Agriculture (农业)

Rich Fruits of the Modern Agriculture

Jilin is a major agricultural province with rich farming resources. As a major commodity grain product base, it leads the nation in average per-capita grain output, grain commercial rate, amount of grain shipped out of the province, and corn exports. In 2006, the total output of the grains reached 27.20 million tons, up 5.4 percent over the previous year. The organic, characteristic, and high quality agricultural products have created a broader market and a high reputation inside or outside our country.

Jilin province is located in the golden corn belt of the northeast China, where the climate, soil and other natural conditions are conducive to quality corn production. Corn actually makes up about 60% of the total farm acreage, and accounts for about 70% of the province’s total grain output. Through the years Jilin has ranked first in China in terms of total corn output, per-capita grain share, amount of corn converted into commodities, volume of corn export, and amount of corn shipped out of the province. Corn production, therefore, is vital to local farm production, local farmers’ incomes and the economic development of the entire province. With a view of the new situation arising in agricultural development and market demand and taking into consideration the changed circumstances, the provincial authorities reassessed the role and significance of corn production and set forth a new guideline for a corn-associated economy. According to the new guideline, the corn is taken as not only a kind of grain crop but also a kind of cash crop, the corn produce and agricultural development will be treated as the perspective of industrial economy. The bottom line is to turn the province’s abundant corn resources into economic advantage and promote local agriculture and rural economy to develop in giant strides. The key to a thriving corn economy lies in revamping the mode of production, expanding the scale of production, and setting seed selection and other links of corn production along regionalized, specialized and standardized lines. Corn circulation has to be reformed as well, so that grain deep processing enterprises can foster direct contact with farmers, and both home and foreign markets can be opened up. Corn processing will become more refined so as to increase its incremental value. A number of major corn processing enterprises are growing in strength, including Changchun Dacheng and SongYuan Lishida, and a 600,000-ton-a-year alcohol production project of Jilin Municipality; and a galaxy of grain circulation and fodder processing enterprises, including Jilin Corn Group, Jilin Deda, Changchun Haoyue, Gongzhuling Huazheng, are going strongly. Jilin’s corn economy is thriving as never before.

New Changes in the Countryside

“Accelerate the development of modern agriculture, promoting the building of a new socialist countryside. Consolidating and strengthen the position of agriculture as the foundation, solving the problems facing agriculture, rural areas and farmers remain a top priority of all our work. We will stick to designing agriculture development with industrialization thinking, taking grain increases production, agriculture adds to effect, farmers’ income increases as the core, to thrive the rural economy all round.”

——from Report on the Work of Jilin Province Government in 2007

In 2006, hardworking people of Jilin province made a great progress in building of a new socialist countryside. The difficulty of grain sale has been overcome, the industrialization management has been better and better gradually, the planting industry has been adjusted. The livestock and poultry industry has formed the brand, the labor services export gradually has had the scale. The agricultural product processing industry was fast strengthened, the drive force of leading enterprise was stronger and stronger, new economic cooperation organization was more and more; the building of new socialist countryside had a good beginning; the system has made that industry returned to help agriculture, city supported countryside, city and countryside develop unceasingly together. One and another new agricultural policy impelled the countryside of Jilin province to make a historical significant transformation

■Unceasingly Increased farmers’ Income

Jilin has 7 of 10 big grain county in the country. Jilin is an important national commodity grain base. The government of Jilin province has been paying close attention to agricultural structure adjustment and accelerating industrial development, and has formed the characteristic structure of grain produce and process and animal husbandry in central part, industries of woods and medicine in the east part, integrated development in the west part. In 2006, Jilin province has realized the historic transformation that the industries of grain, animal husbandry, process, labor and special industry develop together. The total grain output in the whole province was 27.2 billion kg, increased 1.4 billion kg, reached a new high without parallel in history for three year. The total production value of animal husbandry was 50.55 billion Yuan, occupied half of general agricultural production value. The amount of meat per capita has ranked the first in China for nine years. The sale income of agricultural production processing industry, was 126 billion Yuan, up 25.6%. Agricultural production processing has been the important backbone industry of Jilin province as same as automobile and petrochemical industries, and it is also the direct drive of the market grain price increase. Gardening industry realized production value 28.37 billion Yuan, up 15.8%. non-pollution food industry developed fast, the output of the organic grocery reached 19.5 million tons, up 10.4%. Jilin province has transferred 3.3 million rural labor forces, realized labor service income 13.7 billion Yuan, up 7.8% and 28% respectively. The villages and towns enterprises realized added value 87.76 billion Yuan, up 21.3%. Drived by the industrialization, farmer per capita income increased to 3600 Yuan from 3264 Yuan in 2005. The countryside of Jilin province has taken a better look to increase rural incomes through various channels. From depending on only grain to multiple industries developing together, from single agriculture structure to developing secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, from big grain county to big county of livestock and poultry industry, and gradually to be the strong county of agriculture economy.

■Rapid Development of the Rural Economy on Science and Technology

As a big agricultural province, Jilin has been getting into trouble with increasing grain production but no increasing income, no place to store, and no way to sell. The main reason was lack of scientific and technological support and also because of the low industrial level. In the last year, Jilin province have found the way to the mordern agriculture from the traditional agriculture, and paid close attention to scientific and technological support, quality and efficiency, and industrialization. In 2006，the entire province rural economy growth way has realized by the extension to intensive, the scalar type to the quality efficiency significant transformation.

The provincial rural economy realized the transformation of growth pattern, from a numerically superior type to a qualitatively efficient type. According to statistics, Jilin province popularized 20 material technologies, 650,000 hectares fertile lands in 2006, the offer rate from agriculture scientific and technological progress reached 50%, 2 percentage point higher than the average level in the country. The area of special high quality corn, soybean and rice reached 349,100 hectares, 50% of national planting areas. There are 1766 organic and non-pollution farm produce marks, with supervised area 280,000 hectares, 35% of the crop areas. Synthetic mechanization level of main crops reached 47%. The level to resist, prevent and avoid agricultural calamity was remarkably improved by weather forecast alarm and evaluation depended on modern high-tech means.

■Reform’s Great Progress in the County

Jilin Province implemented the breakthrough policy for county territory, to strengthen counties by enlarging their authority and gave more financial support at county level, strengthened the construction of industrial concentration area and agricultural industrial production centralized area, set up the drive mechanism for county (city) to strive to be the first. The innovation of system and mechanism stimulated the intrinsic motivity and vigor to develop the economy of the county territory. According to statistics, the main economic index including total output value, financial revenue, investment in fixed assets, the total sales volume of social consumable and so on in county all exceeded the entire province average level. In 2006, in counties of Jilin province, GDP increased above 19%, the investment in fixed assets grew above 55%, the full aperture financial revenue increased above 16%, this level of financial revenue grows 25%, outdid 5 percentage points of the entire province average level. The status of “big agriculture county, small industry county and poor finance county” has been changed gradually. At the same time, on the base of finance administration system of “town finance was administrated by county and used by town”, and “the province administers county directly”, Jilin actively searched the way to improve the public financial service ability for countryside, started pilot project of agricultural insurance to solve the debt in countryside. In addition, a series of reforms have made great progress, including reforms of grain circulation system, supply and marketing cooperative system, countryside credit association, state-owned farm, investment and management organization of forestry, irrigation work and so on.

■Transformation of the Rural Management

Through the construction of agricultural industrialization projects, everyone got the benefit, the price of farm produce went up continuously. Suit to the market rule, Jilin province worked hard to plan the project construction, the modern agricultural engineering, the agricultural project, to form new productivity. Pay special attention to implement policy well to stimulate the enthusiasm of farmers and enterprises; using the economic method to realize the production and marketing integration; using modern information method to understand the market to provide the policy service, the technical service and the economic information service for operator. Enhance the foreign investments and cooperation to build the exchange and cooperation platform for the counties area and the enterprises. The important symbol of the rural work organization patterns transforms is to Change administration to serve and instruction, to depend upon the market to optimize resources disposition, to stress the project construction, to cultivate main item enterprises, to develop cooperative organization and guide the farmers to develop the economy. In “ten big projects of basic construction” for agriculture and rural economy, Jilin province has achieved 248 items with total investment and circulating capital 5,710,000,000 Yuan, increased 17.2%. Jilin has put in effect 2,200,000,000 Yuan fund from country to benefit the farmers. The province has realized agriculture order forms of 29,520,000 Chinese acres, 296,000,000 poultry order forms. Through expositions to invite investments, the scene product transaction 520,000,000 Yuan has been realized. The province has also signed 186 cooperation contracts with total capital 16,000,000,000 Yuan and evaluated 717 “Jilin name brand agricultural product”. Developed 3900 farmer economic cooperative organization in various kinds, with 521,000 farm households, helped 962,000 farm households, accounted for 13.7% and 25.2% of the entire province farm household separately; set up 85 specialized market and 176 comprehensive ones with the yearly trade volume more than 280 hundred million Yuan, have formed the characteristic region agricultural product market trade pattern. Jilin province is rushing towards well-off society with happy songs on the fertile land.

■New Appearances of Rural Reconstruction

Jilin province acted as circumstances permit, planned scientificly, advanced to building a new socialist countryside solidly, and formed mighty resultant force with government leading, farmer as main body, social members widespread participating. Now we have seen the excellent aspect of the countryside development with pilot work at three levels of provinces, cities and counties, advancing in echelon, key assistants. The government spent 100,000,000 Yuan to arrange the pilot work, and drived the society to invest 18.4 hundred million, started 2713 various kinds of items of construction. In province there are 522 pilot villages, 80 pilot towns. Jilin province have set up 935 new animal husbandry plot, agricultural standardization model district, agricultural products processing items, and have formed the characteristic leading industry, realized the farmer to continue to increase incomes, average per person net income of the farmers from 115 pilot village in provincial level amounted to 4879 Yuan. The economic development caused the infrastructure improvement and the enhancement of public service ability. In 2006, Jilin province spent more than 36 hundred million Yuan to build the countryside road 7000 kilometers, built or transformed 7 countryside substation, built countryside methane-generating pit 5841 households. The countryside roads have stretched to the villages, the clean energy covered 30,000 farm households. 5942 village could drink the running water in province, with population of 4,089,000. 437,000 students enjoyed the favor policy. The new countryside cooperative medical care pilots have covered 24 counties (city). The cable TV users reached 2,707,000 households, accounted 70.9% of the total household. 60 counties (city, area) and 624 villages and towns in the whole province all have built the countryside information service platform and the service station. 800 administrative villages established the information service point, occupied the third in the country. New fixed telephone reached 100,000 households, mobile phone 1,320,000 households. 800,000 people participated the lowest social security, Constructed 543 countryside social welfare center, rescue 20,000 people with big sickness, spent 28,740,000 Yuan. Further consummated the construction of county cultural building, library, villages and towns synthesizes the cultural station, village culture activity room; new progress has made sports place construction for all the people. The countryside appearance has had the historical changes.