded by the collective, no household payment required. It’s a concrete, tangible reward for community engagement that helps invigorate local governance momentum.
“My mother’s always eager to lend a hand to neighbors and is constantly taking part in gacha activities. I never expected that this time we’d get an extra 200 jin just for that. It was a pleasant surprise—and it definitely encourages us to keep stepping up and helping others,” said Siqin, another herder from the Manghatu Gacha.
Wurigendalai, Party branch secretary of Manghatu Gacha, explained: “In 2025, our collective’s total income stands at 472,700 yuan. This dual-tier distribution serves two purposes at once: broad coverage safeguards production, resolves the most urgent needs of our herders, and secures the bottom line of farming stability, while the points-based incentives steer more people toward participating in rural governance and community building, fueling grassroots momentum.”
The effort is running in tandem across several gachas in Shanghai庙 Town. Manghatu alone issued 342,000 jin of drought-relief corn, reaching all 171 households. Meanwhile, four neighboring gachas—Wuti, Gongwusu, Baitu, and Aletai—completed simultaneous distributions, handing out an additional 1.313 million jin across 697 households.
Beyond the immediate impact, each bag of corn carries significance well beyond nutrition. The program has softened the blow of drought on farm output, filled critical supply gaps, and steady everyday life for multi-ethnic communities. In the process, it has deepened ties between officials and residents, reinforced bonds across ethnic groups, and demonstrated how precision planning and community-focused execution can enhance grassroots governance. This timely, people-centered action adds lasting warmth and solidarity to the drive for rural revitalization and the vision of building a modern, harmonious Otog Front Banner built on shared prosperity.