2015 Compilation of the Latest Policies on Subsidies Benefiting Farmers
The latest policies and measures issued by the state in 2015 to deepen rural reform, support grain production, and promote farmers' income growth:
1. Policy on Accelerating the Citizenization of the Agricultural Transfer Population
The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee clearly proposed advancing the citizenization of the agricultural transfer population and gradually converting eligible agricultural transfer population into urban residents. The policy measures mainly include three aspects: first, accelerating reform of the household registration system. Second, expanding the coverage of basic urban public services. Third, safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of the agricultural transfer population in rural areas.
2. Support Policy for the Construction of Rural Reform Pilot Zones
The work on rural reform pilot zones in 2015 focused on three major tasks: launching the second batch of rural reform pilot zones and pilot projects, organizing a work exchange meeting on rural reform pilot zones, and completing the mid-term evaluation of reform pilot projects.
3. Support Policy for the Construction of National Modern Agriculture Demonstration Zones
A reward of about 10 million yuan is granted to demonstration zones for agricultural reform and construction pilots. Efforts will be made to ensure that the loan balance of China Development Bank and Agricultural Development Bank of China for the construction of demonstration zones this year is no less than 30 billion yuan.
4. Support Policy for Standardized Agricultural Production
The central government finance authorities will continue to allocate 23.4 million yuan in fiscal funds to subsidize the demonstration of standardized agricultural implementation. Nationwide, relying on counties (districts) with a high concentration of "three gardens and two farms" and "three products and one label," 44 standardized agricultural demonstration counties will be established.
5. Support Policy for the Construction of an Agricultural Product Traceability System
Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, the construction of an agricultural product quality and safety traceability system has been officially incorporated into the "National Plan for the Construction of an Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Inspection and Testing System (2011-2015)," with a total investment of 49.85 million yuan, specifically for the construction of the national agricultural product quality and safety traceability management information platform and the unified development of the national agricultural product quality and safety traceability management information system.
6. Policy on Developing New-Type Rural Cooperative Financial Organizations
In 2015, the state will, on the basis of farmers' cooperatives and supply and marketing cooperatives with democratic management, standardized operation, and strong driving capacity, cultivate and develop rural cooperative finance, select some regions to carry out pilot credit cooperation among farmers' cooperatives, and enrich the types of financial institutions in rural areas. The state will promote the development of community-based rural mutual fund organizations, and these organizations must adhere to the principles of membership and closure, and insist on not absorbing deposits or issuing loans externally and not paying fixed returns. The state will also further improve the management system for new-type rural cooperative financial organizations, clarify the regulatory responsibilities of local governments, encourage local governments to establish risk compensation funds, and effectively prevent financial risks.
7. Policy on Supporting the Development of Farmers' Cooperatives
In 2015, in addition to continuing to implement existing support policies, the Ministry of Agriculture will, in accordance with the unified deployment and requirements of the central government, cooperate with relevant departments to select cooperatives with a solid industrial foundation, large operating scale, strong driving capacity, and good credit records, and, in accordance with the principles of being limited to internal members, used for industrial development, absorbing shares but not deposits, distributing dividends but not interest, and controllable risks, steadily carry out pilot credit cooperation.
8. Policy on Supporting the Development of Family Farms
Promote the implementation of relevant policies concerning agriculture-related construction projects, fiscal subsidies, tax preferences, credit support, mortgage guarantees, agricultural insurance, and facility land use, and help resolve the difficulties and problems encountered in the development of family farms.
9. Support Policy for Primary Processing of Agricultural Products at the Place of Origin
In 2015, the project of subsidizing the primary processing of agricultural products at the place of origin will continue to be organized and implemented, with a nationwide unified fixed-amount subsidy implemented according to a standard of no more than 30% of the average construction cost of a single facility.
10. Subsidy Policy for Soil Testing and Formulated Fertilization
In 2015, the central government finance authorities allocated 700 million yuan in special funds for soil testing and formulated fertilization. In 2015, the area over which soil testing and formulated fertilization technology for crops is promoted reached 1.4 billion mu, the area of formulated fertilization for grain crops reached more than 700 million mu, free soil testing and formulated fertilization guidance services were provided to 190 million farming households, and efforts were made to achieve cost savings and efficiency gains of more than 30 yuan per mu in demonstration zones.
11. Subsidy Policy for Improving Soil Organic Matter
In 2015, the central government finance authorities allocated 800 million yuan in special funds to continue promoting straw return-to-field decomposition technology, green manure planting technology, and soybean rhizobium inoculation technology in suitable areas. At the same time, efforts focused on promoting comprehensive technology for acidified soil improvement and fertilization in southern rice-producing areas, promoting increased application of organic fertilizer in northern grain-producing areas, and promoting comprehensive technology for soil improvement and fertilization in areas with severe saline-alkali land.
12. Support Policy for the Creation of Standard Horticultural Crop Gardens
In 2015, the work of creating standard horticultural crop gardens will continue to be advanced, and funds have already been allocated to local areas at 70% of the 2013 funding scale.
13. Policy of Tilting New Subsidies Toward Grain and Other Important Agricultural Products, New-Type Agricultural Operating Entities, and Main Producing Areas
The state will increase support for new-type agricultural operating entities such as specialized large households, family farms, and farmers' cooperatives, and implement a policy of tilting new subsidies toward specialized large households, family farms, and farmers' cooperatives.
14. Direct Grain Subsidy Policy
The central government finance authorities will continue to implement direct subsidies to grain farmers. In principle, subsidy funds are required to be distributed to farmers engaged in grain production, and the specifics are to be determined by each provincial-level people's government according to actual conditions. In January 2014, the central government finance authorities already pre-allocated 15.1 billion yuan in direct grain subsidy funds for 2015 to all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities).
15. Improved Seed Subsidy Policy
The subsidy is 10 yuan per mu for wheat, corn, soybean, rapeseed, and highland barley. Among these, the improved seed subsidy for wheat in ** region is 15 yuan; the subsidy for rice and cotton is 15 yuan per mu; the subsidy for first- and second-grade seed potatoes of potato is 100 yuan per mu; the subsidy for improved seed breeding of peanut is 50 yuan per mu, and the subsidy for field production is 10 yuan per mu.
16. Policy on Raising the Minimum Purchase Prices of Wheat and Rice
The minimum purchase price of wheat (third grade) produced in 2014 was raised to 118 yuan per 50 kg, an increase of 6 yuan over 2013, with an increase rate of 5.4%. The minimum purchase prices of early indica rice (third grade, the same below), mid-to-late indica rice, and japonica rice produced in 2014 were raised to 135 yuan, 138 yuan, and 155 yuan per 50 kg respectively, an increase of 3 yuan, 3 yuan, and 5 yuan over 2013, with increase rates of 2.3%, 2.2%, and 3.3% respectively. In 2015, the temporary storage policy for corn, rapeseed, and sugar will continue to be implemented.
17. Support Policy for Deepening the Promotion of High-Yield Creation for Grain, Cotton, Oil, and Sugar
In 2013, the central government finance authorities allocated 2 billion yuan in special funds to build 12,500 ten-thousand-mu demonstration plots nationwide, and selected 5 cities (prefectures), 81 counties (cities), and 600 townships (towns) to carry out pilot projects for advancing high-yield creation on a whole-system basis. In 2015, the state will continue to allocate 2 billion yuan in special funds to support high-yield creation for grain, cotton, oil, and sugar and pilot projects for whole-system advancement, and on this basis carry out research on grain yield increase models, integrate and promote regional and standardized high-yield and high-efficiency technical models, and radiate and drive balanced regional yield increases.
18. Reward Policy for Major Grain (Oil) Producing Counties
The reward standard for regular major grain-producing counties is 5 million to 80 million yuan. The reward funds serve as general transfer payments and are used by county-level people's governments at their discretion. The reward funds for super major grain-producing counties are used to support grain production and industrial development. While rewarding major grain-producing counties, the central government finance authorities give key rewards to the top 5 super major grain-producing provinces among the 13 major grain-producing areas, and appropriate rewards to the rest. The reward funds are used by provincial-level finance authorities to support grain production and industrial development in their respective provinces.