Four departments issue document to advance modern agriculture demonstration zone construction, boosting agricultural modernization
The Ministry of Agriculture website reported on the 24th that the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission issued guiding opinions on solidly advancing the reform and construction of national modern agriculture demonstration zones to take the lead in achieving agricultural modernization.
Currently, China has entered the key stage of accelerating the transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. In order to enable demonstration zones to further serve as the “vanguard” of national modern agricultural development, the “experimental field” of agricultural reform, and the regional modern agriculture “display board,” the opinions propose: improving production conditions to take the lead in achieving complete infrastructure; strengthening scientific and technological support to take the lead in achieving integrated technology application; stimulating development vitality to take the lead in achieving intensive production and operation; protecting resources and the environment to take the lead in achieving sustainable agricultural development; increasing investment to take the lead in achieving systematic support and protection; and strengthening radiation and driving effects to demonstrate and lead the nationwide modernization of agriculture.
The full text of the opinions is as follows:
Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Solidly Advancing the Reform and Construction of National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zones to Take the Lead in Achieving Agricultural Modernization
To the agriculture departments (bureaus, commissions) of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and cities under separate state planning; development and reform commissions; finance (financial) departments (bureaus); all banking regulatory bureaus; all policy banks, state-owned commercial banks, joint-stock commercial banks; and Postal Savings Bank of China:
National modern agriculture demonstration zones are important platforms and carriers for exploring a new path of agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics. Since 2010, in accordance with the deployment and requirements of the Central Government, the Ministry of Agriculture has recognized 283 national modern agriculture demonstration zones (hereinafter referred to as demonstration zones) across the country. All localities and departments have attached great importance to them, made coordinated plans, cooperated closely, and increased support, and the construction of demonstration zones has increasingly shown strong vitality and powerful driving force. Currently, China has entered the key stage of accelerating the transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. In order to enable demonstration zones to further serve as the “vanguard” of national modern agricultural development, the “experimental field” of agricultural reform, and the regional modern agriculture “display board,” the following opinions are hereby proposed.
I. Overall thinking and objectives
(1) Overall thinking. In accordance with the development requirements of high output efficiency, safe products, resource conservation, and environmental friendliness, with taking the lead in achieving agricultural modernization as the goal and accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development mode as the main line, strengthen reform and innovation, scientific and technological driving forces, resource integration, and policy support; promote the widespread application of modern material and technical equipment, the vigorous development of new types of business entities, the optimization and upgrading of the agricultural industrial structure, and the sound sustainable development systems and mechanisms; create typical models with advanced development, active innovation, and replicability and scalability; form regional modern agricultural development poles; and demonstrate and lead the modernization of agriculture with Chinese characteristics.
(2) Overall objectives. By 2020, more than half of the demonstration zones will enter the stage of basically achieving agricultural modernization, and a number of construction models with strong regional representativeness, diverse types, and clear paths will initially take shape. The task of building high-standard farmland will be fully implemented, farmland quality will be greatly improved, modern science and technology will be widely applied, the average comprehensive mechanization level of crop cultivation, planting, and harvesting will reach about 80%, and the average proportion of various forms of appropriately scaled operations will exceed 60%. Total agricultural water use will be effectively controlled, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides will achieve zero growth, and agricultural waste (agricultural film, straw, and livestock and poultry manure) will basically achieve resource utilization. The per capita disposable income of farmers will grow by about 10% annually, leading and driving modern agricultural development in various regions to take new steps in a larger scope and broader fields.
II. Improve production conditions and take the lead in achieving complete infrastructure
(3) Build core areas of leading industries in concentrated and contiguous manner. Based on core villages and towns for the production of bulk agricultural products such as grain, cotton, oil, and sugar, improve the construction management system with unified planning, departmental coordination, and standardized procedures, integrate various types of agriculture-related funds, give full play to the role of the paid use fee for newly added construction land, agricultural land development funds, and farmland water conservancy construction funds in supporting agricultural infrastructure construction, and improve the efficiency of fund use. Implement technical measures for the protection and improvement of farmland quality, and advance the construction of core areas on a whole-village, whole-township, and whole-institutional basis. Support qualified demonstration zones in using core areas as carriers to actively explore the designation of grain production functional areas, promote the organic combination of high-standard farmland construction and grain production capacity building, carry out large-scale efforts to create high-yield grain and tackle green yield-increasing models, steadily improve farmland quality, and build modern grain production bases with high and stable yields and ecological safety. Encourage the use of measures such as replacing subsidies with awards and promoting construction with subsidies to support village collectives and new types of agricultural business entities in undertaking core area project construction tasks, and improve post-construction management and protection mechanisms.
(4) Build distinctive industrial parks (bases) by category. Adhere to market orientation, reasonable scale, and prioritizing benefits; combine with “one village, one product; one township, one industry”; make coordinated arrangements for various distinctive industry demonstration parks (bases); orderly advance the construction of high-level, grid-based, and strongly driving distinctive industry demonstration parks (bases); give play to comparative advantages; and achieve point-to-area development and differentiated development. Support demonstration zones in implementing projects to improve the quality and efficiency of horticultural products in accordance with procedures and standards, extensively carry out activities to create standard gardens for horticultural crops and tropical crops, and carry out the “three-product improvement” action for horticultural crops (variety improvement, quality improvement, and brand creation).
(5) Raise the level of standardized scaled breeding. Persist in promoting the construction of standardized scaled breeding farms in a manner compatible with regional land absorption capacity and resource carrying capacity, adjust and optimize the layout of livestock, poultry, and aquaculture breeding bases, and carry out activities to create standardized breeding and healthy aquaculture demonstration farms. Encourage the priority use of unused land for developing the breeding industry. Take the lead in applying Internet of Things technology and intelligent breeding equipment, and establish scientific and efficient animal disease prevention and control management mechanisms. Support standardized scaled breeding farms (communities) in carrying out comprehensive utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and build supporting facilities for livestock and poultry manure treatment and resource utilization. Explore specific implementation measures for implementing electricity prices for agricultural production in scaled breeding.
III. Strengthen scientific and technological support and take the lead in achieving integrated technology application
(6) Advance agricultural mechanization according to local conditions. Actively explore production models that integrate modern cultivation techniques with full-process mechanization, support demonstration zones in promoting and applying new agricultural mechanization technologies and new machinery, promote demonstration zones in major grain-producing areas to take the lead in achieving full-process mechanization of staple grain crops such as wheat, rice, and corn, and promote demonstration zones in advantageous areas for other agricultural products to take the lead in making breakthroughs in weak links such as machine transplanting of rice, machine cotton picking, and machine sugarcane harvesting. Further tilt the agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy toward demonstration zones, cultivate and strengthen large agricultural machinery households and agricultural machinery cooperative organizations, and explore and promote effective ways and methods of using information technology to promote cross-regional operations and order-based operations. Give priority to implementing the project of demonstration counties for full-process mechanization of major crop production in demonstration zones.
(7) Take the lead in popularizing and applying modern scientific and technological achievements. Explore effective ways for agricultural research institutions and new types of business entities to cooperate in integrating and maturing scientific and technological achievements, establish and improve the agricultural technology promotion mechanism of “one leading industry, one chief expert, one demonstration base, one set of technical models, and one service team,” and promote the organic integration of modern science and technology with industrial development. Innovate and expand the field of scientific and technological services, establish comprehensive service networks such as new variety recommendations and seedling cultivation and supply, and strengthen capacity building for grassroots agricultural disaster early warning, prevention and control, and unified prevention and control. Vigorously develop standardized agricultural production, promote the use of certificates of origin quality, and establish a mechanism for allowing products to leave the place of origin. Qualified demonstration zones should take the lead in integrating agricultural information resources, accelerate the integrated development of the Internet with agricultural production and operation, promote the widespread application of the Internet of Things and other technologies in the agricultural field, and rely on modern information technologies such as mobile Internet, big data, and cloud computing to build intelligent production management platforms and fully traceable, interconnected and shared agricultural product quality and food safety information platforms.