The Information Office of the State Council held a series of press conferences on the theme of "Promoting High-quality Development" at 10 a.m. on July 24, 2024. 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, attended the press conference and answered questions from reporters. Life Xiaoli, director of the Information Bureau of the Information Office of the State Council and press spokesman, presided over the press conference.
Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
Friends of the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you for attending the press conference today, and thank you for your long-term support for agriculture and rural work. This is my first press conference since I took up my new post at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and I am very happy to have this opportunity to communicate with the media today. Next, I would like to introduce to you the high-quality development of the "three rural" fields.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has insisted on solving the "three rural" problems as the top priority of the whole party's work, won the battle against poverty, implemented the rural revitalization strategy, and promoted the development of agriculture and rural areas to achieve historic achievements and historic changes. Agricultural and rural departments at all levels have always kept in mind the "great power of the country", thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on the "three rural" work, conscientiously implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, unremittingly consolidated the foundation of national food security, and continued to promote the development of agriculture and rural areas to maintain the momentum of stability and improvement, and made solid steps in the construction of an agricultural power, and the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas has continuously achieved new results, providing strong support for the economic recovery and high-quality development.
We have made every effort to ensure the stable and safe supply of grain and important agricultural products, which is a top priority, and have firmly held the rice bowl of more than 1.4 billion Chinese in our own hands. With the implementation of the strategy of storing grain on the ground and in technology, 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, and the per capita grain share was 493 kg. Everyone is very concerned about this year's grain production situation, this year's summer grain has achieved another bumper harvest, summer grain output increased by 7.25 billion catties, reaching 299.56 billion catties, a record high. In particular, in recent years, we have made great efforts to grasp soybean production, and the soybean self-sufficiency rate has increased by nearly 4 percentage points in two years. The supply of cotton, oil, sugar, meat, eggs and milk, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables and tea is very abundant, and more and more green and high-quality agricultural products are put on the people's table.
We have continued to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, and firmly guarded the bottom line of not returning to poverty on a large scale. During the transition period, we continued to maintain the stability of assistance work and policies, continuously consolidated and improved the achievements of rural compulsory education, basic medical care, housing safety and drinking water security, effectively operated the dynamic monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent the return to poverty, and focused on strengthening industrial assistance and employment assistance, so that there was no large-scale return to poverty.
We have made every effort to improve the conditions of agricultural science and technology equipment and facilities, and the level of agricultural modernization has continued to improve. 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 have worked together to promote rural construction and rural governance, and the construction of livable, workable and beautiful villages has made steady progress. 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%, and 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 peasant masses have a rich and colorful cultural activities on their own, and the vast number of peasant masses have a greater sense of gain, happiness and security in rural revitalization.
We have made unremitting efforts to make good use of the magic weapon of deepening reform and 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. At present, we are vigorously cultivating new agricultural business entities, with more than 2.2 million farmer cooperatives and nearly 4 million family farms, and the agricultural socialized service system has been continuously improved. We will continue to make efforts to do a good job in rural "native products", accelerate the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, vigorously cultivate new industries and new forms of business in rural areas, steadily promote the urbanization of the agricultural transfer population, and continuously expand the channels for farmers' employment and income increase. 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 2.81 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.
Looking back on the past, the achievements in agricultural and rural development are gratifying. The most fundamental reason for these achievements is that the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core is at the helm and the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made systematic arrangements for the major tasks of agricultural and rural reform and development. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, anchor the goal of building a strong agricultural country, do a solid job in the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside, and strive to write a more magnificent new chapter of "three rural" on the new journey.
The just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the 20 th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements for further deepening reform, and rural reform was an important content. So, what are the priorities for the next reform? How will it move forward?
Agricultural and rural reform in the plenary session of the "Decision" is very heavy, the "Decision" has a special chapter to improve the urban-rural integration of the development of the system and mechanism to make systematic arrangements, clear rural reform key tasks, for the new journey to promote rural reform to provide an important follow and basis. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will deeply study and comprehend the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, carefully grasp the key tasks of agricultural and rural reform, and add impetus and vitality to the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. The main thing is to do a good job in three aspects, which is also a key task 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. China's reform originated in the rural areas, and this year is the 46th year of rural reform. That is, the basic management system in the rural areas has been formed. On April 25, 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at a symposium on rural reform presided over by Xiaogang Village, Anhui Province, that "the rural reform in the mainland starts from the good handling of the relationship between farmers and land" and "the biggest policy is to adhere to and improve the basic rural management system". We often say that the basic management system in the rural areas is the cornerstone of the party's rural policy, and the basic management system in the rural areas has clear requirements in terms of policy, and there are three pillars of policy. The first is to uphold the system of collective ownership of rural land, the second is to uphold the basic status of household management, and the third is to persist in stabilizing land contract relations. 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. If the first round of land contracts is counted from the beginning of the rural reform, the second round of land contracts will be extended for another 30 years after the expiration of the second round of land contracts, and the rural land contract relationship will be maintained for up to 75 years. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will, in accordance with the arrangements of the central authorities, conscientiously implement the policy of consolidating and perfecting the basic rural management system, which is the largest policy in rural areas. This year, we have launched the second round of three pilot projects for the whole province, these three provinces are Anhui, Hunan and Guangxi, where I have worked, and now other provinces are also organizing the whole county and township pilot projects, and the general policy tone is to adhere to the overall extension and ensure that the original contracted land of the vast majority of rural households continues to remain stable, which is very clear in policy. 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. Can smallholder farmers effectively connect with modern agriculture? Yes, it's totally possible. Not long ago, I went to Hebei to conduct research and saw a 74-year-old lady, and I asked her if she still had land at home. She said there were still six acres of land. Did I say I rented it out? She said no. I said you can still farm at the age of 74? She said that she asked someone to help with planting and engaged in custodial services, and all links were to ask someone to help plant. She calculated that hosting earned more than 200 yuan more than renting out an acre of land, and she said that I earned more than 1,000 yuan, so why not? Just such a 74-year-old lady can plant her own land well under the modern socialized service system. Therefore, the path of agricultural modernization is diverse, and small farmers can also be included in the track of modern agricultural development. Here, I would like to stress in particular that the principle of voluntary compensation in accordance with the law must be adhered to in the circulation of land, and the circulation of land must not go against the will of the peasants, harm the interests of the peasants, and must not change the use of land. We have also made it clear that it is strictly forbidden to promote land circulation by setting targets and setting tasks or including the area and proportion of circulation in the performance appraisal. In other words, you can't engage in coercive orders on this issue. This is the first area of focus.
Second, we should give priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas. The "Decision" has a special section called improving the support system for strengthening agriculture and benefiting farmers and rich farmers, and makes specific arrangements for improving the investment mechanism for rural revitalization, optimizing the agricultural subsidy policy system, improving the normalized mechanism covering the rural population to prevent returning to poverty and causing poverty, improving the income guarantee mechanism for grain farmers, and establishing an inter-provincial horizontal interest compensation mechanism for grain production and marketing areas. The priority development of agriculture and rural areas is an important policy to solve the "three rural" problems, specifically the "four priorities", in the allocation of cadres to give priority to the allocation of factors, in the allocation of factors to give priority to the guarantee, in the public service to give priority to the arrangement. This is the clear requirement of the Party Central Committee, to put the "four priorities" into specific reform measures, there is still a lot of work to be done, we will pay close attention to refinement and implementation, in the allocation of cadres, the allocation of factors, capital investment and public services, etc., to promote the adoption of more effective measures, to speed up the completion of the shortcomings of agricultural and rural development.
The third is to adhere to the integrated development of urban and rural areas. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "to revitalize the countryside, we cannot talk about the countryside on the basis of the countryside, but we must strengthen the use of industry to supplement agriculture and the city to lead the countryside." It is necessary to promote new industrialization, new urbanization and comprehensive rural revitalization as a whole, establish and improve the institutional mechanism and policy system for the integrated development of urban and rural areas, comprehensively improve the level of integration of urban and rural planning, construction and governance, promote the equal exchange and two-way flow of urban and rural elements, gradually narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, and promote the common prosperity and development of urban and rural areas. In this regard, it is first necessary to speed up the urbanization of the rural migrant population, implement a system of basic services provided by 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. This is a very significant policy. In this regard, it is necessary to safeguard according to law the right to contract land, the right to use homestead land, and the right to distribute collective income for peasants who have settled in the cities. What I would like to make special mention here is that the current policy allows the exploration of the method of voluntary paid withdrawal of the "three rights" of peasants, but it must be carried out prudently. Taking the withdrawal of the right to use homestead land as an example, the general policy tone is that the introduction of relevant policies in this regard must be prudent and prudent, and the wind must not blow the wind, and it will be completely bought out at a cost of tens of thousands of yuan, and the long-term interests of the peasants may not be cost-effective, and in this regard we must leave a way back for the peasants, and we must think about the peasants' long-term interests.
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The right to use homestead land is very clearly defined in law, and the right to use homestead land is a right enjoyed by members of rural collective economic organizations, that is to say, non-members of the collective economic organization have no right to obtain or obtain it in disguise. All of our laws are very clear on this point, and the policy requirements are very clear. In this regard, 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 among retired cadres and workers who have returned to their hometowns, and to guard 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.
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The construction of high-standard farmland is a major project to ensure national food security. In recent years, remarkable results have been achieved in the construction of high-standard farmland across the country. What is the overall progress of high-standard farmland construction? How to improve the construction, acceptance, management and protection mechanism of high-standard farmland in the next step?
Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
The construction of high-standard farmland is related to ensuring national food security and the vital interests of the peasant masses, and is not only a project of people's livelihood, but also a project of people's will. Just now, Secretary Han Jun also talked about the general progress in this regard when he introduced the situation. The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to this work, and all sectors of society are also very concerned about it. Over the years, agricultural and rural departments at all levels have conscientiously implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. By the end of last year, the country had built a total area of more than 1 billion mu, built more than 10 million kilometers of various field irrigation and drainage channels, and built more than 27 million water conservancy facilities for small farmland. This year, the state has greatly raised the input standards for high-standard farmland, providing a strong guarantee for further improving the level of construction.
In order to ensure the quality of the project, we conscientiously implement the working mechanism of "the central government's overall planning, the province's overall responsibility, the city and county's implementation, and the participation of the masses", and work with relevant departments to improve the system and standards, pay close attention to the implementation of tasks, and ensure that the quality is guaranteed. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve the mechanism of high-standard farmland construction, acceptance, management and protection, and we will adhere to the work orientation of "quality first, quantity and quality at the same time", take hard measures with long teeth and thorns, and do everything possible to ensure the quality of construction, so as to truly build one acre into one acre. The focus should be on three aspects:
The first is to strengthen construction management in the whole process. It is necessary to reasonably determine the construction standards of high-standard farmland in different regions and different types, guide all localities to further optimize the layout, clarify the construction priorities, do a solid job in the preliminary work such as project design, strictly implement the territorial responsibility of project quality management, and strictly control the quality of options, bidding, building materials, construction, acceptance and other links.
The second is to carry out supervision and inspection on a regular basis. In the near future, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will start the implementation of high-standard farmland construction project quality "review" and special rectification actions, focusing on farmland water conservancy facilities are not electrified, water, not easy to use and other problems, organize all localities to carry out investigations, classification and rectification. This year, we will also carry out regular random sampling tests of project quality across the country, and instruct the local authorities to resolutely rectify the problems found, and seriously pursue accountability in accordance with discipline and regulations. Those suspected of violating the law or committing crimes are to be resolutely transferred to the judicial organs for handling.
The third is to take multiple measures to strengthen post-construction management and protection. We will work with relevant departments to further improve the relevant systems, promote all localities in the early stage of high-standard farmland construction project planning, and simultaneously plan the main body of management and protection, management and protection mechanisms and safeguard measures, clarify management and protection responsibilities and standards, and truly put down the management and protection measures after construction, avoid the suspension or even failure of management and protection after construction, reverse the tendency of rebuilding light pipes in some places, and effectively build and manage well.
This year's summer grain output is at a record high. In the case of frequent meteorological disasters, how can a bumper harvest be achieved? Since the beginning of summer this year, many places have suffered from drought and floods of varying degrees, does this have any impact on autumn grain? What kind of safeguards and measures are in place to make efforts to complete a bumper grain harvest throughout this year?
Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
In the "three rural" issues, the food problem is the most concerned by everyone, and we are a large country with more than 1.4 billion people, and the rice bowl must be firmly in our own hands, and there can be no mistakes in ensuring national food security. This year's summer grain has increased by 7.25 billion catties, what is this concept? It is the largest increase in summer grain output in the past nine years, and this has played an obvious role in stabilizing prices and stabilizing the expectations of the common people. There are two main reasons for this year's bumper summer grain harvest. On the one hand, the area has stabilized, which is the basis for increasing production. If the area is not stable, there will be no foundation for a bumper harvest. Last year, all localities actively responded to the unfavorable conditions of autumn sowing and achieved the full planting of seeds. The area of wheat harvested in the summer was 346 million mu, an increase of 475,000 mu from the historical high, which was also not easy. The main reason for the second bumper summer grain harvest was higher yields. At present, the main thing to increase agricultural output is to increase the yield, and to increase the yield, it is necessary to have improved seeds, and it is not enough to have good seeds, but it is necessary to closely integrate good seeds, good fields, good opportunities, and good laws, and there must also be good policies; the minimum purchase price of summer grain and wheat this year has been raised, and this has also stabilized the peasants' expectations. It is necessary to implement comprehensive policies and make concerted efforts, which is ultimately reflected in the increase in yield. This year's summer wheat yield per mu increased by 10 kilograms, an increase of 2.6 percent, the largest increase in yield in the past five years. We have calculated that the increase in yields contributes more than 90 percent to the increase in summer grain production. In the past two years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has focused on corn, wheat, soybeans and other major grain and oil crops to implement a large area of yield improvement actions, for example, we have integrated and promoted key technologies such as deep ploughing and land preparation, post-sowing suppression, water and fertilizer integration on wheat, and we have implemented "one spray and three preventions" in key agricultural hours, and we have done a good job in the unified control and control of pests and diseases, emergency prevention and control, and we have organized more than 600,000 combine harvesters to operate across regions during the summer harvest, which is very spectacular. I work in the province, and I feel this very deeply, because the principal leading comrades in the province must firmly grasp the grain in their hands, and we must be concerned about these technical measures, and if these measures are in place, they will produce good results.
Summer grain has made a good start, which is good news. However, the bulk is in the autumn grain, which accounts for three-quarters of the mainland's total grain output. Everyone is very concerned about the situation of autumn grain, and since the beginning of summer, there has been a drought in the south and in the north, and the drought and flood in some areas have taken a sharp turn. At present, the affected area of crops in the country is higher than last year, but the area affected by the disaster has decreased by more than 6 million mu year-on-year. Friends in the media may also have paid attention to it, I took office on Friday, held a one-day meeting on Saturday, I went to Hebei on Sunday to see the drought, and then went to Heilongjiang to see the growth of crops, Henan has been seriously affected by the recent disaster, and the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs went to Henan for the first time, to see the affected places, and vigorously supported Henan and other places to fight the disaster and win a bumper harvest.
As everyone knows, now is a critical period for flood prevention and drought control, and this period is also a critical period for the formation of autumn grain crop output. We will always tighten the strings of disaster prevention and mitigation. We must fully estimate the difficulties, base ourselves on preventing major floods, fighting major droughts, and providing relief from major disasters, and in particular, we must keep a close eye on the main producing areas and the hardest-hit areas. In these disaster-stricken areas, we have summarized the measures that need to be taken, speed up the drainage and waterlogging of waterlogged farmland, and in some places the drainage ditches on the roadside and the edge of the fields are blocked and cannot be discharged. For the drought-stricken plots, it is necessary to do everything possible to open up water sources and irrigate them in a timely manner; Now there are seeds with a short growth period, and if the grain is not good, you can also plant vegetable crops, in short, this land can not be wasted. In order to speed up the recovery of agricultural production after the disaster, we are now organizing agricultural scientific and technological personnel to sink to the front line, including comrades from agricultural and rural departments at all levels, to sink to the front line, to go into villages and households to squat in the packs, to provide precise and meticulous guidance and services, and to strive to win a bumper harvest of autumn grain and agriculture throughout the year.
At present, pig breeding has turned losses into profits, but the breeding of dairy cows and beef cattle is 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 be taken to stabilize the development of the livestock sector?
Wang Lejun, Chief Animal Pastor of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
Since the beginning of this year, the production of meat, eggs and milk has increased in an all-round way, and Secretary Han also said just now that the overall supply of meat, eggs and milk is abundant this year. In the first half of the year, 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%. Specifically, in terms of live pigs, under the dual role of market regulation and capacity control, pig production capacity has been reversed at a high level, prices have taken the lead in rebounding, and pig breeding has now returned to normal profitability. We calculated that a pig could 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.
About the trend in the second half of the year. In terms of pigs, the development momentum is improving, and production and sales are booming. Here are two sets of data to tell you. 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 fell 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, the price will run at a low level in the short term, and it is difficult to breed and get rid of it.
To stabilize animal husbandry production, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will focus on five aspects of work in the next step.
First, do a good job in capacity control. At present, the pig production capacity is in the green and reasonable area, and the next step is to focus on the "master switch" of 39 million sows that can reproduce, and do a good job in supporting measures such as capacity regulation and policy guarantees, and strive to ensure that the production capacity is stable in a reasonable range.
The second is to strengthen early warning and guidance. Pay close attention to the data changes such as the number of breeding sows, newborn piglets and medium and large pigs, guide farmers to slaughter pigs in time, ensure that the breeding income is "safe in the bag", and prevent excessive pressure and concentrated slaughter caused by a sharp rise or fall in prices, especially strive to avoid a sharp drop in pig prices in the off-season after the Spring Festival next year. For beef cattle and dairy cows, we should guide farmers to optimize and adjust the structure of the herd, moderately eliminate old and low-yielding cattle, so that production development and market demand can be better matched.
The third is to do a good job in relieving difficulties and solving difficulties. Guide the main producing provinces to implement relief measures such as subsidies for the incremental purchase of fresh milk and subsidies for powder spraying, and promote the cost-saving and efficiency-increasing feeding model. Organize the implementation of policies such as expanding the herd and improving the quality of basic cows, changing grain to feed, and improving the production capacity of the dairy industry, and guide the local government to increase credit and insurance support for farm households, so as to prevent excessive elimination of fertile cows.
Fourth, we should guard against major epidemics. Implement and improve normalized epidemic prevention measures, continue to do a good job in the prevention and control of major animal diseases such as African swine fever, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and foot-and-mouth disease, as well as post-disaster epidemic prevention such as floods, and deploy autumn prevention work in advance, so as to maintain the bottom line of no major regional animal epidemics.
Fifth, improve the industrial level. Vigorously promote the facilities, organization and industrialization of animal husbandry, extend the industrial chain, and increase the added value of products. Promote the integrated development of breeding and processing, and encourage enterprises to improve the mechanism of linking agriculture with agriculture through order production and signing purchase and sales contracts, so that farm households can get more benefits. We will further implement the action of reducing and substituting soybean meal, continue to promote the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and promote the green development of animal husbandry.
The National Science and Technology Conference held last month made the latest arrangements for accelerating the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance, and Secretary Han also mentioned agricultural science and technology innovation in his speech, so I would like to ask questions in this regard, and I would like to ask what measures the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has taken to accelerate the promotion of agricultural science and technology innovation, and what are the next considerations?
Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
When Secretary Han introduced the situation just now, he also talked about the major considerations and arrangements in this regard. In fact, in recent years, we have a deep understanding in our work, including grain production, including the high-quality development of the entire agriculture, the power of science and technology is indispensable, the power of science and technology is still growing, and the potential of the entire development is also in science and technology to a large extent. In the new era and new journey, we must do a good job in the stable and safe supply of food and important agricultural products for more than 1.4 billion people, and there is only so much arable land, so the fundamental way out to stabilize and increase production lies in science and technology. Just now, Secretary Han also introduced that at present, in the front line of agricultural production and disaster prevention and mitigation, our scientific and technological personnel are carrying out service guidance. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the mainland has made great progress in the development of agricultural science and technology, and the contribution rate of agricultural science and technology progress in 2023 will reach 63.2%, which is a general increase of 10 percentage points compared with 2012, which is a remarkable achievement. In fact, it is also a very important reason why our food and agriculture have been able to develop steadily in recent years. However, compared with the international advanced level of science and technology, there are indeed some gaps between us. From a global perspective, a new round of agricultural science and technology revolution characterized by biotechnology and information technology is giving birth to major breakthroughs, and all countries are seizing the commanding heights, and we absolutely cannot afford to lag behind. At present, we are deeply studying and implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the National Science and Technology Conference, and in accordance with the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, we are making every effort to promote high-level agricultural science and technology self-reliance and self-reliance.
One is to highlight the overall efficiency of the system. At present, there is indeed a certain degree of fragmentation, low-level duplication, and homogeneous competition among the mainland's agricultural scientific research institutions. At the beginning of this year, our ministry set up a leading group for scientific and technological innovation and a strategic advisory committee for scientific and technological innovation to focus on promoting the optimization of the agricultural science and technology innovation system, effectively play the role of the national laboratory, and further clarify what is the positioning of the agricultural research institutes at the central, provincial and municipal levels in the overall work pattern, and what role should scientific research institutions, agriculture-related universities and agricultural science and technology enterprises play in the overall situation. To leverage and promote all kinds of innovation subjects at all levels to be in place, complement each other's advantages, and make efforts in the same direction, we must give full play to the advantages of the new national system, strive to improve the overall efficiency, and solve the major scientific and technological problems restricting agricultural development.
The second is to highlight the orientation of industrial application and grasp innovation. We insist that scientific research propositions should come from the industry, scientific research results should be used in production practice, and insist on collecting needs from the industry, researching and demonstrating for scenarios, and evaluating and accepting users. In the first half of this year, we worked with a total of 17 central ministries and commissions to jointly research and determine 401 scientific and technological needs, and compiled a guide for the application of key R&D projects in 2024, which will be announced to the public in the near future. Through some of these methods, the accuracy and effectiveness of scientific research can be further improved. In particular, it is necessary to focus on the shortcomings and weaknesses urgently needed by industries such as high-oil and high-yield soybean varieties and intelligent high-end agricultural machinery, and concentrate on tackling key problems in all aspects. At the same time, in this process, we should pay great attention to making good use of the superior forces of the Chinese Academy of Sciences system, education system, agricultural and rural system, etc., and concentrate the real superior forces in this field of the whole country to tackle key problems around the main battlefield, and at the same time give full play to the key role of leading enterprises in agricultural science and technology in scientific research and innovation.
The third is to highlight the "last mile" to grasp the transformation. Efforts should be made to open up the whole chain of scientific research, experimental development, promotion and application. Reform and upgrade the agricultural technology promotion system, give full play to the leading role of the national agricultural high-tech industry demonstration zone, improve the service mode of science and technology commissioners, science and technology courtyards, and expert compounds, support new agricultural business entities, science and technology service enterprises, etc. to carry out scientific and technological services, and accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productivity.
There is also the need to highlight the vitality of stimulating motivation and grasping talents. It is necessary to vigorously promote the spirit of scientists in the field of agriculture and stimulate the innovation vitality of agricultural scientific research personnel. It is necessary to pay attention to relying on major agricultural scientific and technological projects and important innovation platforms such as seed industry revitalization actions and key core agricultural core technology research to cultivate and introduce a number of strategic scientists, scientific and technological leaders and innovation teams, especially to pay attention to the cultivation of young scientific and technological talents, and continuously expand the team of agricultural scientific and technological talents.
This year's No. 1 central document requires learning and applying the experience of the "Ten Million Project" to effectively and effectively promote the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside. How has this work progressed so far this year? How can all localities find the right entry point in combination with the actual situation and truly let farmers have a sense of gain?
Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
Everyone knows the theme of this year's No. 1 document, which is to learn and apply the experience of the "Ten Million Project" and effectively promote the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside. The "three rural" tasks deployed in the No. 1 document of the Central Committee this year are summarized as "two guarantees, three promotions and two strengthenings", and "two guarantees" are to ensure national food security and ensure that there will be no large-scale return to poverty. When I was answering a reporter's question just now, I made some introductions on both aspects. The "three improvements" are to improve the level of rural industry development, rural construction, and rural governance. The "two strengthenings" are to strengthen the two-wheel drive of science and technology and reform, and strengthen the measures to increase farmers' income.
As we all know, the "Ten Million Project" is a major decision made by Comrade Xi Jinping shortly after he went to work in Zhejiang, and spent 118 days traveling to 11 prefectures and cities, carefully inspecting village by village, and fully grasping the provincial and agricultural conditions. Over the past 20 years, the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government have firmly followed the direction of General Secretary Xi Jinping's guidance, one term after another, drawing a blueprint to the end, and exploring a scientific path to strengthen the improvement of the rural living environment, comprehensively promote rural revitalization, and build a beautiful China. Since the beginning of this year, all localities and departments have conscientiously implemented the deployment of the No. 1 document of the Central Committee, combined with their actual learning and application of the experience of the "Ten Million Project", strengthened organizational leadership, financial security, and financial support, and implemented a large number of pilot demonstration projects. The key tasks of comprehensive rural revitalization have been solidly promoted, the achievements of poverty alleviation have been continuously consolidated, the level of rural industrial development, rural construction and rural governance has also been steadily improved, and the entire "three rural" situation continues to show a good trend of improving and improving quality in stability.
In the next step, the key to promoting the study and application of the experience of the "Ten Million Project" and promoting rural revitalization to achieve greater results is to learn the development concepts, working methods and promotion mechanisms contained therein, especially to improve the long-term mechanism for promoting the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas. Learning and applying the experience of the "Ten Million Project" and improving the long-term mechanism for promoting the comprehensive revitalization of the countryside is a clear requirement put forward by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Rural revitalization should run through the whole process of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, how to build this long-term mechanism? After I joined the ministry, I have also made efforts to think deeply about and study this issue, and at present we have proposed that we should mainly grasp five aspects in practical work.
It is necessary to concentrate efforts on doing a good job and doing practical things that are within the reach of a group of peasants. It is necessary to aim at the basic modern living conditions in the rural areas, start with the urgency, hardship and anxiety of the peasant masses, take the improvement of the living environment in the rural areas as an important starting point, promote the treatment of rural garbage and sewage and the improvement of toilets in rural areas in accordance with local conditions, and improve the appearance of villages as a whole. It is necessary to speed up the completion of the shortcomings of rural roads, rural drinking water, rural water supply and other infrastructure, there are still many shortcomings in this regard, and there are still many arrears in some places, and it is necessary to improve the public service system such as rural education, pension, medical care, and culture.
It is necessary to focus on industrial employment and make efforts to promote the increase of farmers' income. The central task of the "three rural" work is to promote the growth of farmers' income, so that the farmers' "money bags" bulge, in this regard, all localities should do a good job in "local specialties" according to local conditions, and continue to expand the rural enrichment industry, especially to work hard to develop new industries and new formats in the countryside, e-commerce This is the new industry, and now there are more and more agricultural products sold online. Country B&B is a new industry and new format, I work in Anhui, last year Anhui's B&B doubled, you go to the B&B to see, rent B&B can make some money, you still have to eat, eat to earn more money than living to earn money, when you go, I feel that this thing tastes good, but also to buy, a sale, two sales plus three sales, the comprehensive benefits of agriculture will be brought into play. Therefore, the potential of new industries and new forms of business is very great in expanding employment within the rural areas and increasing peasants' incomes. We also encourage many enterprises to go to the rural areas to develop the processing of agricultural products and the development of tourism, but it is necessary to link the peasants with the peasants and bring the peasants to get rich together, instead of squeezing the peasants out, which does not meet the requirements. In short, we must continue to expand the channels of employment and ways to increase income in rural areas, promote the sustained and stable growth of farmers' incomes, and promote solid steps on the road to achieving common prosperity.
It is necessary to find the right starting point and carrier to pragmatically promote rural governance. Continue to strengthen the construction of rural grassroots party organizations, and constantly improve the rural governance system that combines autonomy, rule by virtue, and rule of law under the leadership of party organizations. In recent years, we have promoted some pragmatic and effective rural governance methods, such as the point system, now there are many rural areas in the country that engage in the points system, the courtyard at home is very tidy and can be scored, the enthusiastic collective public welfare can be scored, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can be scored, with this point can be exchanged for daily necessities, and some will deduct points, farmers say that points are accumulated virtue, which is a pragmatic and effective way of rural governance. It is also necessary to give full play to the positive role of village rules and conventions in promoting public order and good customs, continue to promote the change of customs in rural areas, and strive to rectify outstanding problems reported by the masses such as high bride prices and thin maintenance and generous burials.
It is necessary to cultivate civilized rural customs from the outside to the inside. Rural revitalization should not only shape but also cast the soul, not only to enrich the pocket, but also to enrich the head, that is, to grasp the material civilization and the spiritual civilization together. It is necessary to organize and implement a series of activities for the revitalization of rural culture, do a good job in the Chinese farmers' harvest festival, strengthen the protection and inheritance of excellent farming culture, support the peasant masses to spontaneously hold some mass cultural and sports activities, and constantly boost the spirit of farmers.
It is necessary to lead the construction of livable, workable and beautiful villages with scientific planning. Planning first, and then construction, is a very important experience of Zhejiang's "ten million projects", in this regard, we must proceed from reality, classify and orderly promote the preparation of village planning, especially to effectively improve the quality and effectiveness of village planning, not necessarily each village has a plan, we must proceed from reality, pragmatic and effective, and shape the characteristics of beautiful villages with scientific planning. The city makes life better, and the countryside makes people yearn for more. Through scientific planning, the beautiful characteristics of the countryside are shaped.
In the past few years, with the increasingly tightened constraints on resources and environment, we have also seen that the mode of agricultural production is changing to green development. What's next?
Zhang Xingwang, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
In this season, when we go to the countryside, we will feel the power and charm of green. Green development is the background color of high-quality development, and it is also the true color of agriculture. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the system and mechanism of agricultural green development have been continuously improved. First, the quality of cultivated land is constantly improving, and the average grade of cultivated land in the country has reached 4.76, which is 0.35 grades higher than 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 rate of fertilizers and agricultural wastes is more sufficient, the utilization rate of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is now more than 41%, 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 been stable at more than 80% in recent years. Now we are still working on it, and it can be said that the ecological baggage of the past is now turning into green wealth. Fourth, there are more high-quality agricultural products, the total number of green, organic, famous, high-quality, new, and geographical indication agricultural products has reached 78,000, and the pass rate of routine monitoring of the quality and safety of agricultural products has remained stable at more than 97%. Fifth, the loss of resources is less, the green circulation system of agricultural products has been gradually established, especially in many of our main producing areas of refrigeration and preservation facilities in recent years, the scale of these fresh agricultural products in the preservation, transportation, storage and transportation of vegetables, fruits, the entire loss is now greatly reduced, including such a season to the market to buy last year's apples, that are of good quality, the taste is basically the same as last year's season, the peak season has not changed, in fact, this reflects the results of our green development from one level, We can feel it in life.
In the next step, we will thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, continue to promote quality and green agriculture, and constantly polish the ecological background of high-quality agricultural development, focusing on the "four modernizations":
The use of resources should be intensive. The focus is on the earth and the water. We should strengthen the protection and quality of cultivated land, combine land use and land conservation, do a good job in the management of degraded cultivated land, promote water conservation in agronomy, varieties, projects, and management, and improve the efficiency of agricultural water use.
Reduction of inputs. The focus is on fertilizers and pesticides. At present, there are still different degrees of the phenomenon of large fertilizer and large drugs, and it is necessary to implement scientific fertilization and efficiency enhancement actions, promote green prevention and control and unified prevention and control, and achieve reduction and efficiency increase, such as the unified control of pests and diseases, and the use of drones to fly defense, which has a very great impact on the green transformation of production methods.
Waste needs to be recycled. The focus is on straw, livestock manure and mulch. Develop green planting and breeding models such as pigs, marshes, fruits, rice and fishery according to local conditions, explore the establishment of an incentive mechanism for the use of manure, promote low-cost local and nearby utilization, and take fertilizer, feed and energy as the main direction, orderly promote the scientific return of straw to the field, efficient removal from the field, and promote the scientific use and recycling of plastic film, so as to achieve a win-win situation for economy and ecology.
The industrial chain should be low-carbon. The focus is on the development of eco-circular agriculture. Relying on some major projects such as the National Modern Agricultural Industrial Park, advantageous and characteristic industrial clusters, and strong agricultural industry towns that we are promoting, we will lead and drive the green and low-carbon development of the whole industrial chain.
This year is the fourth year of the transition period after winning the battle against poverty. What's next?
Han Jun, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs:
After winning the battle of poverty alleviation, how to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to this issue. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to ensure that there is no large-scale return to poverty, do a good job in monitoring the prevention of returning to poverty, implement assistance measures, enhance endogenous motivation, and continue to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation. Consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation is the foundation and premise of rural revitalization, and it is also the bottom-line task of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, which will run through the whole process of rural revitalization. After winning the battle against poverty, the CPC Central Committee made it clear that in order to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, a five-year transition period has been set, with this year being the fourth year and next year being the fifth. Over the past three years, we have maintained the overall stability of our assistance responsibilities, policy inputs, regional cooperation, and work systems, and all parties have made concerted efforts to firmly maintain the bottom line of not returning to poverty on a large scale. At present, the total scale of employment of the poor population in the country has remained above 30 million for three consecutive years, because the most important income of these people who have been lifted out of poverty still depends on part-time work. The per capita disposable income of farmers in poverty alleviation counties was 14,051 yuan in 2021 and has increased to 16,396 yuan in 2023, and the growth rate continues to exceed the national average growth of farmers. 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. Looking at the poverty alleviation areas now, in the process of poverty alleviation over the years, including the transition period, the infrastructure has been greatly improved, and the appearance of the villages has also undergone great changes. If you go to Jinzhai County in Anhui Province, it is hard to imagine how poor it was in the past, and now the people are living a good life.
This year is a key year to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, I just said, the five-year transition period will expire next year, and now everyone is very concerned, what to do after the expiration? The Third Plenary Session of the 20 th CPC Central Committee made it very clear that it is necessary to improve the normalized mechanism for preventing the return to poverty and poverty that covers the rural population, and establish a hierarchical and categorical assistance system for the low-income rural population and underdeveloped areas. Now that we are still studying the expiration of the five-year transition period, I think one thing is very clear: the bottom-up assistance and development assistance for the underdeveloped areas and low-income people must be persisted in for a long time, and must not be weakened in the slightest, but must be further strengthened. To firmly adhere to the bottom line of not returning to poverty on a large scale, we must stick to it for a long time and permanently. It is necessary to keep this bottom line, and for the low-income population and the underdeveloped areas, these bottom-up assistance and development assistance must not be weakened, the policies must not be withdrawn, they must be increased, and the intensity of work must continue to increase.
In the next step, we will find more ways to enhance the endogenous development momentum of poverty alleviation areas and people, so as to consolidate the results of poverty alleviation and make the results more sustainable. We will improve and make good use of the monitoring and assistance mechanism to prevent the return to poverty, with the focus on doing a good job of "one entry and one exit". "Progress" is to speed up the establishment of a monitoring system covering the rural population to prevent the return to poverty and further improve the efficiency of monitoring and identification, and in this regard, we can better use some big data to reduce the burden on the grassroots. "Out" is to accurately implement some assistance measures in view of the risk of the monitoring object returning to poverty and causing poverty, some of these assistance measures are in the form of a bottom-up, and those who are unable to work must hold this bottom, and those who have the ability to work must use development-type assistance measures to let him work and start a business, develop production, etc., and increase his income. In short, it is necessary to achieve early detection and early intervention to eliminate the risk of returning to poverty. 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 the next step, it is also necessary to step up the study of a normalized mechanism for preventing the return to poverty and causing poverty that covers the rural population, and establish a hierarchical and categorical assistance system for the low-income population in rural areas and in underdeveloped areas.
We will continue to make efforts to strengthen industrial assistance and employment 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.
We will do a good job of consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connecting with rural revitalization. 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.
(Source: China Sannong Release)