Farmers in northwest China's Shaanxi province whose wheat crops were destroyed during government-sanctioned land grab last month have been compensated, local authorities said.

The local government of Binxian county said it had given the aggrieved farmers 1,000 yuan (156.9 U.S.dollars) for every mu (one-fifteenth of a hectare) of wheat crop destroyed and a work group had been established to work out a distribution method for the compensation.

On May 18, officials from the county and Yimen township governments entered the fields with forklifts and police cars, destroying wheat crops to make room for a new agricultural processing center.

Farmers were injured trying to stop the forklifts from destroying their crops.

Three construction workers involved in the fracas should be detained, and Yuan Junli, secretary of the Party committee of the township government, and Yang Feng, mayor of the township, were being held accountable, according to the county government.

The farmers affected by the land grab have since been designated part of the county's low income group, and those over 80 years old will be supported by the government.

The government has promised that it will organize vocational training for the affected farmers, and it will cooperate with enterprises to find employment for the farmers.

Four farmers injured and hospitalized after attempting to protect their crops have been discharged from hospital.