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.