At 10 a.m. on July 24, the Information Office of the State Council held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Promoting High-quality Development" (live broadcast review), inviting Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Wang Lejun, Chief Animal Pastor of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, to attend the briefing and answer questions from reporters. The press conference was presided over by Shou Xiaoli, director of the Information Bureau of the Information Office of the State Council and press spokesperson.
According to the press conference, this year's mainland summer grain harvest has been bumper, with summer grain output increasing by 7.25 billion jin to 299.56 billion jin, a record high, the largest increase in summer grain output in the past nine years. The self-sufficiency rate of soybeans has increased by nearly 4 percentage points in the past two years, and the supply of cotton, oil, sugar, meat, eggs and milk, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and tea is very abundant. The following is an excerpt from the press conference.
The output of summer grain in 2024 will reach 299.56 billion catties, the largest increase in the past nine years
Han Jun: The mainland's grain output has remained stable at more than 1.3 trillion jin for nine consecutive years, reaching 1,390.8 billion jin last year, with a per capita grain share of 493 kg. This year (2024) has achieved another bumper harvest of summer grain, with the output of summer grain increasing by 7.25 billion jin to 299.56 billion jin, a record high.
We continued to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, and firmly maintained the bottom line of not returning to poverty on a large scale. During the transition period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs continued to maintain the stability of assistance work and assistance policies, continuously consolidated and improved the achievements of rural compulsory education, basic medical care, housing security and drinking water security, effectively operated the dynamic monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent poverty return, and focused on strengthening industrial assistance and employment assistance, and there was no large-scale return to poverty.
We will make every effort to improve the conditions of agricultural science and technology equipment and facilities, and continue to improve the level of agricultural modernization. The contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress has exceeded 63%, the three major staple grains have basically realized the whole process of mechanization, and agricultural scientific and technological innovation has achieved fruitful results. A total of more than 1 billion acres of high-standard farmland have been built, and the ability of agricultural disaster prevention and resilience has been significantly improved. The 10-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River has achieved remarkable results.
We will work together to promote rural construction and rural governance, and steadily move forward in the construction of livable, workable and beautiful villages. Promote the extension of infrastructure and public services to rural areas, the rural sanitary toilet penetration rate has reached about 75%, qualified towns and organized villages have been connected to hardened roads, the rural tap water penetration rate has reached 90%, the proportion of administrative villages connected to 5G has exceeded 90%, the level of basic public services such as education, medical care, and elderly care has been continuously improved, and the rural masses have run a variety of cultural activities.
Continue to stimulate the vitality of agricultural and rural development. Persist in consolidating and improving the basic rural management system, continuously improve the reform of the "separation of powers" system for contracted land, maintain the bottom line that the nature of public ownership of land will not change, the red line of cultivated land will not be broken, and the interests of farmers will not be damaged. In 2023, the per capita disposable income of rural residents will reach 21,691 yuan, and the income ratio of urban and rural residents will shrink from 3.03 in 2013 to 2.39. In the first half of this year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 11,272 yuan, an actual increase of 6.6 percent, 2.1 percentage points higher than the growth rate of urban residents' income.
How to promote rural reform in the next step? There are key tasks in these three areas
Question: The just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements for further deepening reform, and rural reform is an important content. What are the priorities for the next step of reform, and how will it be promoted?
Han Jun: The just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made strategic arrangements for further deepening reform in an all-round way and promoting Chinese-style modernization, clarified the key tasks of rural reform, and provided an important basis for promoting rural reform on the new journey.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will mainly do a good job in the following three aspects, which are also the key tasks in the three major areas of rural reform.
First, it is necessary to persist in consolidating and perfecting the basic management system in rural areas. The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made specific arrangements for consolidating and improving the basic rural management system, emphasizing the orderly promotion of the second round of land contracts after the expiration of the pilot project for another 30 years, deepening the reform of the "separation of powers" of ownership, contracting rights and management rights of contracted land, and developing moderately large-scale agricultural operations. This year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launched the second round of three pilot projects for the whole province, these three provinces are Anhui, Hunan and Guangxi, and other provinces are also organizing the whole county and township pilot projects. In the next step, it is necessary to continue to guide the orderly circulation of land management rights, improve the agricultural management system, improve the agricultural socialized service system, and better bring small farmers into the track of modern agricultural development.
Second, we should give priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas. Specifically, it is the "four priorities", which should be given priority in the allocation of cadres, priority in the allocation of factors, priority in capital investment, and priority in public services. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will pay close attention to refinement and implementation, and promote more effective measures in terms of cadre allocation, factor allocation, capital investment and public services, so as to speed up the shortcomings of agricultural and rural development.
The third is to adhere to the integrated development of urban and rural areas. First of all, it is necessary to speed up the urbanization of the rural migrant population, implement a system of providing basic services through household registration in the place of permanent residence, and promote the social insurance, housing security, and compulsory education of the children of the migrant population who meet the requirements to enjoy the same rights as the registered population in the place of relocation.
It is necessary to safeguard according to law the right of peasants who have settled in the cities to contract land, the right to use homestead land, and the right to distribute collective income. It is necessary to strictly prohibit the use of rural homesteads to build villas and private clubs in the countryside, and strictly prohibit the construction of houses on homesteads for retired cadres and workers returning to their hometowns, so as to keep the bottom line of the policy. The "Decision" of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made it very clear that the current policy is to allow the legally owned houses of peasant households to be revitalized and utilized through rental, shareholding, and cooperation.
The bumper summer grain harvest benefited from stable area and higher yields
Q: This year's summer grain output has reached a record high. In the case of frequent meteorological disasters, how can such a bumper harvest be achieved? In addition, since the beginning of summer this year, many places have suffered from drought and floods of varying degrees, does this have an impact on autumn grain? What measures and guarantees will the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs take to complete the grain harvest this year?
Han Jun: There are two main reasons for this year's bumper summer grain harvest.
On the one hand, stabilizing the sown area is the basis for increasing production. Last year, all localities actively responded to the unfavorable conditions of autumn sowing and achieved the full planting of seeds. This year's summer wheat harvest area is 346 million mu, an increase of 475,000 mu on the basis of the historical high.
On the other hand, the increase in yields was the main reason for the bumper summer grain harvest. At present, the increase in agricultural output mainly depends on increasing yields, closely integrating improved seeds, good fields, good opportunities, and good methods, raising the minimum purchase price of summer grain and wheat, and stabilizing peasants' expectations. This year's summer wheat yield per mu increased by 10 kilograms, an increase of 2.6 percent, which was the largest increase in yield in the past five years. It is estimated that the increase in yield will contribute more than 90% to the increase in summer grain production.
Summer grain production has made a good start, but autumn grain production accounts for three-quarters of the annual grain output, and the bulk of the year's grain depends on autumn grain. According to the dispatch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the area of grain in autumn this year has increased steadily compared with the previous year, and the crop growth is generally normal.
However, since the beginning of summer this year, the characteristics of flooding in the south and drought in the north have been obvious, and drought and flood have taken a sharp turn in some areas. At present, the area of crops affected by the disaster is higher than last year, but the area affected by the disaster has decreased by more than 6 million mu year-on-year. This year, the overall deviation of the continental climate conditions in midsummer, and the number of extreme weather and climate events, increased the uncertainty of agricultural production. At present, the mainland has entered a critical period of flood control, and this period is also a critical period for the formation of autumn grain crop output.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs should base itself on preventing major floods, fighting major droughts, and providing relief from major disasters, especially focusing on the main producing areas and the hardest-hit areas. It is necessary to take corresponding measures for the disaster-stricken areas, speed up the drainage of waterlogged farmland and reduce the water stain, open up water sources for the drought-stricken plots in a timely manner, and replant the plots that have failed to harvest according to local conditions. In order to speed up the recovery of agricultural production after the disaster, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has organized agricultural scientific and technological personnel and personnel from agricultural and rural departments at all levels to sink to the front line, enter villages and households to provide accurate and fine guidance services, and strive to win a bumper harvest of autumn grain and agriculture throughout the year.
In the first half of the year, the supply of livestock products in the market was sufficient, but the overall price was low
Q: At present, pig breeding has turned losses into profits, but dairy cows and beef cattle breeding are still in a state of loss. What is the situation of livestock production and supply in the second half of the year? What measures will the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs take to stabilize the development of animal husbandry?
Wang Lejun: Since the beginning of this year, the production of meat, eggs and milk has increased in an all-round way, and the overall supply of meat, eggs and milk is abundant. The national pig, cattle, mutton and poultry meat increased by 0.6% year-on-year, the output of poultry eggs increased by 2.7%, and the output of milk increased by 3.4%.
In terms of live pigs, under the dual role of market regulation and capacity control, the high level of pig production capacity has been reversed, the price has taken the lead in rebounding, and pig breeding has now returned to normal profitability. It is estimated that a pig can earn 400 yuan from the recent slaughter. In the first half of the year, the price ratio of beef and fresh milk fell by 12.1% and 12.5% respectively, and the breeding of beef cattle and dairy cattle fell into a loss.
Regarding the trend in the second half of the year, in terms of live pigs, the development momentum is improving, and production and sales are booming.
From the perspective of fertile sows, the inventory in June was 40.38 million heads, equivalent to 103.5% of the normal number of 39 million heads, which is in the green and reasonable area of capacity control. From the perspective of medium and large pig inventory, the inventory at the end of June decreased by 6.4% year-on-year, but considering the increase in pig prices after the rebound of pig prices and secondary fattening, the market supply is generally guaranteed.
In terms of beef cattle and dairy cows, due to the growth of supply inertia, prices will run at a low level in the short term, and it is difficult to breed them.
The green development of agriculture in the mainland has achieved positive results
Q: In the past few years, with the increasingly tightened constraints on resources and environment, agricultural production methods are changing to green development. What's next?
Zhang Xingwang: Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has formulated the first special plan for green agricultural development, accelerated the transformation of agricultural green development mode, cultivated green lifestyles, and promoted the green development of agriculture.
First, the quality of cultivated land on the mainland is constantly improving, and the average grade of cultivated land in the country has reached 4.76, an increase of 0.35 grades over 10 years ago, which is equivalent to an increase of 35 kilograms of grain production capacity per mu.
Second, agricultural water use is more economical, and the effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water has now reached 0.57, an increase of 0.05 compared with 10 years ago, and the annual water-saving capacity has exceeded 48 billion cubic meters.
Third, the utilization of pesticides, fertilizers and agricultural wastes is more sufficient, the comprehensive utilization rate of livestock and poultry manure has reached 78%, the comprehensive utilization rate of straw has exceeded 88%, and the recovery rate of agricultural film has stabilized at more than 80% in recent years.
Fourth, there are more high-quality agricultural products in the market, and the total number of green, organic, famous, excellent, new, and geographical indication agricultural products has reached 78,000, and the pass rate of routine monitoring of agricultural product quality and safety has remained stable at more than 97%.
Fifth, the green circulation system of agricultural products has been gradually established, especially the scale of refrigeration and fresh-keeping facilities in many major producing areas has been significantly expanded in recent years, so the whole loss of fresh agricultural products such as vegetables and fruits has been greatly reduced in terms of preservation, transportation, storage and transportation.
In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will focus on cultivated land and water use to achieve intensive resource utilization; continue to promote input reduction around fertilizers and pesticides; Promote waste recycling around straw, livestock and poultry manure and plastic film. At the same time, it will also vigorously develop ecological recycling agriculture and lead the low-carbon development of the whole industrial chain.
Increase employment opportunities and ensure that the scale of migrant workers is stable at more than 30 million
Q: This year is the fourth year of the transition period after winning the battle against poverty. What's next?
Han Jun: At present, the total scale of employment of the poor population in the country has remained above 30 million for three consecutive years, and the per capita disposable income of farmers in poverty alleviation counties has increased from 14,051 yuan in 2021 to 16,396 yuan in 2023, and the growth rate continues to exceed the average growth rate of farmers in the country. In the first half of this year, 32.74 million people were employed as migrant workers, and the per capita disposable income of farmers in poverty-stricken counties continued to maintain rapid growth.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will improve and make good use of the monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent the return to poverty, and do a good job of "one entry and one exit". As of the end of June this year, a total of 60.4% of the monitored subjects in the country have been stably eliminated from risk, and the rest have also implemented assistance measures, and the 480,000 newly identified people this year have also received targeted assistance.
In terms of industry, the proportion of central financial cohesion funds used to support industrial development should be kept stable at more than 60%, and the quality and efficiency of assistance industries should be promoted according to the actual situation of poverty alleviation areas, and the mechanism of linking agriculture with agriculture should be improved.
In terms of employment, the income of migrant workers currently accounts for 68.7% of the income of the people who have been lifted out of poverty, and in this regard, it is necessary to make good use of channels such as labor service cooperation, assistance workshops, and public welfare posts, and do everything possible to expand the employment channels of the labor force of the people lifted out of poverty, increase employment opportunities, and ensure that the scale of migrant workers is stable at more than 30 million.
Focusing on key areas such as 160 key counties for rural revitalization and 35,000 ex-situ poverty alleviation and resettlement areas, we will deepen east-west cooperation and fixed-point assistance from central units, further promote the action of "10,000 enterprises and 10,000 villages", and implement a number of projects to make up for shortcomings and promote development, so that poverty alleviation areas and people can share the fruits of rural revitalization and modernization in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas and the process of modernization.
Reporter Wang Luyao and intern He Sicheng
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