March 12, 2013

 

 

Chinese officials are calling for additional measures to boost agricultural output and ensuring China's grain security, despite annual increases in agricultural production over the past nine years.

 

Affected by the shrinking amount of agricultural land area, natural disasters, and a declining rural labour force, the possibility of grain  output reduction is increasing, said Shang Jinsuo, deputy to the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature.

 

During the on-going annual sessions of the NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Chinese leaders have urged the acceleration of constructing new countryside and modernising agriculture.

 

China's grain output rose 3.2% on year to a hit a record-high of 590 million tonnes in 2012, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth.

 

However, official customs figures show that the country's grain imports also hit a record high of 72.3 million tonnes last year, which is evidence of a strained balance between domestic grain supply and demand.

 

The country's grain self-sufficiency rate fell to 97.7% last year from 99% in 2011, although the rate remains well above the basic self-sufficiency line of 95%, according to experts.

 

Qin Boyong, a CPPCC National Committee member, has pointed out problems, such as the lack of large-scale grain production in rural areas and inadequate investment in agricultural infrastructure facilities.

 

Due to rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, the country's agricultural and rural development have entered "a new stage" and various challenges have emerged, including higher production costs, rising demand for farm produce, and the influx of the rural labour force into cities.

 

China's first policy document for 2013 stated that the government will create policies to accelerate rural land transfers and offer more subsidies for family farms and farming cooperatives in an effort to develop large-scale farming.

 

The reforms have already been implemented in many rural areas.

 

China will "support the development of various forms of new farmers cooperatives and multi-level commercial organisations that provide agricultural services, and it will gradually establish a new type of system of intensive agricultural operations that are specialised, well-organised and commercialised," said Premier Wen Jiabao during a NPC session on March 5.

 

Vice Minister of Agriculture, Yu Xinrong, added that the country will invest more in agricultural technologies to boost output.