The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has released the “National Plan for Rural Industrial Development (2020–2025),” signaling that the pesticide and fertilizer industries are poised to enter a phase of comprehensive upgrading.

On July 16, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released the National Plan for the Development of Rural Industries (2020–2025), which calls for strengthening innovation-driven development, emphasizing industrial clustering and value-chain integration, fostering new growth drivers, and concentrating resources and factors to accelerate the development of rural industries, thereby laying a solid foundation for agricultural and rural modernization and the all-round revitalization of rural areas. “The Plan sets new, higher standards for agrochemical enterprises involved in pesticides, fertilizers, and related sectors. Relevant companies must manage the production and sales of these products in a scientific and rational manner, enhance their services, and contribute to the cause of rural revitalization,” said Duan Yousheng, Assistant Secretary-General of the China Pesticide Industry Association, along with other industry insiders in interviews.

In light of the Plan, experts emphasize that the agrochemical industry must adopt a development philosophy centered on safety and environmental sustainability, forging a new paradigm for agrochemical sector growth that aligns with the needs of rural industrial development. Agrochemical companies not only bear significant social responsibilities but also face substantial risks; therefore, they should prioritize accelerating green development, leveraging new models, renewed commitments, and concrete actions to support rural industrial advancement.

Experts point out that the implementation of the Plan will inevitably trigger a new round of adjustments to the rural industrial structure. The development of model counties and industrial parks for rural innovation and entrepreneurship will exhibit trends toward large scale, ecological sustainability, and intelligentization, necessitating that pesticide companies undertake significant changes in formulation types, packaging specifications, and materials. Enterprises must also align with the newly formulated or revised thousand‑plus pesticide residue standards, strengthen standardization in pesticide production, closely monitor agricultural product quality and safety, and fulfill their statutory obligations to collect and recycle pesticide packaging waste, thereby reducing non‑point source pollution. Furthermore, the development of bio‑based pesticides should receive policy support at the national level.

“It is also imperative to give high priority to adjusting policies that fail to align pesticide production with the development of rural industries,” cautioned industry experts. Affected by environmental‑protection incidents and safety accidents, some local governments have, disregarding the needs of agricultural development, ordered pesticide companies to shut down, thereby significantly disrupting agricultural production. Governments at all levels should treat this issue with utmost seriousness, avoid adopting a one‑size‑fits‑all approach toward pesticide enterprises, preserve as many of the varieties urgently needed by agriculture as possible, and permit these companies to continue production until their new facilities are relocated, completed, and brought online.

Yang Lijian, head of the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Sub‑Group of the Shandong Provincial Agricultural and Rural Experts Advisory Panel, stated that the implementation of the Plan places higher demands on the pesticide industry. Enterprises must ensure the safe storage and transportation of pesticides and prevent their misuse; they should develop and register pesticides for specialty minor crops and horticultural applications, promote low‑toxicity, low‑residue formulations, and widely adopt integrated green pest management practices.

Meanwhile, several executives from fertilizer companies shared their perspectives on the “Plan.” Huang Dianfu, Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu Jinchai Hengsheng Chemical Co., Ltd., emphasized that fertilizer producers should vigorously promote technologies that reduce fertilizer application while enhancing efficiency, thereby minimizing environmental pollution and advancing the protection of the agricultural ecological environment. A representative from a Sichuan-based fertilizer firm argued that, guided by the “Plan,” companies can secure their future by upgrading products, transforming industries, integrating resources, strengthening ties with financial capital, and elevating both their services and corporate strategies—while achieving compliant development within industrial parks.

Xia Yingbiao, honorary chairman of the Anhui Provincial Chemical Industry Association, told reporters that framing the future blueprint for rural development in the form of a formal “Plan” is highly comprehensive. First, it has raised society’s overall awareness of work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, prompting enterprises in sectors such as fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural films, and agricultural machinery to adopt a service‑oriented mindset toward agriculture. Second, it addresses the critical gap in rural ecological and environmental governance—a key bottleneck in rural revitalization—requiring agribusinesses to continuously promote reduced‑use, more‑efficient applications of fertilizers and pesticides, implement soil‑testing‑based, formula‑driven fertilization, strengthen efforts to curb agricultural film pollution, and steadily advance the management and remediation of soil contamination on rural land; meanwhile, governments at all levels should provide active support. Third, it ensures the quality and safety of agricultural products by establishing and improving traceability systems for the production and marketing of pesticides and fertilizers, thereby safeguarding public food safety.

The National Plan for the Development of Rural Industries (2020–2025) sets forth development goals for rural industries: by 2025, the rural industrial system will be sound and well‑established; the quality and efficiency of rural industries will see marked improvement; the rural employment structure will be further optimized; channels for increasing farmers’ incomes will continue to expand; and the endogenous driving forces of rural industries will keep strengthening.

At the same time, key tasks for rural industrial development have been clearly defined. First, upgrade the agricultural processing industry by coordinating the development of primary processing, deep processing, and comprehensive utilization processing; promote innovation in processing technologies and the development of advanced processing equipment; and establish a number of agricultural processing parks and technology‑integration bases. Second, expand distinctive rural industries by building “one village, one product” demonstration villages and towns, strong agricultural towns, modern agricultural industrial parks, and clusters of advantageous, specialty industries; cultivate well‑known brands; and deepen efforts to alleviate poverty through industrial development. Third, optimize the rural leisure and tourism sector. Fourth, develop new types of rural service industries. Fifth, advance agricultural industrialization and the integrated development of rural industries. This includes creating an upgraded model of agricultural industrialization, strengthening the ranks of leading agricultural enterprises, fostering agricultural industrialization consortia, promoting the integrated development of agricultural industries, cultivating diverse, multi‑stakeholder integration entities, developing various forms of integrated business models, and establishing sound mechanisms to support such integration.

Source: China Chemical Industry News