On Enhancing Comprehensive Agricultural Production Capacity
On January 30, 2005, the Central Government of China released the No.1 Central Document for that year. The document called for strengthening the comprehensive production capacity of agriculture, continuing to adjust the structure of agriculture and the rural economy, further deepening rural reforms, striving to achieve stable growth in grain production and sustained increases in farmers' incomes, and promoting the comprehensive development of the rural economy and society.
The document demands to stabilise, refine, and strengthen policies that support agricultural development, and further mobilise the enthusiasm of farmers.
Continuation of agricultural tax exemptions, the cancellation of special agricultural taxes with the exception of tobacco, direct subsidies to grain farmers, and subsidies for high-quality seed and agricultural machinery purchases in certain areas.
Strengthening support for major grain-producing areas. Measures would be taken to reward and subsidise major grain-producing counties based on factors such as grain planting area, yield, and marketable amount through transfer payments.
Establish a stable channel for agricultural support funds. On top of maintaining existing agricultural investments, new fiscal expenditures and fixed asset investments should be inclined towards agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, gradually establishing a stable mechanism for growth in agricultural investment. Legislation should be accelerated to institutionalise and standardise major national agricultural support policies.
Firmly implement the strictest arable land protection system and genuinely enhance the quality of cultivated land.
Rigorously protect arable land, control non-agricultural construction on arable land, ensure that the total amount and quality of basic farmland do not decrease and its usage remains unchanged, and implement it at the plot and household levels, enhancing the utilisation rate of various rural lands.
Make efforts to improve soil fertility. The central and provincial finances should significantly increase investments in comprehensive agricultural development, with new funds primarily allocated to major grain-producing areas, focusing on transforming low-to-medium yield fields and constructing high-standard basic farmland. Reform traditional farming methods, develop conservation tillage, promote soil testing formula fertilisation, implement comprehensive utilisation and harmless treatment of organic fertilisers, and guide farmers to use more farmyard manure to increase soil organic matter.
Strengthen farmland water conservation and ecological construction to improve agriculture's resilience to natural disasters.
Accelerate the implementation of large-scale irrigation area rebuilding centred on water-saving transformation. New fixed asset investments should focus on large-scale irrigation area continuation, continue to promote water-saving irrigation demonstrations, and conduct large-scale construction pilots in major grain-producing areas.
Enhance small-scale agricultural water conservation construction.
Persistently carry out key ecological construction. Continue to implement natural forest protection projects and refine related policies. Further consolidate the results of returning farmland to forests.
Accelerate agricultural technology innovation and increase the technological content in agriculture.
Strengthen the construction of agricultural technology innovation capabilities. A significant increase in investment in agricultural research is required. The proportion of national scientific and technological investment devoted to agricultural research should be continuously increased, strengthen the innovation capabilities of national bases, focus on fundamental agricultural research and the research and development of key technologies, and accelerate the research of biotechnologies and information technologies.
Intensify the promotion of good species and practices. Continue to implement the "Seed Project" and the "Good Livestock and Aquaculture Species Project", focusing on the construction and promotion of major crop and livestock breeding bases. Organise the "Science and Technology into Households Project" earnestly, support technological demonstration households, and enhance their radiating and leading capabilities.
Hasten the reform of the agricultural technology extension system. Public agricultural technology extension institutions mainly undertake functions like the introduction, trial, and demonstration of key technologies; the monitoring, forecasting, prevention, treatment, and handling of crop diseases, pests, and agricultural disasters; quality safety detection, monitoring, and mandatory inspection during agricultural production processes; the monitoring of agricultural resources, agricultural ecological environment, and agricultural input use; water resources management and flood and drought prevention; and public agricultural information and training and education services.
Strengthen the construction of rural infrastructure to improve the environment for agricultural development.
Intensify the construction of small-scale rural infrastructure. Address safe drinking water issues; increase the construction of rural roads; accelerate the pace of rural energy infrastructure development, actively developing new clean energy sources such as biogas, solar energy, and wind energy, as well as renewable energies; expand the construction and scope of the "small hydroelectric power replacing fuel" projects, and ensure the follow-up construction and operational management of rural electrical grid transformations.
Accelerate the construction of agricultural product circulation and inspection facilities. Encourage the development of modern logistics, chain operations, e-commerce, and other new business formats and circulation methods. Actively promote agricultural standardisation. Strengthen work related to agricultural product quality and safety, implement certification of agricultural products, prohibit the production, sale, and use of highly toxic and high-residue pesticides, and expedite legislation related to agricultural product quality and safety.
Strengthen the comprehensive support system for agricultural development. Focus on the construction of the "seven major systems", including good breeding systems for crops and livestock, agricultural technological innovation and application, plant and animal protection, agricultural product quality and safety, agricultural market information, agricultural resource and ecological protection, and agricultural social services and management.
Continue to promote the structural adjustment of agriculture and the rural economy, enhancing agricultural competitiveness.
Further focus on grain production. Stabilise and increase the grain planting area, reform the planting system, and improve multiple cropping indices; strengthen services related to grain production technology, agricultural machinery, information, and production-sales, cultivate and supply good breeds, and promote cost-saving and efficiency in grain production; ensure necessary grain reserves to maintain grain market stability.
Vigorously develop characteristic agriculture. Utilise regional comparative advantages to establish agricultural product industry belts and develop characteristic agriculture. Each region should leverage its resource advantages, prioritise varieties with regional characteristics and market prospects, and rapidly form competitive industrial systems.
Accelerate the development of the livestock industry.
Focus support on the development of agri-product processing in major grain-producing areas. Strongly support the food processing industry, especially processing industries in major grain-producing areas that use grain as the primary raw material. Adopt measures such as financial interest subsidies to support technological imports and upgrades by agricultural product processing enterprises in these areas, and build storage facilities. Expedite the refinement of value-added tax policies for the agri-product processing industry.
Develop the industrialisation of agriculture. Continue to intensify support for leading agricultural enterprises of various ownership types and business formats. Encourage leading enterprises to link benefits in various ways to drive the development of bases and farmers.
Reform and improve the rural investment and financing system, and establish a sound agricultural investment mechanism.
Perfect the agricultural investment management system. Further liberalise the agricultural and rural infrastructure investment domain, use measures like interest subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to guide the role of national agricultural investment, and encourage social capital to invest actively in agricultural development and the construction of rural infrastructure.
Promote rural financial reforms and innovations. Explore the establishment of microcredit organisations. Speed up the implementation of various mortgage guarantee provisions for farmers and rural small and medium-sized enterprises. Expand the pilot scope of policy-based agricultural insurance and encourage commercial insurance institutions to engage in agricultural insurance.
Enhance the quality of rural labourers, promoting comprehensive development for farmers and rural society.
Launch comprehensive vocational skills training for farmers. Conduct targeted, practical, and easy-to-understand agricultural technology training. Accelerate the transfer of rural labour. Financial departments at all levels should significantly increase investment in vocational skills training for farmers.
Further develop rural education, health, culture, and other social sectors. Implement provisions stating that increased funding for education, health, culture, and family planning should primarily be used in rural areas, with no less than 70% being allocated to counties and below.
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