The increase in autumn grain output has become a foregone conclusion, and peasants' incomes will actually increase by 7.3 percent.

In the first three quarters, the agricultural and rural economy was stable and improving

Reporter Xu Peiyu

The State Council Information Office recently held a press conference to introduce the operation of the agricultural and rural economy in the first three quarters of this year. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said at the meeting that since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has made every effort to stabilize production and ensure supply, focus on consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation, and strive to broaden the channels for farmers to increase their income and get rich, and the agricultural and rural economy has shown a steady and positive trend. In the next step, we will intensify our work, strengthen the implementation of measures, make every effort to complete the tasks of agricultural and rural economic development throughout the year, stabilize the basic plate of agriculture, consolidate the "ballast stone" of agriculture, rural areas and rural areas, and lay a solid material foundation for stable economic and social development.

Grain production is expected to reach new highs

Zeng Yande, chief agronomist and director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that this year's grain production has overcome the impact of disasters such as the rare "rotten rain" in Huanghuai, severe floods in northeast China, and local drought in northwest China, and output is expected to hit a record high again, remaining above 9.1 trillion jin for nine consecutive years.

Among them, summer grain and early rice received abundant hands, and the output of summer grain was 2922.6 billion jin, which was the second highest in history; early rice production increased for four consecutive years, and the increase in autumn grain production was a foregone conclusion. According to the agricultural dispatch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of October 4, 10.22% of the country's autumn grain has been harvested.

Pan Wenbo, director of the Planting Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that the increase in the area of grain in autumn this year has laid the foundation for increasing production, and the key to increasing output is to increase the yield in a large area. Although the local disasters are severe, most of the main producing areas have moderate rainfall, sufficient light and heat, which is conducive to crop growth and development and yield formation.

According to the agricultural dispatch, it is estimated that the area of grain in autumn this year will be 13.1 billion mu, an increase of more than 700 million mu over the previous year. This year, the area of high-yield crops such as corn has increased a lot, while the area of low-yield crops such as miscellaneous grains and beans has decreased accordingly. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launched a large-scale yield improvement action for major crops such as grain and oil, focusing on 200 large corn counties and 100 large soybean counties this year to promote the increase in yields.

The effect of increasing soybean yield in a large area has begun to appear. The soybean area has been stable at more than 2 million mu for two consecutive years, and the soybean and corn strip compound planting area has been 1 million mu, an increase of about 5 million mu over last year.

The "vegetable basket" product is in abundant supply

In the first three quarters, the total supply of key varieties of China's "vegetable basket" was sufficient, and the market was basically normal. The output of pork was 4301.3 million tons, an increase of 6.2673% year-on-year, the output of cattle, mutton and poultry meat was 4.4 million tons, an increase of 2552.2%, the output of poultry eggs was 1.7 million tons, an increase of 2.4%, the output of milk increased by 8.10%, and the output of domestic aquatic products increased by 140.<>%. In early October, the national vegetable field area increased by more than <>.<> million mu year-on-year.

"Looking forward to the later period, in the fourth quarter, the national meat, egg and milk production capacity is abundant, the vegetable field area has increased steadily, and the foundation of the 'vegetable basket' market to ensure supply and price stability is very solid, which can fully meet the living needs of urban and rural people." Liu Han, head of the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said.

The price of pork is related to the people's table and the income of farmers. Chen Guanghua, head of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that after late July, the supply and demand of pork gradually tended to balance, the price of live pigs rebounded, and the breeding achieved a turnaround. Since the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, the supply of pork market has been loose, and the price has fallen slightly. This is mainly due to a steady increase in the supply of hog production.

Chen Guanghua said that the majority of farm households should do a good job in production arrangements, along with the trend of slaughter pigs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will do a good job of stabilizing production capacity, strengthening early warning, preventing epidemics, and promoting the stable development of pig production.

Farmers' incomes maintained a momentum of growth

"Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant departments, has focused on developing industries, stabilizing employment, and striving to broaden the channels for farmers to increase income and become rich, and farmers' incomes have continued to maintain a momentum of growth." Zeng Yande said.

Data show that from January to September, the added value of agricultural and sideline food processing industries above designated size increased by 1.9% year-on-year. In September, the purchasing managers' index of national key leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization was 0.4%, and enterprises' confidence in the future market increased. In the first three quarters, the online retail sales of agricultural products maintained double-digit growth, rural leisure tourism recovered steadily, and the value of agricultural functions continued to expand. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the first three quarters was 9,62 yuan, an actual increase of 8.15705% after deducting price factors.

Living conditions in rural areas are constantly improving. In terms of improving the rural living environment, the penetration rate of sanitary toilets in rural areas has exceeded 73%, and the proportion of administrative villages that collect and transport domestic waste has exceeded 90%. More than 95 per cent of the villages have carried out clean-up operations, and the appearance of the villages has improved significantly.

Steady progress has been made in the reform of key areas, and new agricultural business entities have developed and expanded. These include expanding the scope of the pilot project to extend for another 30 years after the expiration of the second round of land contracts, issuing measures for the management of rural land contracts, orderly promoting the pilot work of standardizing the circulation of rural property rights, and continuing to deepen the pilot reform of the rural homestead system. By the end of September, there were more than 9.222 million farmer cooperatives and 400 million family farms nationwide, and more than 107.<> million agricultural socialized service organizations.

People's Daily Overseas Edition(October 2023, 10 Version 27)