LHASA - Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region has earmarked more than 8 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) this year to improve the living conditions of farmers and herdsmen in the region.

The fund, 68.4 percent bigger than last year's, will be used for rural infrastructure construction and as agricultural subsidies, according to a written statement released by the region's financial department on Saturday

Some of the money will also be used to encourage farmers to modernize and industrialize their work, and to develop Tibetan-featured industries, said the statement.

According to the region's financial data, the net income per capita of its farmers and herdsmen last year surged 13.6 percent to 4,700 yuan.

Tibet autonomous region has a population of three million, over 80 percent of whom are farmers and herdsmen.