Developing modern agriculture is the Chinese government's top priority in
building a new socialist countryside, according to a central government document
released in Beijing yesterday.
The document, jointly released by the Central Committee of the Communist
Party of China and the State Council, is the first set of major policies to be
released this year and focuses on rural development for the fourth consecutive
year.
"Developing modern agriculture has proven to be the basic channel through
which farmers' incomes can be increased," said the document.
Last year, the per-capita income of Chinese farmers stood at 3,587 yuan (460
U.S. dollars), less than one third of the level of urban residents.
To bridge the wealth gap, the central government said it would pump more
money into rural areas. "Most of the fixed-assets investment and money earmarked
for education, public health and culture this year should go to rural areas,"
the document said.
"Local governments should also channel more money it earns from selling land
use rights to the countryside," it said.
The document advocated the establishment of a mechanism to secure stable
sources of capital from both government and financial institutions.
Both the central and local governments should allocate special funds to
support the processing of farm produce, which is higher value-added than
land-intensive farming, it noted.
"The livestock breeding industry has a direct bearing on the lives of the
general public ... Governments at various levels must strengthen its control
over fodder quality," it said, urging more money to be spent on subsidizing the
breeding of fine dairy cattle and the prevention and control of animal
epidemics.
The central government will also make greater efforts to equip the
agriculture industry with modern technology this year.
"China will continue to focus on improving the quality of farming and raise
the utilization rate of the land and other natural resources in rural areas," it
said.
The country will also stick to the principle of self-reliance in food
provision and gradually build a stable, well controlled and highly efficient
food safety guarantee system.
In 2006, China produced more than 490 billion kilograms of grain, only one
percent increase on the 2005 figure, but nevertheless an increase in output for
the third straight year.
The Study Times, a newspaper affiliated to the Party School of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China, predicted that China could face the
possibility of a 4.8 million ton grain shortage in 2010, almost nine percent of
the country's grain consumption.
To prevent a shortfall in grain crops, the government said it would strive to
stabilize the total area of arable land, raise the output per unit and improve
farm produce quality.
The government also said it would tightly monitor the production,
consumption, inventory, imports and exports of farm produce to secure market
stability.
Last November, China's grain prices went up 4.7 percent on average, and are
expected to rise 6 percent this year.
One of the top targets for this year is to "establish an efficient market
surveillance system to be alert to risks of grain shortfall", said the document.