National Agricultural Sustainable Development Plan (2015-2030) released
Website news The reporter learned from the Ministry of Agriculture that the "National Agricultural Sustainable Development Plan (2015-2030)" was officially released today. This is a programmatic document guiding agricultural sustainable development for the period ahead. Taking into comprehensive consideration factors such as the agricultural resource carrying capacity, environmental capacity, ecological type and development foundation of each region, the Plan divides the whole country into three major regions: the optimized development region, the moderate development region and the protection development region, adapting measures to local conditions, advancing in stages and applying categorized policies.
The optimized development region includes the Northeast region, the Huang-Huai-Hai region, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River region and the South China region. It is the main producing area of bulk agricultural products in our country, with good agricultural production conditions and great potential. It should adhere to giving priority to production, while also taking ecology into account and combining planting with breeding, and on the premise of ensuring the steady improvement of the comprehensive production capacity of major agricultural products such as grain, realize stable production development, sustainable resource utilization and an eco-friendly environment. The moderate development region includes the Northwest and along the Great Wall region and the Southwest region. Agricultural production there has distinctive characteristics, but water and soil conditions are mismatched and the resource and environmental carrying capacity is limited. It should adhere to placing equal emphasis on protection and development, moderately tap potential, practice intensive and economical use and orderly utilization. The protection development region includes the Qinghai-Tibet region and the marine fishery region. It has a special and important strategic position in ecological protection and construction. It should adhere to protection first and restrict development, moderately develop ecological industries and characteristic industries, and promote the virtuous cycle of the ecosystem.
⟦NL> The Plan proposes five key tasks for advancing agricultural sustainable development in the period ahead:
First, optimize the development layout and steadily improve agricultural production capacity. By 2020, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress should reach more than 60%, the comprehensive mechanization level of cultivation, planting and harvesting of major crops should reach more than 68%, the National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zones and major grain-producing counties should basically realize the circular utilization of agricultural resources within their regions, and by 2030 the country should basically achieve near-zero discharge of agricultural waste.
Second, protect cultivated land resources and promote the sustainable use of farmland. Ensure that the cultivated land retention amount remains above 1.8 billion mu, basic farmland is no less than 1.56 billion mu, and by 2020 build 800 million mu of high-standard farmland that is concentrated and contiguous and ensures stable yields despite drought or excessive rain. Prevent and control heavy metal pollution of cultivated land, and establish a system for graded management and utilization of soil at agricultural product production sites. In accordance with the overall plan for a new round of returning farmland to forest and grassland approved by the State Council, implement the return of farmland to forest and grassland.
Third, conserve and use water efficiently and ensure the safety of agricultural water use. Implement red-line management of water resources, promote water-saving irrigation, develop rain-fed agriculture, and by 2020 keep the national agricultural irrigation water consumption at 372 billion cubic meters, raise the effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water to 0.55, and develop 288 million mu of efficient water-saving irrigation area.
Fourth, control environmental pollution and improve the agricultural and rural environment. Prevent and control farmland pollution, comprehensively treat breeding pollution, improve the rural environment, and by 2020 achieve zero growth in the application amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and by 2030 achieve basically comprehensive utilization of breeding waste, basically realize the recovery and utilization of agricultural film and pesticide packaging waste in major agricultural production areas, and achieve comprehensive utilization of crop straw.
Fifth, restore agricultural ecology and enhance ecological functions. Strengthen forestry ecological functions, protect grassland ecology, restore aquatic ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and by 2020 raise the forest coverage rate to more than 23% and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of national grasslands to 56%.
The Plan emphasizes that around the key construction tasks, with focus on the most urgent, most critical and weakest links and fields, it is necessary to coordinate the arrangement of central budgetary investment and fiscal funds, adjust and revitalize existing fiscal funds supporting agriculture, arrange incremental funds, actively guide and drive local and social investment, and organize the implementation of a number of major projects including water and soil resource protection projects, agricultural and rural environmental governance projects, agricultural ecological protection and restoration projects, and pilot demonstration projects, so as to comprehensively consolidate the material foundation for agricultural sustainable development.