The region is a multi-nationality area and here the Tibetan, Yi, Qiang, and Han people live together. Their music, dance, paintings, cultural customs, and festivals are among the precious treasures of the region. General Situation of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Forestry, and Rural Industry Agriculturally, the region is diverse. In Ganzi and Aba prefectures, where most of the cultivated land is non-irrigated, the main crops are maize, barley, wheat, and potatoes, and rape is the staple oil crop. In comparison with Sichuan Basin, the land resources are abundant in mountain areas, but most of them are on steep slopes, therefore, extensive farming management, low-level of agricultural mechanisation, and low yield per unit of area characterises agriculture.
Animal husbandry is an important sector in the economy of the region.
With 98.02 per cent of yaks, 62.49 per cent of horses, 47. 35 per cent of sheep, 43.57 per cent of beef production, and 55.47 per cent of the entire milk production of Sichuan province, Ganzi, and Aba prefectures are among the five largest pastoral areas in China. On the other hand, the natural conditions are adverse for animal husbandry due to high altitudes, frigid climate, and deteriorating grasslands. The problems caused by increasing livestock and deteriorating grassland are very serious. The animal husbandry situation is still 'full in summer, fat in autumn, thin in winter, and dying in spring' and it greatly depends on climatic variation. Animal products are characterised as large in quantity and low in returns, i.e., the number of livestock is large but the number of livestock for slaughter and commodity production is small.