Reading Magazine Roundtable丨Firmly hold China's "sugar jar"

Firmly hold China's "sugar jar"

Sugar is an important strategic material related to the national economy and people's livelihood. In December 2023, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Guangxi, he pointed out: "Guangxi is the main sugar producing area in the mainland, and it is necessary to strengthen and expand this characteristic and advantageous industry, and play a greater role in ensuring the safety of the national sugar industry and promoting the income of sugarcane farmers." "Out of every three spoonfuls of sugar in the country, two spoonfuls come from Guangxi. As the country's largest sugar planting base and the main sugar producing area, Guangxi's sugar output has accounted for about 60% of the country for 20 consecutive crushing seasons, and it is a veritable "sugar jar" in China. In order to firmly guard the "sugar jar" of the people of the whole country, Guangxi has successively issued a series of policy documents to accelerate the high-quality development of the sugar industry, insisted on drawing a blueprint to the end, and worked one term after another, and made every effort to promote the sugar industry to improve quality, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and strive to achieve "one sugarcane with two sweetness". In recent years, Guangxi has carried out the special action of "eucalyptus retreating from sugarcane" in the sugar cane production and protection area, launched and implemented a new round of sugar cane improved varieties and good technology promotion policies, continued to promote the transformation and upgrading of the sugar industry, strengthened the scientific and technological innovation of the sugar industry, and promoted the high-end, intelligent and green development of the sugar industry. At the same time, we will continue to expand the coverage of policy-based insurance such as sugar cane planting insurance, and optimize the linkage mechanism of "down payment price + sugar price" to escort sugarcane farmers and help sugarcane farmers increase their income and sugar enterprises increase efficiency. This issue of the "Roundtable" focuses on how Guangxi can stabilize China's "sugar pot".

Build the main barrier for the safety of national sugar supply

□ Wen / Li Liang, Deputy Director of the Sugar Industry Coordination Office of the Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission

As an important agricultural product and an important strategic material of the country, sugar is related to thousands of households and connects all industries of industry and commerce. In the 2023/2024 crushing season, Guangxi's sugar output will be about 6.18 million tons, accounting for about 60% of the country for 20 consecutive crushing seasons, and ranking first in the country for 33 consecutive crushing seasons. Ensuring the security of the national sugar supply is Guangxi's unshirkable political, economic and social responsibility, and it must always focus on the "great man of the country" and "the concerns of the people", vigorously promote the stable production, quality and efficiency of sugar cane, accelerate the optimization and upgrading of the whole industrial chain, and resolutely build the main barrier of national sugar supply security.

Adhere to the "strategic cane protection" and stabilize the sugar cane planting area. Sugarcane area is the "source" and "root" of sugar production, and strengthening the protection of sugarcane area and improving the quality of sugarcane land play a fundamental role in stabilizing sugar production. At present, Guangxi has built 5.04 million acres of sugar cane "double high" base, demarcated 11.59 million acres of sugar cane production protection area, issued and implemented the "Sugar Cane Production Protection Area Management Measures (Trial)", initially established a dynamic balance of the reserve mechanism, the whole region sugar cane planting area remained above 11 million mu, and the planting conditions of the sugar cane area were effectively improved and improved. To implement the "sugar storage on the ground", it is necessary to continue to consolidate and deepen the effectiveness of the special action of "eucalyptus retreating from sugarcane", and resolutely stop the new occupation of sugar cane production and protection areas to plant eucalyptus and fruit trees; For the construction of the project to occupy the protection area, the rezoning shall be completed under the same conditions, and the reconstruction shall be carried out according to the same standard for the occupation of the "double high" sugar cane base; Strengthen the construction of high-standard farmland in protected areas, and speed up the construction of water conservancy facilities in sugarcane fields.

Adhere to the "science and technology to strengthen cane" and promote the modernization of sugar cane production. Sugar cane production is the "first workshop" of the sugar industry, which plays a key role in the development of sugar production by promoting the planting of improved varieties, mechanization of production, and large-scale operation. At present, the coverage rate of improved sugar cane varieties in Guangxi is 98.62%, of which the coverage rate of self-fertile varieties is more than 91%, the comprehensive mechanization rate of sugar cane cultivation and harvesting is 70.84%, and the total area of large-scale sugar cane production is 2.83 million mu. To speed up agricultural modernization, it is necessary to focus on the selection and breeding of improved varieties of sugar cane, and cultivate and popularize breakthrough new varieties with high yield and high sugar, drought resistance, cold and disease resistance, strong rooting, and suitable for machine harvesting; According to the geomorphological and climatic characteristics of Guangxi, research and development of adaptable harvesting machinery and equipment, strengthen the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, and promote the coordinated development of combined machine harvesting and step-by-step machine harvesting according to local conditions; Promote a variety of business models such as "enterprises + cooperatives + bases + farmers", support and cultivate a number of socialized service organizations for sugar cane production, and achieve moderate-scale operation.

Adhere to the "industrial rejuvenation of sugarcane" and accelerate the optimization and upgrading of the industrial chain. Promoting enterprise restructuring and capacity integration, implementing sugar equipment renewal and technological transformation, extending the industrial chain and increasing added value will have a far-reaching effect on improving sugar production. Since the "13th Five-Year Plan", the number of registered sugar factories in the region has been optimized from 104 to 79, the cumulative elimination of backward production capacity of 96,500 tons/day, the average daily cane crushing capacity of a single plant has increased to 7,600 tons, nearly 5 sugar factories are equipped with automatic packaging and palletizing, automatic unloading platform, automatic honey separator and DCS automatic control have been widely used, the utilization rate of by-products such as bagasse, molasses, filter sludge is 100%, more than 20 deep processing products of sucrose, and more than 30 comprehensive utilization products. To achieve "industrial rejuvenation of sugarcane", it is necessary to build a national sugar industry cluster as the goal, take scientific and technological innovation to drive industrial innovation as the starting point, lay out the industrial chain around the development of new quality productivity, strengthen the support of market system construction, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of technical equipment, strengthen financial and insurance service guarantees, and promote the further improvement of the technical level of the sugar industry, the further optimization of product structure, and the further improvement of total factor productivity, so as to effectively enhance the resilience of the development of Guangxi's sugar industry.

Accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the sugar industry

□ Wen / Cheng Qiyuan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology, Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences

General Secretary Xi Jinping is very concerned about the Guangxi sugar industry and has made important instructions on the development of Guangxi sugar industry many times. Accelerating the transformation and upgrading of Guangxi's sugar industry, promoting the development of the whole sugar industry chain, further improving the resilience of Guangxi's sugar industry, and making every effort to ensure the safety of the national sugar industry are the responsibilities of Guangxi as China's "sugar jar" and the only way for the high-quality development of Guangxi's sugar industry.

Actively cultivate and develop new quality productivity in the sugar industry. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must firmly grasp the primary task of high-quality development and develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions. "It is an important foundation to promote the transformation and upgrading of Guangxi's sugar industry, achieve high-quality development, and cultivate and develop new quality productivity in the sugar industry. Scientific and technological innovation is the core element of the development of new quality productive forces, in the face of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, we must increase the intensity of scientific and technological innovation in the sugar industry, and actively implement the development strategy of "hiding sugar in technology". It is necessary to focus on good seeds, good opportunities and good methods, strengthen integration and innovation, promote in-depth cooperation between enterprises, universities and scientific research institutes, and empower the high-quality development of the sugar industry with scientific and technological innovation; Focusing on the whole industry chain of the sugar industry, we will make every effort to tackle various key core technologies, provide strong impetus and support for the transformation and upgrading of Guangxi sugar industry with disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies, accelerate the formation of new quality productivity of Guangxi sugar industry, promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of Guangxi sugar industry, and create a high-quality development of Guangxi sugar industry in the new era version 3.0.

Enhance the product innovation and R&D capabilities of sugar enterprises. At present, many products of Guangxi sugar enterprises are still in sugar, paper, alcohol, yeast and other low value-added products, and there are not many high value-added products directly facing the terminal consumer market, and the economic benefits of sugar enterprises are overly dependent on the rise in sugar prices, resulting in many difficulties in the development of the industry. Enhancing product innovation and R&D capabilities is one of the key factors to enhance the market competitiveness of enterprises. Guangxi sugar enterprises need to further improve product innovation and research and development capabilities, actively promote the deep processing of sugar cane, extend the sugar industry chain, improve the sugar industry value chain, focus on the needs of the people in the new era for a better life, make full use of Guangxi's favorable conditions with a large area of selenium-rich soil, and create a series of large, healthy and longevity products for sugar cane.

Deepen reform to stimulate the market vitality of sugar enterprises. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly pointed out: "Give full play to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources." "To promote industrial transformation and upgrading, the key is to improve the efficiency of resource allocation. Practice has proven that the market is the most effective form of allocating resources. It is necessary to emancipate the mind, innovate and change, further deepen the reform of the management system and mechanism of the sugar industry, respect the law of market economic development, give full play to the role of the market mechanism, continuously optimize the business environment for the development of the sugar industry, and give sugar enterprises the corresponding right to free competition in the market. Only by combining the "invisible hand" of the market with the "visible hand" of the government and vigorously improving the efficiency and fairness of the allocation of sugar cane resources can we better stimulate the market competition vitality of sugar enterprises, enhance the awareness of sugar enterprises to serve sugar cane farmers, further accelerate the transformation and upgrading of sugar enterprises in Guangxi, and achieve high-quality development of the sugar industry.

Innovation and change, broaden the "sweet" road to prosperity

□ Wen / Mo Renzhong, deputy director of Laibin Sugar Industry Development Bureau

When General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected Laibin City in December 2023, he asked Guangxi to "play a greater role in ensuring the safety of the national sugar industry and promoting the income of sugare farmers". As one of the important main sugar-producing areas in the mainland, Laibin City has a stable sugar cane area of more than 1.75 million mu, and the number of sugarcane farmers is stable at about 132,000, involving 520,000 sugarcane farmers, and the per capita income of sugarcane farmers in normal years is more than 9,300 yuan, accounting for more than 30% of the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the city. The sugar industry is the "sweet cause" with the greatest relevance to rural revitalization in Laibin City, the most extensive involvement, the most beneficiary farmers and the most profound influence. To strengthen and expand the characteristic and advantageous industry of sucrose and boost rural revitalization, we must adhere to innovation and change, nurture new quality productivity in promoting the high-quality development of the sugar industry, firmly carry the country's "sugar jar", and take the "sweet" road of helping farmers increase income and get rich.

Adhere to the drive of scientific and technological innovation. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The mainland sugar industry is facing fierce international competition, and it is necessary to increase scientific and technological innovation in accordance with the requirements of high-end, intelligent and green. In recent years, Laibin City has integrated soil improvement, introduced new varieties, adopted modern agricultural management models and advanced technology and other measures, sought good strategies to increase yield, and vigorously promoted the revitalization of the seed industry. To increase sugarcane production and farmers' income, it is necessary to strengthen scientific and technological innovation and promote the deep integration of good land, good seeds, good opportunities, good methods, and good systems, introduce and cultivate excellent sugarcane varieties, increase technical training for sugarcane farmers, popularize advanced planting technology, irrigation systems, and pest control methods, and improve the yield and quality of sugarcane.

Improve infrastructure construction. Whether there is a harvest or not depends on the water, and the more and less is in the fertilizer. For a long time, most of the sugarcane farmers have to "watch the sky to eat" whether their income is good or not. In recent years, Laibin City has given full play to the irrigation benefits of the national major water-saving water supply project in Guizhong Zhihanletan Reservoir Water Diversion and Irrigation Area, promoted the integrated construction of water and fertilizer for sugar cane production of 400,000 mu, and the average yield per mu of the city's contiguous sugarcane area of more than 100 mu reached 8 tons, achieving an increase of 1,200 yuan per mu. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of water conservancy, roads and other infrastructure in sugarseed areas, dredge the "lifeline" of drought-resistant water irrigation of sugar cane, ensure the smooth transportation of sugarcane, ensure stable production and increase production, and reduce production costs.

Develop large-scale planting. Large-scale planting can not only centrally purchase agricultural production materials such as fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, etc., obtain more favorable prices and reduce unit production costs, but also promote the use of modern agricultural machinery and equipment and technology for farming, irrigation, fertilization and harvesting operations, and reduce manpower input. It is necessary to adopt the methods of joint operation of households, entrusted management, land circulation, and land shareholding, etc., to form a batch of moderately large-scale operations of more than 50 acres, improve industrial concentration, promote unified planting, unified management, and unified harvesting operations, reduce labor costs, and improve the yield and quality of sugar cane.

Establish a mechanism for linking stable interests. General Secretary Xi Jinping instructed the sugar industry to "explore the establishment of a more stable interest linkage mechanism, so that the majority of farmers can share the fruits of rural reform and development". To promote the increase of farmers' income, it is necessary to improve the "flesh and blood" of the revitalization of the industry, so that farmers can be deeply tied to village collectives and enterprises, promote the secondary linkage of sugar cane purchase prices, innovate credit support models, and promote the implementation of sugar cane full cost insurance and planting income insurance, so as to ensure the reasonable income of sugarcane farmers, reduce market risks, and realize the increase of sugarcane farmers' income, the efficiency of sugar enterprises, and the security of supply.