New achievements in 2014 for the subsidy policy for primary processing facilities of agricultural products
Website news Recently, the Agricultural Product Processing Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture held a symposium in Beijing on the implementation of the subsidy policy for primary processing facilities of agricultural products, summarizing and exchanging the results and experience of the implementation of the subsidy policy for primary processing facilities of agricultural products in various regions in 2014, and deploying next year's work priorities and ideas. Zong Jinyao, Director of the Agricultural Product Processing Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, attended the meeting and delivered an important speech. Yang Zezhao, Deputy Inspector, reported on the implementation of the subsidy policy in 2014.
The meeting held that over the three years since the implementation of the subsidy policy, with the strong support of the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Finance of the Ministry of Agriculture, and through the joint efforts of agricultural product processing management departments at all levels, remarkable results had been achieved. This year, the central government allocated 600 million yuan, an increase of 20% over the previous year, to support 10,525 farmer households and 1,504 farmer professional cooperatives in building 18,000 primary processing facilities such as agricultural product storage, preservation and drying facilities, adding 300,000 tons of potato storage capacity, 490,000 tons of fruit and vegetable storage capacity, and 350,000 tons of fruit and vegetable drying capacity. Governments at all levels and farmers in the areas where the policy was implemented generally reported that the projects were well chosen, accurately chosen, highly useful and effective.First, it promoted quality improvement and efficiency gains in agricultural products. New-type storage cellars and cold storage warehouses improved the storage conditions of potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Potatoes could be stored for more than half a year without sprouting or shrinking, and fruits and vegetables such as apples and carrots could be stored for 5-6 months without rotting or wilting, maintaining the quality and appearance at the time of entering the warehouse (cellar) and improving the quality of stored products. Preliminary estimates showed that after the subsidized standardized facilities were completed and put into use, the post-production loss rate of potatoes, fruits and vegetables dropped from above 15% to below 6%, equivalent to a cumulative increase of 660,000 tons of output over three years.Second, it promoted farmers' employment and income growth. Over the three years since the implementation of the subsidy policy, a cumulative total of 892 million yuan was saved from losses and added to farmers' income, and 4.23 billion yuan was added to income through off-season sales, greatly stimulating farmers' enthusiasm for production. The implementation of the subsidy policy also provided farmers with more opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment, cultivated a group of outstanding rural professional brokers, strengthened a group of farmer professional cooperatives, absorbed more farmers into local employment, and opened a path to prosperity through entrepreneurship-driven employment.Third, it promoted the development of advantageous industries. The subsidy policy was highly targeted and strongly oriented, effectively solving problems in the implementation areas such as large post-production losses of agricultural products, prominent quality and safety hazards, and difficulties in selling and low prices, enhancing farmers' market expectations and increasing their enthusiasm for developing specialty planting industries. New-type storage and drying facilities extended the storage and processing period of agricultural products, achieved balanced supply of processing raw materials, extended enterprises' production cycles, improved enterprises' economic benefits, and promoted the organic integration of planting, storage, processing and sales.Fourth, it promoted stable market supply. In major potato-producing areas such as the northwest, north China and northeast, only 7-15 days elapsed from potato harvest to the appearance of frosty weather, and the field-side sales period did not exceed half a month, with problems such as low prices, difficulty in selling and frost damage occurring year after year. After the construction of new-type potato facilities, the potato sales period was extended to 7 months, which not only achieved off-season sales and balanced supply of agricultural products, but also, through concentrated facility construction, drove the development of specialized markets and the construction of market information service systems, playing a positive role in increasing supply and stabilizing the market.
Over the past year, various regions innovated many good practices in the process of implementing the subsidy policy.First, they paid attention to top-level design. The governments and agricultural departments of the implementing provinces (regions) attached increasing importance to the subsidy policy, treating its implementation as important work for promoting agricultural quality improvement and efficiency gains, farmers' employment and income growth, and the development of the agricultural product processing industry, providing strong organizational guarantees and financial support for the implementation of the subsidy policy.Second, they paid attention to optimizing layout. When determining the project implementation scope and implementation areas, various regions persisted in focusing on promoting the development of leading industries, concentrating toward advantageous production areas, and leaning toward large growers and farmer cooperatives, maximizing the guiding, demonstration and driving role of the subsidy policy.Third, they innovated working mechanisms. Agricultural and financial departments at all levels strengthened communication and coordination and established mechanisms for jointly studying, deciding and promoting major issues.Fourth, they strengthened supervision and management. They further improved working systems such as subsidy after construction, two-level review, two public announcements, and technical training, and strictly followed procedures such as application, review, approval, public announcement, construction, acceptance inspection, public announcement, and payment of reward and subsidy funds.Fifth, they strengthened publicity and training. They held policy and technical training for relevant personnel in all implementing provinces, regions and counties, and explained the key points and implementation methods of the subsidy policy through television, radio, the internet, and various means such as printed plain-language notices and publicity pages, achieving policy in place, technology in place and services in place, greatly stimulating farmers' enthusiasm. In many places, a situation of “one cellar (warehouse) hard to find” emerged.
In his speech, Director Zong Jinyao pointed out that implementing the subsidy policy for primary processing facilities of agricultural products had become an effective measure for achieving agricultural quality improvement and efficiency gains, an important channel for promoting farmers' employment and income growth, an important support for advancing the development of advantageous industries and an important guarantee for stabilizing market supply. It was a good policy benefiting the country and the people, and also a livelihood project and a virtuous governance project. Various regions should further strengthen organizational leadership, with a more proactive attitude and a more responsible spirit, highlight work priorities, strengthen supervision and management, technical services and policy publicity, persist in leaning toward large growers and farmer professional cooperatives, persist in farmers' independent construction, and persist in open and standardized operation, so that farmers have the right to know, the right to participate and the right to supervise. It is necessary to persist in grasping both implementation and supervision with one hand and ensuring the scientific, efficient, standardized and clean implementation of the subsidy policy. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of party conduct and clean government, strictly observe the eight-point regulations, consolidate the results of the mass line education, strictly maintain integrity and self-discipline, hold fast to the moral bottom line, the legal red line and the institutional high-voltage line, conduct oneself cleanly and do things practically, and absolutely prevent occurrences such as violations of law and discipline that ruin officials, damage policies and harm image. It is necessary to truly implement the subsidy policy for primary processing facilities of agricultural products, a policy that strengthens agriculture, benefits farmers and enriches farmers, without compromise, truly benefit the broad masses of farmers, and make greater contributions to promoting the sustained and healthy development of China's agricultural product processing industry.
Leaders of the competent departments and heads of offices of the 13 provinces and regions implementing the subsidy policy and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, representatives of provincial-level technical support units, and 60 people in total attended the meeting.