High standard farmland construction is an important measure to ensure food security in China. By the end of March, this year, about 10 million mu of high standard farmland had been built, renovated and upgraded, and about 44.35 million mu was under construction. "Since this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant departments, has continued to strengthen policy and financial security, strengthen supervision throughout the process, improve project quality, and accelerate the progress of high standard farmland construction." Chen Bangxun, director of the Department of Development Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said.
China has more people and less land. To ensure the stable and safe supply of food and important agricultural products, we must constantly strengthen the protection of cultivated land and make every effort to improve the quality of cultivated land. Shi Pengfei, an assistant researcher of the Rural Economic Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas, believes that building high standard farmland is an important starting point for implementing the strategy of storing grain in the land and expanding domestic demand.
By the end of 2023, more than 1 billion mu of high standard farmland has been built in the country, and the agricultural income of farmers in the project area has increased due to the improvement of production conditions. To achieve the goal of "gradually turning all permanent basic farmland into high standard farmland", there are still many construction increments in the future. At the same time, the construction of high standard farmland has an obvious "multiplier effect" - driving the investment growth in the construction industry and its related industries, increasing the wage income of rural labor, and achieving sustainable economic development by expanding consumption.
The construction of high standard farmland can increase the per unit area yield of grain crops, promote the utilization of marginal land, promote the adjustment of planting structure to grain crops with a higher level of mechanization, create conditions for the development of new agricultural operators and service providers, and help farmers achieve multi-channel income increase. Taking the conservation tillage of black land as an example, Fenghuangshan Agricultural Machinery Farmers' Professional Cooperative in Lishu County, Siping City, Jilin Province has insisted on promoting the conservation tillage model with straw mulching returning to the field and less tillage and no tillage as the main content in recent years, and the average yield of corn per hectare has increased from 20000 kg to 26000 kg.
The construction of high standard farmland is inseparable from financial security. Wang Dongwei, vice minister of the Ministry of Finance, said that the central finance has strengthened the fund policy guarantee. This year, funds related to agricultural production have been released to support the achievement of a good start to agricultural production throughout the year. We will increase capital investment, guide local governments to make good use of the additional 224.9 billion yuan of treasury bonds issued by the end of 2023, and promote high-quality and efficient projects such as the construction of high standard farmland and the transformation and upgrading of irrigation areas; The subsidy standard will be raised from 1300 yuan per mu to 2400 yuan per mu for the construction of high standard farmland by the central finance, and the local requirements for supporting funds for major grain producing counties will be canceled.
Chen Bangxun introduced that, in the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will strengthen work guidance, strengthen tracking and scheduling, continue to promote the construction of high standard farmland, speed up the completion of farmland infrastructure weaknesses, and improve farmland stability and high yield, disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. We will do a good job in new construction, renovation and upgrading, and urge all localities to actively organize the restoration of farmland damaged by disasters.
The improvement of cultivated land quality is a slow variable, and the whole process supervision needs to be strengthened. Chen Bangxun said that it is necessary to do a good job in the preliminary work, design the project scientifically and rationally, standardize the bidding, compact the responsibilities of the construction party and the supervisor, and ensure the construction quality. Do a good job of project acceptance, strictly implement the provisions of the project completion acceptance method, and reject the acceptance if there are problems, and investigate the relevant responsibilities if there are serious project quality problems.
It is reported that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will also study and improve the management and protection methods of high standard farmland engineering facilities, urge and guide local governments to implement the main body, responsibility and funds of management and protection, and establish and improve the engineering management and protection mechanism combining daily management and special maintenance. Encourage all localities to use professional and socialized forces to establish effective management and protection models according to local conditions, explore and give play to the advantages of professional institutions such as insurance, improve the management and protection level, and continue to give play to the benefits of high standard farmland, so as to build a whole. In addition, it is also important to accelerate the preparation of high standard farmland construction planning.
At present, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant departments, is working out an implementation plan for gradually turning all permanent basic farmland into high standard farmland. It will promote the construction of high standard farmland by zoning, classification and standards, so as to ensure high and stable yields in case of drought or waterlogging, and effectively consolidate the foundation of food security. (Economic Daily reporter Li Hefeng)
