Strive to make agriculture greener, countryside more beautiful and farmers richer.

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 1st Title: Strive to make agriculture greener, countryside more beautiful and farmers richer —— Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu answered a reporter’s question on "Opinions on Innovating System and Mechanism to Promote Agricultural Green Development"

Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jun

Recently, General Offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued Opinions on Innovating System and Mechanism to Promote Green Development of Agriculture. Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu said in response to a reporter’s relevant question that this is the first document on agricultural green development issued by the CPC Central Committee, and it is also a programmatic document guiding the current and future agricultural green development.

Promote the formation of a coordinated development pattern of production and life ecology

Q: Why do you want to issue opinions on the theme of agricultural green development?

A:Promoting the green development of agriculture is an important topic in the agenda of deepening the reform of the central government in 2017. The issuance of opinions fully shows that the CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to the green development of agriculture, which is of great and far-reaching significance for unifying ideological understanding, doing a good job in top-level design, intensifying work, and solidly promoting the structural reform of the agricultural supply side and the green development of agriculture.

The green development of agriculture is related to national food security, resource security and ecological security, the construction of beautiful China, the well-being of contemporary people and the sustainable development of future generations. The opinions require us to stand at the strategic height of promoting the overall layout of the "Five in One" as a whole, fully understand the relationship between agricultural green development and ecological civilization construction, proceed from the reality of agricultural development, accelerate the innovation of institutional mechanisms, and promote the formation of a pattern of coordinated development of production, life and ecology.

The promulgation of the opinions shows that promoting the green development of agriculture is the clear requirement of the central government, the ardent expectation of the society, and the inherent need of agriculture itself. The economic and social conditions have been met and it has reached a new stage that must be accelerated. The opinions clarified the general requirements, basic principles, objectives, tasks and safeguard measures to promote the green development of agriculture, and made a series of institutional arrangements with equal emphasis on constraints and incentives at the institutional mechanism level, which will play a very important role in promoting the sustainable development of agriculture and accelerating agricultural modernization.

Fully describe the "road map" of agricultural green development

Q: What is the highlight of the opinion?

A:The opinions not only made the overall arrangement and system deployment, but also introduced a series of practical and effective policies and measures with high gold content, and described the "road map" and "timetable" for promoting the green development of agriculture.

For the first time, the overall goal of agricultural green development is comprehensively put forward-the number of cultivated land will not decrease, the quality of cultivated land will not decrease, groundwater will not be over-exploited, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides will increase zero, and agricultural wastes such as straw, livestock manure and agricultural film will be fully utilized. At the same time, from the aspects of resource utilization, production environment, ecosystem and green supply, the overall goal is refined into specific goals by 2020 and long-term goals by 2030.

For the first time, four tasks of agricultural green development are clearly put forward: implementing the system of agricultural functional zones in terms of agricultural main functions and spatial layout, establishing the systems of agricultural productivity layout, agricultural resources and environmental protection and utilization control, agricultural green recycling and low-carbon production, and agricultural green development mechanism in poor areas; In terms of resource protection and economical utilization, we should establish the system of farmland rotation and fallow, save efficient agricultural water, and improve the system of agricultural biological resources protection and utilization; In terms of environmental protection and governance of producing areas, establish a prevention and control mechanism for the transfer of industrial urban pollution to agriculture, improve the system of reducing the use of agricultural inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, improve the system of resource utilization such as straw and livestock manure, and establish a recycling system for waste plastic films and packaging wastes; In restoring agricultural ecosystems, we will promote grassland ecological protection and restoration, and strengthen aquatic ecological protection and restoration, forestry and wetland conservation.

For the first time, this paper systematically puts forward the institutional arrangements to promote the green development of agriculture-establishing the prevention and control mechanism of industrial and urban pollution transfer to agriculture, establishing the green agricultural standard system, improving the agricultural ecological subsidy system, and improving the system of reducing the use of agricultural inputs.

For the first time, vigorously advocate the national action to carry out the green development of agriculture-in the production field, promote green production methods such as green production of inputs, resource utilization of wastes, and green circulation of processing and circulation; In the field of consumption, we will continue to carry out the "CD Action" to promote the formation of green lifestyles such as strict economy and low-carbon cycle.

Realize the coordination and unity of ensuring supply, income and ecology.

Q: Will the emphasis on green development affect the output of agricultural products? What major relationships need to be handled?

A:The opinion emphasizes that it is necessary to correctly handle the relationship between agricultural green development and ecological environment protection, food security and farmers’ income increase, and realize the coordination and unity of ensuring supply, income and ecology.

In dealing with the relationship between agricultural production and ecological environmental protection, we should avoid opposing agricultural production and ecological environmental protection. In recent years, some places have simply adopted the practice of reducing planting and closing farming, which has lost the original intention of development. To this end, the opinion puts forward that green orientation should run through the whole process of agricultural development, implement green production methods, and realize the coordinated development of production and ecology.

In dealing with the relationship with food security, we must insist that food security is the bottom line of agricultural green development. To reduce the utilization intensity of cultivated land resources and control the outstanding problems of agricultural environment, we should make overall consideration to consolidate and improve grain production capacity. The opinion puts forward that it is necessary to implement the strategy of "storing grain on the ground and storing grain in technology", adhere to the bottom line of national food security, and realize the coordination and unity of ensuring supply and protecting ecology.

In dealing with the relationship with increasing farmers’ income, we should put increasing the supply of green and high-quality agricultural products in a prominent position. The opinion puts forward that to promote the green development of agriculture, it is necessary to take increasing farmers’ income as the basic task, build a green development industrial chain value chain, accelerate the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, improve quality, efficiency and competitiveness, turn green into efficiency, increase farmers’ income, and help overcome poverty.

The Ministry of Agriculture will work with relevant departments to study and formulate implementation plans, establish a coordinated promotion mechanism, and ensure that all policies and measures are implemented. At the same time, promote the establishment of national agricultural sustainable development experimental demonstration zones, and identify 40 national agricultural sustainable development experimental demonstration zones in the first batch this year, innovate mechanisms, create experiences, and promote the green development of local agriculture.