This year's grain production has successfully gotten off to a good start

Data for the first quarter of this year show that after grain production crossed the 1.2 trillion jin mark for two consecutive years and the growth rate of farmers' incomes exceeded that of urban residents for five consecutive years, China's agricultural and rural economic development momentum remains undiminished. At present, the biggest highlight of the agricultural and rural economy is that grain production has achieved a “good start”, with spring planting area expanding and summer grain crops growing well.

Planting area is the foundation of grain output. This year the state continued to increase support for grain production, and as market grain prices were basically stable, farmers were motivated to grow grain. According to a survey of the planting intentions of more than 110,000 farming households nationwide by the National Bureau of Statistics, the intended planting area for rice nationwide increased by 0.2%, wheat by 0.7%, and corn by 1.9%.

Zeng Yande, director of the Department of Crop Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that as of now the condition of seedlings in the main producing areas is good, and in particular the condition of seedlings in Henan and Shandong provinces, which together account for more than 40% of the national wheat area, is noticeably better than last year; spring planting in the Northeast region has already begun, and soil moisture is better than last year. At the same time, all localities are further optimizing the planting structure. Cotton areas in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins are reducing cotton and expanding grain, South China is reducing sugar and expanding grain, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are reducing oil crops and expanding wheat, and southern regions are developing winter fallow fields to expand potato planting.

This year's spring grain production has new measures in the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and many new types of operators attach importance to improving the efficiency of agricultural output, with the transformation of agricultural production methods beginning to emerge. In January, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed the strategy of making potatoes a staple grain. Subsequently, the integration of potato agricultural machinery and agronomy was accelerated. Wang Anmin, chairman of the Heye Vegetable Cooperative in Suojia Village, Gaoqing County, Shandong, is a large-scale potato grower. Two months ago, he newly acquired a multifunctional potato planter. “It's very convenient. It can finish planting in 2 hours, and its work efficiency is dozens of times that of manual planting. Machine planting gives uniform depth, accurate plant spacing, and firm film covering, and can increase yield by four hundred jin per mu. It can mature and be harvested in May.”

The favorable agricultural situation also provides strong support for managing inflation expectations. More than one-third of China's CPI indicator is determined by food prices, and agricultural products are the main source of food. National total grain output reached 1,214.2 billion jin, and inventories of major agricultural products are ample, with some reaching historic highs. Overall, prices of major agricultural products such as grain, pork, and vegetables remain within a reasonable range.

“To stabilize economic growth, we must first stabilize agricultural production and ensure the supply of agricultural products; otherwise, an unfavorable situation of slowing growth and rising prices may emerge.” Bi Meijia, chief economist of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that at present the good agricultural and rural economic situation has made an important contribution to keeping the economic growth rate within a reasonable range and keeping the increase in prices from breaking through the upper limit.

It can be foreseen that for a fairly long period, agriculture's foundational position in the national economy will not change, and it will still bear a unique and important role in promoting economic growth, expanding social employment, and stabilizing prices, so support for and protection of agriculture must be continuously increased. In the past, China's agricultural support policies were mainly focused on increasing the output of agricultural products, while insufficient attention was paid to the carrying capacity of agricultural resources and the environment and the sustainable development of agriculture. In the future, investment in these two aspects needs to be increased.