Agriculture-related funds urgently need to be bundled and integrated to improve support for agriculture

Recently, the report on the law enforcement inspection of the Agriculture Law, deliberated at the 17th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, pointed out that existing investment in support for agriculture suffers from problems such as unreasonable structure, scattered use, and low efficiency, and that agriculture-related subsidy projects stand out for being "numerous in points, broad in coverage, and small in amount."

There is no doubt that in recent years support and investment for agriculture, rural areas, and farmers from the central government down to local governments have continued to increase, consolidating the foundational position of agriculture. But what cannot be ignored is that there are also some drawbacks in the ways and methods of support, most prominently in the management and use of agriculture-related funds. For example, the phenomena of multiple channels, dispersion, and "sprinkling pepper" in agriculture-related fund investment still exist. The low efficiency in the use of agriculture-related funds not only affects farmers' enthusiasm for production, but in some cases even increases the space for power rent-seeking, breeds related corruption, and affects agricultural security and rural stability.

Agricultural and rural development needs more fiscal funding support, and the problems of unreasonable investment structure, scattered use, and low efficiency in agriculture-related funds must be given sufficient attention. In this regard, the author believes that to make agriculture-related funds produce broader, greater, and better benefits, they must be managed and used in a "bundled" way.

First, the state should strengthen top-level design for investment in agriculture-related funds, and on the basis of careful research and scientific demonstration, carry out "bundled" integration of relevant agriculture-related funds, concentrating "advantageous funds" to support key agricultural and rural projects.

Second, the channels and paths for allocating agriculture-related funds should be further integrated. For example, a single-channel appropriation could be adopted: all agriculture-related funds should be allocated in one sum and go directly to the grassroots. This can not only reduce the administrative costs of multiple local departments and reduce the possibility of corruption, but also give local areas more autonomy and improve the efficiency of the use of agriculture-related funds.

Third, centralized and unified supervision and oversight of agriculture-related funds should be strengthened. In particular, the forces of multiple departments such as discipline inspection and supervision, finance, and auditing should be integrated, and a regular working mechanism should be established to carry out normalized supervision and oversight over the allocation and use of agriculture-related funds, ensuring that the "last mile" of agriculture-related funds is unimpeded, so that they truly benefit agriculture, rural areas, and farmers.