Agricultural Hot Topics at the Two Sessions

Chen Mengshan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Party Secretary of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, stated in an interview with the Farmers’ Daily that, to take the initiative in ensuring a bumper grain harvest, he recommends increasing subsidies for high-standard farmland construction to 3,000 yuan per mu.

If this proposal is adopted and implemented, it will represent the highest single‑item agricultural subsidy in history! Members who speak up for farmers must support it!

For consumer goods like face masks, many countries have imposed various forms of trade restrictions in the face of emergencies. As for food, should a global catastrophe trigger severe supply shortages, nations will inevitably prioritize meeting domestic demand—by then, no amount of money will guarantee access to food.

“The pandemic has reminded us that we must strengthen the foundations of agriculture and food security. Achieving a grain output of over 1.3 trillion jin is the top priority for this year’s agricultural production,” said Chen Mengshan, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Party Secretary of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, his tone grave. “This year marks the decisive year for securing a complete victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and for wrapping up the battle against poverty. Securing a bumper harvest—especially in grain—is both essential and of paramount importance.”

Chen Mengshan recommends firmly implementing the provincial governor responsibility system for ensuring food security. Major grain-producing areas should shoulder their responsibilities, stabilize and expand grain‑cultivation acreage, increase grain output, and contribute more marketable grain. Major grain‑importing areas must maintain a certain level of cultivated area, production, and self‑sufficiency. Grain‑producing and consuming balance zones should stabilize grain production and ensure regional supply‑demand equilibrium. At the same time, a multi‑pronged approach should be adopted to strengthen the intensity and coverage of support policies and to anchor policy expectations. Subsidies for “one spray, three protections” should be disbursed promptly, with subsidy rates raised. To address development gaps in major grain‑producing regions, transfer payments to these areas should be increased—based on net grain inflows, the consumption of grain‑production resources, and benchmarked against national per capita GDP and rural per capita disposable income—so that grain producers can benefit from the safety net provided by insurance.

What other measures should be taken to ensure control over a bountiful grain harvest? Chen Mengshan recommends increasing support for agricultural infrastructure and the development of high-standard farmland, enhancing the scientific rigor of regional farmland‑building efforts, and raising subsidies for high‑standard farmland to 3,000 yuan per mu. For cooperatives with strong operational performance and robust spillover effects, he advocates adopting a “build first, subsidize later” approach to infrastructure projects. Furthermore, the construction of mechanized farm access roads should be incorporated as part of efforts to address critical shortcomings in achieving moderate prosperity, while accelerating the adoption of intelligent, multifunctional agricultural machinery. Building on existing programs for high‑standard farmland development and the renovation of low‑ and medium‑yield fields, a dedicated initiative should be established to promote full‑process mechanization in grain production.

Recognizing that existing single technologies are no longer sufficient to address challenges in food production, Chen Mengshan advocates for the application of integrated technologies, particularly a comprehensive approach emphasizing “efficiency, simplicity, effectiveness, and scale.” By leveraging high-quality crop varieties and their associated technologies, along with the upgrading and transformation of agricultural machinery, he calls for advancing the strategy of “ensuring food security through technology,” accelerating institutional innovation, and ensuring that technological advances reach both fields and villages. He also supports the establishment and expansion of regional agricultural extension stations, which, through public‑service‑oriented, end‑to‑end technical services, connect with large-scale farmers to provide guidance on best practices, demonstrate new varieties, monitor and forecast pests, diseases, and agricultural disasters, implement coordinated pest and disease management, and promote scientifically sound fertilization.

Source: Agricultural Inputs Herald