Major Changes in Agricultural Subsidy Policies in 2016
The Notice on Adjusting and Improving Policies Related to Agricultural Comprehensive Development Supporting Agricultural Industrialization Development, issued by the National Agricultural Comprehensive Development Office, explains the changes in agricultural subsidies in 2016. Among them, what changes are there in applying for agricultural subsidies? What benefits are there for agricultural business entities? And what are the specific policies in various regions? Let us take a look together.
Change 1: Large agricultural households can also apply for projects; no longer required to be independent legal persons
The new policy stipulates that new types of agricultural business entities such as professional large households, family farms, and socialized service organizations recognized or registered by relevant departments can all be included in the scope of support for industrialized operation projects, and are no longer subject to the restriction of independent legal person qualification.
Interpretation: The threshold for applying for agricultural benefit subsidies has been further relaxed. For example, it does not matter if you have not registered with the industry and commerce department, as long as you are registered with the relevant departments. Large agricultural households and family farms can all apply for projects, and the state will provide more and more support to new types of agricultural business entities.
Change 2: Applicants do not have to be “profitable for two consecutive years”
For farmers' cooperatives and leading enterprises, as long as they have been registered with the industry and commerce department for more than 1 year and have sustainable operating capacity, they can apply for industrialized operation projects. But in the past, many people reported that preparing the materials was really troublesome.
This policy stipulates that the application materials cancel provisions such as “more than 70% from the enterprise's place of registration, profitable for two consecutive years, asset-liability ratio, bank credit rating, ‘three no-owes’, and net value of fixed assets”. In other words, the application materials are simpler, and agricultural business entities can free up more energy to make projects more refined and solid.
Change 3: Farmers can also hold shares in fiscal fund investments
This policy makes clear: some fiscal fund investments are encouraged, with farmers, or farmers through cooperatives, holding shares in leading enterprises.
Generally speaking, the state's agricultural industrialization operations adopt organizational forms such as “leading enterprise + farmers” and “leading enterprise + specialized cooperative economic organization + farmers”. Now farmers and enterprises are integrated, but the roles of holding shares and not holding shares are very different. If farmers can hold shares in the invested funds, it means they can enjoy dividends. If the enterprise operates well, farmers can both receive wages and dividends, and the returns will certainly be much better than just working for the enterprise.
Change 4: Provinces are encouraged to implement “build first, subsidize later” for funds
The new policy proposes that provinces may implement “build first, subsidize later”. After the project is approved, it is implemented first and reimbursed later. After the project is fully completed and passes inspection by the county-level fiscal department and agricultural development institution, reimbursement will then be made.
Agricultural economic organizations do not need to wait for money before building. After a successful application, project construction can begin. As long as all kinds of receipts are kept, they will all be reimbursed when the project is settled. However, preliminary expenses such as project feasibility studies, preliminary design, and environmental assessment cannot be reimbursed.
Agricultural industrialization projects are generally specifically organized, managed, and implemented by the agriculture (agricultural economics) departments of each city and county or relevant provincial-level units, and the agriculture departments of each province (city, district) do a good job of supervision and inspection.
1. Project application acceptance units: All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, Agricultural Comprehensive Development Office
Project name: Agricultural comprehensive development industrialized operation project, land improvement project
Scope of support: Planting and breeding bases and protected agriculture projects; processing projects for agricultural products such as cotton, fruits and vegetables, tea, edible fungi, flowers, sericulture, livestock and poultry; circulation facility projects such as storage and preservation and wholesale markets at production areas.
Amount of fund subsidy: 800,000—1.6 million yuan
Application and declaration time: March
2. Project application acceptance units: Science and Technology Department, Science and Technology Commission
Project name: Transformation of agricultural scientific and technological achievements
Scope of support: Transformation of major technological achievements in agriculture-related industries such as modern seed industry, food processing, feed, biological pesticides, agricultural machinery and equipment, biomass utilization and bioenergy, forest product processing, rural environmental protection, and rural logistics
Amount of fund subsidy: 1-3 million yuan
Application and declaration time: April
3. Project application acceptance unit: Ministry of Agriculture
Project name: Agricultural product promotion project funds
Scope of support: Mainly used for organizing overseas market promotion of agricultural products, carrying out domestic market production-sales matching, online promotion, market development, and other aspects
Amount of fund subsidy: 100,000-800,000 yuan
Application and declaration time: June
Project name: National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zone drought- and flood-resistant standard farmland demonstration project
Scope of support: Selecting national modern agriculture demonstration zones outside the 800 major grain-producing counties (farms) determined in the national plan for adding 100 billion jin of grain production capacity to build drought- and flood-resistant standard farmland demonstration projects
Amount of fund subsidy: 600 yuan/mu, a single project not exceeding 10,000 mu
Application and declaration time: May
Project name: Project supporting the production of “vegetable basket” products
Scope of support: Focusing on supporting vegetables (including edible fungi and watermelon and muskmelon and other types), with appropriate consideration also given to fruits and tea. Each protected facility base must be more than 200 mu (area within the facility, the same below), and each open-field base must be more than 1,000 mu
Amount of fund subsidy: 5,000 yuan/mu, not exceeding 3 million yuan
Application and declaration time: July-August
Project name: Seed project plant protection project reserve project
Scope of support: Engaged in intensive vegetable seedling cultivation for more than 3 years, already having the capacity to cultivate more than 5 million high-quality age-appropriate strong vegetable seedlings annually, and no problems with fake or inferior seedlings in the past 3 years
Amount of fund subsidy: Within 5 million yuan of central funds
Application and declaration time: May-June
4. Project application acceptance unit: Ministry of Finance
Project name: Pilot project for leading enterprises driving industrial development and “one county, one specialty” industrial development
Scope of support: Public welfare project construction such as agricultural infrastructure, improved seed breeding, prevention and control of agricultural pollutants, comprehensive utilization of waste, and socialized service systems, as well as promotion and application of new products and new technologies, intensive and deep processing of agricultural products, and other aspects
Amount of fund subsidy: 5-8 million yuan
Application and declaration time: October
Project name: General industrialized project support
Scope of support: Planting and breeding bases such as agricultural products, economic forests, and protected agriculture planting, livestock and poultry and aquaculture; agricultural product processing; circulation facilities such as storage and preservation and wholesale markets at production areas
Amount of fund subsidy: 500,000-1.5 million yuan
Application and declaration time: October
5. Project application acceptance units: Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance
Project name: Subsidy project for primary processing of agricultural products at production areas
Scope of support: Focusing on supporting farmers and farmers' professional cooperatives in building primary processing facilities at production areas such as potato storage cellars, ventilated fruit and vegetable warehouses, cold storage warehouses, and drying rooms
Amount of fund subsidy: Build first, subsidize later, depending on specific circumstances
Application and declaration time: September
6. Project application acceptance unit: All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives
Project name: New Network Project
Scope of support: Renovation of agricultural and sideline products and agricultural means of production distribution centers, chain operation outlets, and wholesale trading markets; renovation of cold-chain logistics systems for agricultural and sideline products; public welfare service projects such as collection and release of market information for agricultural and sideline products and agricultural means of production, agrochemical service systems, and quality and safety service systems.
Amount of fund subsidy: 2—4 million yuan
Application and declaration time: April
7. Project application acceptance unit: National Poverty Alleviation Office
Project name: Poverty alleviation project
Scope of support: Agricultural product processing industries with a strong role in driving farmers' income growth
Amount of fund subsidy: 5 million yuan
Application and declaration time: Unscheduled
8. Project application acceptance unit: Agricultural Comprehensive Development Office
Project name: Modern agriculture park pilot project application and project initiation
Scope of support: Various functional areas such as high-quality and high-yield grain production bases, large-scale planting bases for famous, special, excellent, and new economic crops (or forestry and fruit industries), intensive and deep processing of grain and other agricultural products and cold-chain logistics, and ecological sightseeing and leisure agriculture
Amount of fund subsidy: 10-20 million yuan
Application and declaration time: May
Project name: Water-saving supporting renovation project for medium-sized irrigation districts
Scope of support: Major grain-producing areas, with irrigation districts located in or spanning agricultural comprehensive development counties (cities, districts), and irrigation area of 50,000-300,000 mu
Amount of fund subsidy: The total cost of a single project shall not exceed 20 million yuan
Application and declaration time: August
Project name: Agricultural comprehensive development industrialized operation project
Scope of support: Planting and breeding bases and protected agriculture projects; processing projects for agricultural products such as cotton, fruits and vegetables, tea, edible fungi, flowers, sericulture, livestock and poultry; circulation facility projects such as storage and preservation and wholesale markets at production areas
Amount of fund subsidy: 3 million yuan
Application and declaration time: End of June
Project name: Agricultural comprehensive development special project - horticultural improved seed breeding and production demonstration base project
Scope of support: Varieties with obvious comparative advantages, specialty advantages, and export advantages. Good economic benefits, strong radiating and driving capacity, and a significant role in promoting income growth among surrounding people.
Amount of fund subsidy: 1.5 million yuan
Application and declaration time: June-August
9. Project application acceptance units: Development and Reform Commissions and Commerce Departments of various provinces
Project name: Cold-chain logistics and modern logistics project
Scope of support: Storage facilities, transport vehicles
Amount of fund subsidy: 1 million yuan
Application and declaration time: July