Guangdong's Winter Planting Breaks New Ground: Stabilizing Grain, Boosting Income, Ensuring Supply
The “Start of Winter” has passed, and all parts of the province have successively entered the busy winter planting season. Walking through the fields, the atmosphere of rural winter planting is very strong. In Meizhou, farmers are busy in agricultural supply stores selecting seeds and seedlings, fertilizers and pesticides and other production materials; in Shaoguan, sprinkler irrigation systems are watering continuous tracts of organic vegetables; in Huizhou, agricultural machinery shuttles busily across a 3,000-mu winter potato planting base; in Zhanjiang, farmers' cooperatives provide socialized services for sugarcane farmers' winter planting……
As the “12th Five-Year Plan” comes to a close and the year of comprehensively deepening rural reform and tackling tough issues approaches, the task of continuing to stabilize grain production and promote farmers' income growth is arduous and of great significance. Winter planting production is an important crop season in our province's annual agricultural production, and also a key season for agricultural efficiency and farmers' income growth. It has become a major highlight of our province's agricultural and rural economy, playing an important role in stabilizing grain, increasing income, and ensuring supply in our province. The output value of winter-planted and spring-harvested crops in the province accounts for about 20% of the annual planting industry output value, and the income from the winter planting season has far exceeded the sum of the income from the early and late rice seasons. How can we do a good job in this year's winter planting production and grasp the initiative in next year's grain and agricultural production?
Recently, the Provincial Department of Agriculture held a video conference on province-wide winter planting production and high-standard farmland construction work, to implement the spirit of the national video conference on autumn harvest and autumn-winter planting work, analyze the current situation, and arrange and deploy winter planting production work. Zheng Weiyi, Director of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, required that all localities treat winter planting production as the central work of the current agricultural and rural economy, effectively strengthen leadership, coordinate comprehensively, supervise and inspect, and fully promote the implementation of all winter planting production work.
Plan Early, Focus on Support, Promote the Development of Winter Planting Production
In the first three quarters of this year, our province's agricultural and rural economy maintained a “steady and improving” development momentum. The province's total output value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery was 365.832 billion yuan, with added value of 226.379 billion yuan, up 2.6% and 2.9% year-on-year respectively. The per capita net income of farmers was 9,683 yuan, an increase of 10.7%, 1.5 percentage points higher than that of urban residents. The import and export trade of agricultural products grew against the trend by 14.9%. The overall grain production for the whole year remained stable, and major cash crops and “shopping basket” products increased steadily in output, providing strong support for ensuring effective market supply and promoting stable economic and social development. In particular, grain production withstood repeated typhoon and rainstorm attacks, and the total grain output for the whole year is expected to achieve recovery growth, laying the foundation for completing this year's agricultural and rural economic work targets and tasks.
Supported by the positive momentum of the agricultural and rural economy in the first three quarters, this year our province's planned winter planting area reached 12.8 million mu, an increase of 300,000 mu over the previous year, up 2.4%. Among this, the area for winter-planted potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes and other grain crops was 3.61 million mu, and winter-planted vegetables 7.75 million mu, each increasing by 150,000 mu; the output value of winter-planted and spring-harvested crops increased by more than 5%.
This year our province's winter planting production has many favorable factors. The central government has established ensuring grain security as a national strategy, emphasizing the need to firmly hold the Chinese people's own rice bowl, with the bowl mainly filled with our own grain. The attitude of valuing agriculture and grasping grain is very resolute, and the intensity of policies to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers and enrich farmers has been further increased. To support all localities in developing autumn-winter planting production, this year the central finance department advanced the allocation of subsidy funds for improved varieties, agricultural machinery purchase subsidies, high-yield creation, soil testing and formulated fertilization, and other subsidies.
Our province has unique climatic and resource advantages for developing winter planting production. In recent years, all localities have continuously increased their efforts in winter agricultural development, economic benefits have been promising, farmers' enthusiasm has been rising day by day, the province's winter planting production area has increased, the structure has been optimized, and benefits have improved. Spring-harvested crops have maintained growth for six consecutive years.
This year all localities planned and deployed early, and basically secured the fertilizers, seeds and seedlings, and pesticides needed for winter planting production. Currently, agricultural materials are complete in variety, market supply is sufficient, and prices are basically flat compared with last year. According to surveys, this year's winter-planted corn and winter-planted vegetable seed inventories are ample and prices remain stable. Winter-planted potato seed potatoes are basically in place, with prices down about 10% from last year. It is estimated that winter planting requires 1.35 million tons of fertilizer, and the market prices of most fertilizer varieties are 1-9 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
Stabilize Area, Adjust Structure, Expand the Scale of Winter Planting Production
Implementing the production area is the premise and foundation for stabilizing the development of winter planting production. At present, our province still has 8 million mu of idle winter fields, with great potential for developing winter planting. All localities should fully tap winter planting resources, strengthen planning guidance and policy incentives, implement plans level by level, mobilize the masses to expand the winter planting scale, and ensure that the winter planting area is implemented down to towns and villages, and varieties down to plots and fields. Make full use of various publicity channels to vigorously publicize the great significance of developing winter planting production for promoting farmers' income growth, publicize good models and good experience in winter planting production, give play to the guiding role of models, create a good atmosphere, mobilize the masses level by level, and quickly set off an upsurge of winter planting production.
After years of development, our province's winter planting has initially formed a regionalized and scaled production pattern with vegetables, tuber crops, and corn as the leading products. This year, all localities will, in accordance with the requirements of “adapting to local conditions, highlighting characteristics, and strengthening advantageous industries,” continue to optimize the layout and make local leading products and pillar industries bigger and stronger. Vigorously grasp the transformation and upgrading of traditional advantageous products such as northbound transport vegetables, winter-planted corn, and winter-planted sweet potatoes, improve the level of production specialization and intensification, and enhance market competitiveness and market share. Accelerate the development of characteristic products such as potatoes, specialty vegetables, and high-quality melons and fruits, and use seasonal differences and locational differences to form staggered competitive advantages. Further adjust the variety structure, implement a reasonable layout of early, medium, and late maturing varieties, and enhance the ability to regulate market surplus and shortage. Do a good job in analyzing supply and demand in the production, circulation, and consumption markets of outbound vegetables, reasonably arrange sowing and planting periods, scientifically lay out varieties, optimize variety structure, regulate listing times, avoid mutual squeezing, and reduce market risks.
Strengthen Science and Technology, Grasp Standards, Improve the Quality of Winter Planting Products
All localities vigorously implement good varieties and good methods, formulate key technology promotion plans by crop and by variety, strengthen technical guidance, carry out technical training, and ensure that all technologies are implemented in the fields, fundamentally improving the scientific and technological content of winter planting production. Actively carry out high-yield creation. This year our province continues to establish 15 national-level sweet corn and 9 winter-planted potato ten-thousand-mu high-yield creation demonstration plots in key production areas. Strengthen agricultural materials market supervision and price monitoring, severely crack down on counterfeit and shoddy acts in the agricultural materials market, safeguard farmers' interests, and ensure the smooth development of winter planting production.
At present, all localities are stepping up the organization of agricultural machinery maintenance, encouraging large agricultural machinery households and cooperative organizations to carry out winter planting mechanical planting, water-saving irrigation, unified pest and disease prevention and control, and other services, and improving the level of winter planting mechanization. In Huidong County, the main battlefield for winter-planted potatoes, the mechanization level of links such as plowing and film mulching exceeds 80%, and the mechanized harvesting link is moving from pilot trials to application. Maoming City vigorously develops water-saving irrigation and greenhouse facilities, and accelerates the development of agricultural machinery cooperative services for plowing and planting on behalf of farmers.
All localities vigorously promote standardized production technology, strengthen the quality and safety supervision of agricultural products, do a good job in the demonstration and promotion of standardized production technology, popularize pollution-free production technical regulations, promote green pest and disease prevention and control technology and safe pesticide use technology, actively develop pollution-free and green food, and create famous-brand agricultural products. This year our province newly created 44 horticultural crop standard gardens, demonstrating and promoting increased production, increased efficiency, and quality and safety of vegetables and other horticultural products. All localities accelerate the establishment and improvement of a long-term mechanism for agricultural product quality and safety supervision, further strengthen the quality and safety supervision and testing of winter-planted agricultural products, increase monitored varieties and frequency, and strictly control market access. Vigorously promote agricultural product labeling management, urge agricultural product wholesale markets to establish ledger records, unqualified agricultural product reporting and other systems, and realize traceable management of agricultural product quality and safety.
Optimize Services, Promote Docking, Improve the Efficiency of Winter Planting Production
Agricultural departments at all levels should effectively change their work style, go deep into the grassroots to actively strengthen guidance services, and provide effective service guarantees for the development of winter planting production. Organize cadres and scientific and technical personnel to go deep into the front line of winter planting production, carry out various forms of technical guidance, training and demonstration, and deliver technologies for increasing production, saving costs, and improving efficiency to every household. Timely grasp the dynamics of the agricultural materials market, and coordinate the transportation, supply, and surplus-shortage adjustment of seeds and seedlings, pesticides, fertilizers and other agricultural materials. Strengthen agricultural materials market supervision and price monitoring, actively carry out special rectification actions in the agricultural materials market, severely crack down on counterfeit and shoddy acts in the agricultural materials market, safeguard farmers' interests, and ensure the smooth development of winter planting production. Strengthen agricultural situation and disaster situation scheduling, and timely issue early warnings and release disaster information. Actively promote and apply disaster prevention and mitigation technologies, formulate disaster prevention and mitigation contingency plans early, implement disaster prevention and mitigation, and reduce agricultural losses caused by disasters.
Production-sales docking is the key to improving winter planting efficiency. The Provincial Department of Agriculture requires all localities to strengthen production and sales information guidance. Strengthen information collection and analysis, pay close attention to market changes, do a good job in forecasting variety, regional, and seasonal demand, use information networks to timely release production and sales and early warning information, guide farmers to reasonably arrange winter planting production and product listing times, and guide the orderly cross-regional circulation of agricultural products. Around regional leading products, guide leading agricultural enterprises to cultivate and build Guangdong agricultural product brands, strengthen product publicity and promotion, enhance market visibility, and enhance product competitiveness. The Provincial Department of Agriculture will, at the 5th Guangdong Modern Agriculture Expo held in mid-November, announce the Guangdong Top Ten Famous Brand Series Agricultural Products and carry out key promotion, vigorously building our province's agricultural product brands. Vigorously cultivate leading processing and marketing enterprises, develop farmers' specialized cooperative economic organizations, improve the degree of farmers' organization, vigorously develop order production, support agricultural product production entities in docking with supermarkets, wholesale markets, residential communities, schools, enterprises and other units, promote the establishment of long-term stable purchase and sales relationships, help farmers promote sales and increase income in various forms, and resist market risks.