A relevant official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs provides an interpretation of the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Pesticide Industry Development.”

To promote the high-quality development of the pesticide industry and better safeguard food security, the quality and safety of agricultural products, and ecological and environmental safety, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in collaboration with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, recently formulated and released the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Pesticide Industry Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). What is the background behind the issuance of this Plan, and what goals and key tasks does it set forth? A reporter interviewed a relevant official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on these issues.

Q: What is the current state of China’s pesticide industry, and what challenges and opportunities does it face?

A: Over the past 70 years, China’s agrochemical industry has grown from scratch to become a major producer, user, and exporter of pesticides. The sector’s total output value is approaching RMB 300 billion, with exports reaching 188 countries and regions, and 11 Chinese companies ranking among the top 20 global agrochemical firms. China’s capacity for pesticide research and development continues to strengthen, its product mix has been significantly optimized, and it has played an irreplaceable role in ensuring food supply, safeguarding agricultural safety, and protecting the ecological environment.

Green agricultural development has set new requirements for the pesticide industry, yet the sector still faces several weak links and significant shortcomings, such as small and fragmented production enterprises, an aging product portfolio, and limited innovation capacity. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, major pests and diseases are likely to occur more frequently and with greater severity, placing heavy demands on prevention and control; meanwhile, growing needs in forestry, grassland management, and public health will further expand the pesticide market. At present, the public’s aspiration for a better life calls for safe and diversified agricultural products, raising higher standards for the green, high‑quality development of the pesticide industry and providing external impetus for its transformation and upgrading. In addition, improvements in the business environment and China’s commitment to high‑level opening-up are creating additional opportunities for enterprise growth. Therefore, the 14th Five-Year Plan period represents a strategic window of opportunity to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the pesticide industry. It is imperative to strengthen forward‑looking thinking and systematic planning, adopt innovative approaches, refine policies, and reinforce supporting measures, with a focus on building a modern pesticide industry system and continuously enhancing both domestic supply capacity and international competitiveness.

Question: What is the fundamental guiding principle behind the formulation of the “Plan”?

Answer: The Plan adheres to the fundamental principles of safe development, green development, high-quality development, and innovative development. With a focus on establishing a modern agrochemical industry system that promotes green and low-carbon growth, it strengthens top-level design, optimizes industrial layout, adjusts the product mix, enhances policy support, reinforces scientific and technological innovation, addresses developmental shortcomings, and advances the transformation and upgrading of the agrochemical sector. These efforts aim to continuously improve the quality, efficiency, and market competitiveness of the agrochemical industry, thereby providing robust support for ensuring food security, the safety of agricultural products, and ecological and environmental protection.

Q: What development goals does the Plan set forth?

Answer: The Plan specifies that by 2025, the pesticide industry system will be further improved, the industrial structure will become more rational, its support for agricultural production will continue to strengthen, and the levels of green development and high-quality development will keep rising.

— Intensification of production. Promote mergers and reorganizations, transformation and upgrading, and the scaling-up and strengthening of pesticide manufacturers. By 2025, focus on cultivating 10 enterprises with an output value exceeding RMB 5 billion, 50 enterprises exceeding RMB 1 billion, and 100 enterprises surpassing RMB 500 million; meanwhile, increase the output value share of pesticide producers within industrial parks by 10 percentage points. The number of pesticide-producing enterprises will be reduced from 1,705 in 2020 to fewer than 1,600 by 2025.

— Standardized operations. Focusing on key production areas for grains, vegetables, fruits, and tea, we will establish 10,000 standardized pesticide‑sales service outlets and vigorously promote standardized practices such as prescription‑based sales, record‑keeping, and traceability management. By 2025, we aim to have 50% of pesticide retailers implementing standardized operational services.

— Promote professionalization. Strengthen the dissemination of scientific and safe pesticide-use practices, vigorously advance green pest‑management technologies, and prioritize the development of specialized, integrated pest‑management services to continuously improve pesticide-use efficiency. By 2025, the coverage of integrated pest management for the three major grain crops will reach 45%, while continuing to reduce the use of chemical pesticides.

— Modernization of management. Establish a national digital regulatory platform for pesticides and enhance information‑based, intelligent regulatory services. Improve the institutional framework to create a modern management system that integrates top‑down coordination, operates efficiently, and provides robust support, thereby comprehensively elevating the capacity and quality of pesticide regulatory services.

Q: What specific tasks does the Plan set forth for pesticide production?

Answer: The Plan proposes that efforts should be focused on establishing a modern pesticide production system.

First, optimize the industrial layout. Prioritize the development of the biopesticide industry and the formulation‑processing sector for chemical pesticides, while moderately expanding capacity for the production of active ingredients of chemical pesticides. In environmentally sensitive areas such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Yellow River Basin, and key rivers and lakes, strictly regulate the approval and construction of pesticide‑production projects.

Second, we will enhance industry concentration by developing a number of pesticide industry clusters and raising the level of production intensification. In the eastern region and the Bohai Rim area, we will foster a cohort of innovative, export-oriented enterprises characterized by advanced technologies and high value-added products. In the central and western regions, priority will be given to cultivating leading biopesticide companies and green‑pesticide formulation processors. We will encourage corporate mergers and reorganizations, and promote the consolidation, branding, and internationalization of pesticide enterprises.

Third, adjust the product mix. Support the development of new, highly efficient, low‑risk chemical pesticides; vigorously promote biopesticides; gradually phase out outdated pesticide varieties and formulations; and strictly regulate highly toxic, high‑risk pesticides and adjuvants. Vigorously advance formulation technologies such as water‑based, nano‑formulated, ultra‑low‑volume, and controlled‑release products to meet the needs of medium‑ and large‑scale application equipment and diversified usage patterns. Strictly control the processing and use of dustable powders and toxic or hazardous adjuvants.

Fourth, promote green and clean production. Encourage enterprises to strengthen technological innovation and process upgrades, phase out outdated production technologies and equipment, and advance the clean, low-carbon, and circular development of pesticide manufacturing. Facilitate the automation, continuous operation, and intelligentization of production processes.

Q: In terms of pesticide business operations and regulatory oversight, what key tasks does the Plan specify?

Answer: The Plan proposes to standardize the pesticide business service system from three aspects.

First, optimize the layout of business outlets. By 2025, the number of pesticide retailers will be capped at no more than 300,000, and the number of designated retail outlets for restricted-use pesticides will be limited to no more than 15,000.

Second, standardize the online sale of pesticides. Establish a multi‑agency collaborative oversight and management system for online pesticide sales, and strictly enforce the pesticide business licensing regime. Implement real‑name registration for online pesticide purchases and adopt traceability management. Strengthen cross‑departmental coordinated supervision of online operations, and rigorously crack down on illegal trading activities.

Third, we will advance the development of standardized retail outlets. We will refine pesticide‑sales ledgers, strengthen the pesticide traceability platform, and implement end-to-end traceability management. By 2025, the number of nationally standardized pesticide‑retailing service outlets will exceed 10,000, with an aim to achieve a coverage rate of 50 percent; in key fruit, vegetable, and tea‑producing regions, full coverage is expected to be essentially realized.

In terms of regulation, the Plan specifies that the pesticide supervision and management system will be further improved. It calls for strengthening information‑based and digital approaches, promoting interconnectivity and data sharing among national and provincial information platforms, and elevating the level of information technology in pesticide regulatory services. Risk monitoring and assessment will be reinforced by establishing a network of pesticide safety risk‑monitoring sites across different regions, with efforts to phase out inefficient and high‑risk pesticides. Support for inspection and testing will be enhanced through active alignment of the pesticide registration trial management system with international standards, bolstering international laboratory cooperation, and advancing mutual recognition of test data. Finally, the technical standards framework will be refined, with strengthened top‑level design to comprehensively advance the development of a robust pesticide standards system.

Q: The use of pesticides is crucial to the green development of agriculture. What goals does the Plan set forth in this regard?

Answer: With regard to pesticide use, the Plan explicitly calls for further improving the system for the safe application of pesticides.

First, we will promote the reduction of chemical pesticide use. By 2025, through phasing out or restricting highly toxic and inefficient chemical pesticides and scaling up practices such as precision application and integrated green pest management, the utilization rate of chemical pesticides for major crops will be increased to over 43 percent. We will establish 500 county‑level demonstration zones for comprehensive green pest management in China’s key vegetable, fruit, and tea production areas, driving broader adoption and raising the coverage of green pest management to 55 percent. By 2025, we will set up 200 pesticide‑use assessment and monitoring stations, tailored to specific regions and crop types.

Second, we will promote the professionalization of pesticide use. We will support the development of specialized pest‑control service organizations and enhance their capacity for integrated pest management. By 2025, 200 counties nationwide will be designated as among the top 100 in integrated pest management, and the coverage of professional, integrated pest management for the three major grain crops will reach 45 percent. We will strengthen training for plant protection professionals, gradually implement a system of pesticide‑use guidance officers, and widely disseminate technologies for the safe and rational application of pesticides.

Third, we will promote the recycling and utilization of pesticide packaging waste. We will gradually establish a system for the collection and treatment of such waste, launch pilot programs at the county, township, and village levels, and develop a digital platform to manage the collection and processing of pesticide packaging waste, thereby encouraging pesticide producers, operators, and users to fulfill their obligations. By 2025, we aim to achieve a recovery rate of over 80% for pesticide packaging waste.

Q: What plans and measures does the Plan outline for innovation in pesticide research and development?

A: First, we will strengthen research and development of green pesticides. We will enhance original innovation in low‑risk chemical pesticides, promote the creation and continuous upgrading of pesticide formulations, and intensify R&D efforts on microbial and plant‑derived pesticides. We will also encourage the innovative application of nanotechnology to pesticide formulation technologies. Furthermore, we will continually optimize and improve pesticide manufacturing processes to achieve low‑carbon, energy‑efficient, and clean production.

Second, we will strengthen capacity-building in innovation. We will optimize pathways for collaborative innovation, intensify the integration of superior research resources, and deepen the synergy among industry, academia, and research institutions, thereby enhancing China’s capabilities in original innovation, collaborative innovation, and integrated innovation within the agrochemical sector.

Third, we will refine innovation mechanisms. We will intensify efforts to tackle key core technologies in the agrochemical industry and implement the “listing‑for‑leadership” and “race‑horse” systems for major R&D projects. We will encourage enterprises to take the lead in establishing innovation consortia, such as science‑and‑technology innovation alliances in the agrochemical sector, to foster integrated innovation across the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the industrial chain, as well as among large, medium, and small enterprises.

Q: How can we ensure the effective implementation of the goals and tasks outlined in the Plan?

Answer: The Plan sets forth five categories of safeguard measures.

First, strengthen organizational leadership. Relevant departments will collaborate closely, enhance guidance and coordination, increase support, and advance the implementation of the plan.

Second, strengthen policy support. Refine policies to bolster the development of the pesticide industry and optimize its operating environment. Guide pesticide manufacturers to cluster in chemical industrial parks, providing preferential treatment in areas such as land allocation, energy supply, environmental protection infrastructure, and access to financing and credit. Improve the pesticide registration and approval system, expediting the registration of biopesticides and products for specialized minor crops. Increase support for the substitution of highly toxic pesticides.

Third, strengthen investment guarantees. Improve the mechanisms for supporting and safeguarding investment in the pesticide industry, and broaden investment channels. Incorporate pesticide research and development into national science and technology programs to foster innovation in new pesticides, novel formulations, and advanced manufacturing processes. Encourage local governments and private capital to increase their investment, thereby supporting pesticide companies in upgrading and transforming their operations, diversifying production, developing new products, adopting clean production practices, and enhancing specialized application capabilities.

Fourth, strengthen regulatory services. Establish and improve the pesticide regulatory service system, and refine the pesticide management framework. Promote the seamless integration of pesticide registration and production licensing, and put in place robust systems for pesticide integrity and traceability.

Fifth, strengthen ecological protection. Firmly uphold the red lines for ecological and environmental conservation, guide enterprises in enhancing the evaluation and management of new production capacity and newly established manufacturing facilities, and effectively safeguard the ecological environment. (Original title: Building a Modern Pesticide Industry System for Green and Low-Carbon Development — A Relevant Official from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Interprets the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Pesticide Industry Development”) (Reporter: Wang Tengfei)

Source: People’s Daily (Agriculture Edition)