At the seedling base of the Hongfucun Lubao Planting Professional Cooperative in Jingyang District, Deyang City, Sichuan Province, farmers are busy transporting seedlings. Photo by Tang Yuchuan (ZJ Visual) Seizing the agricultural season and running the "first leg" of agricultural production well. In the first quarter of this year, China's agricultural and rural economy maintained a positive development momentum, with spring farming progressing smoothly, the "vegetable basket" supply remaining ample, and regular targeted assistance off to a good start. Agricultural investment and rural consumption grew steadily, with national fixed asset investment in the primary industry increasing by 15.9% year-on-year, and rural retail sales of consumer goods rising by 3.1% year-on-year.
The foundation for grain and oil production is solid. Since the start of spring, various regions have strengthened technical guidance and services, meticulously managed spring farming preparations, and ensured stable grain planting areas. According to the latest agricultural situation survey by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, early rice planting areas in southern China remain stable, with growth conditions largely comparable to normal years.
"From the perspective of spring management, summer grain is the first season of annual grain production, accounting for just over 20% of the total annual grain output," said Lü Xiutao, an official from the Ministry's Department of Crop Production. Last autumn, the Ministry made all-out efforts to address the impact of continuous rainy weather in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, implementing key technologies to adapt to late sowing and stabilizing winter wheat acreage. By promoting measures to transform weak seedlings into strong ones, coupled with generally favorable weather conditions last winter and this spring—with suitable temperatures and ample precipitation—the condition of winter wheat seedlings has continued to improve, with current growth and development stages largely catching up to normal years.
As the summer grain harvest season approaches, grain crops must overcome multiple challenges such as pests and diseases, lodging, dry hot winds, and "rotten field rain." The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs is focusing on disaster prevention to secure a bumper harvest, solidly preparing for disaster prevention and mitigation to strengthen the foundation for annual grain production.
Lü Xiutao noted that this year, agricultural and rural departments will continue to implement the large-scale yield improvement action for grain and oil crops, expanding the number of county-wide promotion units from 702 to 1,000 and initiating 20 city-wide promotion units. Efforts will continue to integrate high-yield fields, improved seeds, advanced machinery, and effective methods to promote balanced and widespread yield increases.
The supply of "vegetable basket" products is a major livelihood issue. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter, the output of pork, beef, mutton, and poultry reached 26.62 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. Milk production stood at 9.22 million tons, up 3.4% year-on-year. The national inventory of breeding sows has declined for consecutive months, with the number of newborn piglets in March this year decreasing year-on-year for the first time in 17 months. The supply-demand relationship for live pigs is gradually improving, and prices have stabilized. Domestic aquatic product output reached 15.471 million tons, up 4.3% year-on-year. Vegetable and fruit supplies remain generally stable, with prices fluctuating seasonally.
Experts emphasize the significant importance of ensuring stable and secure supplies of grain and important agricultural products in the inaugural year of the "15th Five-Year Plan." Efforts must be made to steadfastly advance grain production, meticulously manage summer grain fields and mechanized harvesting, strive for a bumper summer grain harvest, and continue to manage summer planting. The regularized regulation mechanism should be strengthened to effectively control pig production capacity, with multiple measures to promote cost reduction, quality improvement, efficiency enhancement, and high-quality development in the pig industry.
Rural industries are thriving. Industrial revitalization is the source of endogenous development momentum in agriculture and rural areas, as well as the foundation and key to comprehensive rural revitalization.
Since the beginning of this year, various regions have deepened efforts to develop "local specialties," strengthening leading enterprises, supplementing industrial chains, fostering new business formats, and building brands to promote the vigorous development of rural industries. Chen Bangxun, Director of the Development Planning Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that guidance will be provided to help regions tap into their resource advantages, steadily expand woody grain and oil production, strengthen the construction of high-quality forage production areas, actively promote large-scale ecological fisheries and deep-sea aquaculture, and vigorously develop modern facility agriculture.
In the first quarter of this year, rural industries maintained a positive development momentum. Agricultural product processing showed steady progress, with the added value of large-scale agricultural and sideline food processing industries increasing by 6.8% year-on-year. In March, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for key national agricultural industrialization leading enterprises was 58.1%, remaining in the expansion zone above 50%, with month-on-month and year-on-year increases of 6.8 and 3.8 percentage points, respectively, indicating sustained improvement in industry sentiment.
Rural leisure tourism has experienced vigorous growth. From the floating restaurants in Qida Village, Lianjiang County, Fujian Province, to the "village café" experiences in Shangwang Village, Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, and the rural hiking routes in Wulong District, Chongqing, regions are leveraging their unique characteristics to create diverse and differentiated new scenarios, continuously activating rural tourism consumption.
Industrial integration is also deepening. Regions are building on their endowments, gathering superior resources, and actively developing agricultural industry integration projects. Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has supported the establishment of 40 new advantageous characteristic industrial clusters, 50 modern agricultural industrial parks, and 200 agricultural industry strong towns, creating platforms and industrial highlands for modern agricultural development.
Mai'erdan·Mugaiti, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that a tiered directory of rural characteristic industries will be established to guide differentiated, clustered, and branded development, continuously upgrading and refining industries to more precisely meet market demands and expand value-added space. Multiple functions of agriculture will be developed, tapping into the diverse values of rural areas, promoting a selection of rural leisure tourism routes and scenic spots, accelerating the development of new rural experiential formats, and creating new rural consumption scenarios such as harvest markets, events and performances, and leisure camping, promoting the integration of agriculture with culture, tourism, sports, education, and other industries.
Farmers' incomes are growing steadily. The development of rural industries is key to boosting farmers' incomes. Since the beginning of this year, stable and rising grain purchase prices, coupled with generally stable employment opportunities for farmers both locally and through migration, have contributed to steady income growth.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the first quarter, the per capita disposable income of rural residents increased by 5.4% in real terms year-on-year, 2.2 percentage points faster than that of urban residents. Wage income and net business income contributed over 70% to this growth.
Xu Jianmin, Director of the Assistance Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that efforts will be made in collaboration with relevant departments to promote models such as order-based, targeted, and job-specific training to enhance employment skills, cultivate and promote characteristic labor brands, and actively facilitate farmers' migration for work. The role of public welfare positions, employment assistance workshops, and work-for-relief programs will be fully utilized to increase local employment opportunities.
Additionally, regions will be encouraged to steadily develop new types of rural collective economies, leveraging local conditions to revitalize collective assets and resources through independent operations, leasing, equity participation, and cooperative methods. Effective forms of revitalizing idle rural housing through leasing, equity participation, and cooperation will be explored, deepening the reform of rural collective property rights systems, promoting the standardized construction and operation of rural property rights transaction markets, and enabling farmers to gain more property income.
In March this year, the central government released a list of 16 agricultural support policies directly benefiting households, including subsidies for cultivated land fertility protection, agricultural machinery purchase and application, and wheat "one spray, three protections" subsidies. Xu Jianmin emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, together with relevant departments, will fully implement these policies to translate policy benefits into tangible income gains for farmers.
The five-year transition period for consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation and linking them with rural revitalization has been successfully completed. This year marks the beginning of regularized assistance. How to "teach people to fish" and firmly prevent large-scale relapse into poverty remains a topic of significant social concern.
Xu Jianmin explained that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in collaboration with relevant departments, has formulated and issued a series of supporting policy documents to guide regions in implementing regularized targeted assistance measures and continuously consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation. In terms of targeted assistance, for those with labor capacity, priority will be given to development-oriented measures such as industrial development, employment, and skills training to enhance endogenous development momentum. For those without labor capacity, comprehensive social security measures will be implemented within the social assistance system to ensure basic living standards.
As the inaugural year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the work related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers is of critical importance. Mai'erdan·Mugaiti emphasized the commitment to firmly safeguard national food security, make every effort to promote stable income growth for farmers, advance the construction of livable, workable, and beautiful rural areas based on local conditions, and achieve new progress in comprehensive rural revitalization and the building of a strong agricultural nation.