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China aims at faster farm growth

— PHOTO: Xinhua

Fillip to farm sector: A worker loads grain into a depot of the Grain Reserves Corporation (Sinograin), in Harbin recently .

BEIJING: China has concluded its annual two-day central rural work conference with a pledge to give priority to maintaining steady and relatively fast rural and agricultural development, ensuring supplies of farm produce and facilitating income increases for farmers in 2009.

Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu addressed the conference on Sunday. The conference stressed that rural areas have the biggest potential for China to boost domestic demand. And the foundation for economic growth lies in agriculture. Farmers are the focus of efforts to safeguard and improve people’s social welfare.

The conference laid stress on enhancing the foundation of the agriculture sector and stabilising production.

There should be no letup in promoting grain production. Meanwhile, efforts shall be made to adjust agricultural structure, promote industrialisation, improve infrastructure, and step up agricultural product safety work, according to the conference.

Major projects include building cotton production bases in the Yangtze River valley and Huanghe, Huaihe and Haihe plain and accelerating application of machinery and modern technology in agricultural production.

It is estimated that China produced a record 528.2 billion kg grain this year, 26.9 billion kg or 5.4 per cent, higher than last year’s figure, representing an annual grain output growth for the fifth consecutive year.

Policy makers also said infrastructure construction projects in both urban and rural areas should employ as many migrant rural workers as possible in 2009. Additional jobs for public benefit should be provided to migrant workers first.

An array of measures would be taken to promote the growth of farmers’ income. The farmers’ annual per capita net income is estimated to reach 4,700 yuan ($687.1 ) this year, up 8 per cent or so in real term from the previous year level. The annual growth rate of farmers’ income exceeded 6 per cent for five years in a row.

The conference agreed the government would continue to raise the minimum purchasing price for grain, increase subsidies for production, raise main agricultural product reserves, stabilise price and give high importance to the employment of returning migrant workers next year.

The adverse effects of the global financial crisis on the Chinese rural economy have begun to surface, making it difficult to maintain agricultural growth and increase farmers’ income, according to the conference. — Xinhua

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