The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated on the 9th that efforts will be intensified to develop technology-driven, green, high-quality, and branded agriculture. This aims to ensure stable and secure supplies of grain and other important agricultural products at a high level, thereby increasing agricultural efficiency and farmers' incomes. The minister made these remarks during the second "Ministerial Channel" session of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress.
He noted that after years of effort, China's capacity to ensure the supply of grain and key agricultural products has steadily improved. Grain output has remained above 1.4 trillion jin for two consecutive years. There is ample supply of meat, eggs, dairy, aquatic products, fruits, and vegetables. In 2025, meat production exceeded 100 million tons for the first time, egg output reached 34.98 million tons, aquatic product output was 76.57 million tons, vegetable production surpassed 800 million tons, and fruit output approached 360 million tons.
This year's government work report emphasizes unwavering efforts in grain production. The minister outlined three key areas of focus: First, ensuring sufficient quantity. Elevating production capacity is the primary task, with intensified implementation of a new round of action to increase grain production capacity by billions of jin. This involves stabilizing grain-sown area, boosting per-unit yield of grain and oil crops on a large scale, and integrating improvements in farmland, seeds, machinery, and farming methods to effectively implement the strategies of storing grain in the land and technology. He emphasized focusing on two critical areas: seeds and farmland. Next steps include deepening the seed industry revitalization action, breeding and promoting more breakthrough new varieties, strictly adhering to the red line for farmland protection, rigorously managing land requisition-compensation balance, advancing high-standard farmland construction with quality, and implementing a new round of black soil protection projects, comprehensive management and utilization of saline-alkali land, and treatment of acidified land to further enhance farmland quality.
Second, ensuring quality. Agriculture should shift from being yield-oriented to equally emphasizing both yield and quality. This involves further raising the quality standards of agricultural products, cultivating more varieties with distinctive flavors and enhanced nutrition, and providing more high-quality, better-tasting, and nutritionally balanced agricultural products. "Agricultural products should not only be produced well but also sold well," the minister stated. Efforts will include improving post-harvest handling and processing, conducting grading and quality evaluation, quickly addressing shortcomings in storage, preservation, and cold chain logistics, and effectively enhancing value addition through integrated approaches linking production, processing, and distribution. Steady progress will be made in breeding better varieties, improving quality, building brands, and promoting standardized production.
Third, ensuring diversity. It is essential to uphold a broad perspective on agriculture and food, promoting balanced development of farming, forestry, animal husbandry, and fisheries. This includes vigorously developing modern animal husbandry and fisheries, promoting facility agriculture and underforest economy according to local conditions, expanding forestry and grassland industries, and building a diversified food supply system.
Regarding regular assistance work, the minister mentioned that after the transition period, assistance policies will generally remain stable, with further optimization and adjustment of implementation methods. Continuous efforts will involve maintaining the system where party secretaries at five levels oversee regular assistance, strengthening fiscal input support and financial services, and fully leveraging the roles of east-west collaboration, targeted assistance by central government units, social assistance, and village-based assistance to further enhance the effectiveness of support.
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