The spring planting season is in full swing across China. In the first quarter, fixed-asset investment in the primary sector increased by 15.9% year-on-year, while rural consumer goods retail sales grew by 3.1%. At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on April 23, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Mardan Mugeiti stated that the agricultural and rural economy has maintained a favorable development trend.
The growth condition and development stage of winter wheat have largely caught up with the average level. The progress of spring grain sowing is slightly ahead of the same period last year. China's grain and oil production foundation remains solid. According to Lü Xiutao, an official from the Department of Crop Management under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, summer grain output accounts for slightly over 20% of the annual grain production, serving as the first season of the year's grain output. Thanks to effective measures promoting the transformation of weak seedlings into strong ones, coupled with generally favorable weather conditions since last winter, the condition of winter wheat has continued to improve.
Spring planting progress remains normal, with overall stable intended planting area. The supply of chemical fertilizers for spring farming is sufficient, and domestic fertilizer prices are significantly lower than international prices. The latest agricultural survey from the ministry shows that winter rapeseed area remains stable with good growth conditions. Spring grain sowing has surpassed 20%, matching or slightly exceeding last year's pace. Early rice planting has exceeded 80%, spring corn sowing has passed 10%, and spring soybean planting is underway.
With approximately 40 days remaining until the summer grain harvest, challenges including plant diseases, pests, lodging, dry hot winds, and harvest rain still need to be overcome. Spring planting will soon enter its peak period. Lü Xiutao emphasized the importance of precise field management, timely spring sowing, and sustained disaster prevention efforts.
China's consecutive grain harvests owe much to the extensive improvement in per-unit yield, which contributed over 90% to national grain output growth by 2025. This year, China continues to implement large-scale yield improvement actions for grain and oil crops, expanding the number of county-wide implementation units from 702 to 1,000 while initiating 20 city-wide promotion programs. These efforts integrate high-standard farmland, superior seeds, advanced machinery, and scientific methods to achieve balanced production increases.
The positive agricultural production situation relies heavily on technological support. China is accelerating agricultural intelligentization and digital transformation, with various smart equipment playing significant roles in production. The country maintains over 300,000 agricultural drones, ranking first globally in quantity. Mardan Mugeiti stated that during the "16th Five-Year Plan" period, China will deepen integration between technological innovation and industrial innovation, leverage the advantages of the new national system, enhance overall agricultural sci-tech innovation efficiency, and achieve high-level self-reliance in agricultural technology.
Rural per capita disposable income achieved real growth of 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter. Xu Jianmin, director of the Assistance Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, attributed stable farmer income growth to rising grain purchase prices and stable employment conditions both for migrant workers and local job opportunities. National Bureau of Statistics data shows rural per capita disposable income grew 2.2 percentage points faster than urban income, with wage income and net business income contributing over 70% to the increase.
Rural industries supporting wealth creation maintain good development momentum. In the first quarter, agricultural product processing industry showed steady progress, with value-added of scale-based agricultural and sideline food processing industry growing 6.8% year-on-year. In March, the Purchasing Managers' Index for national key agricultural industrialization enterprises reached 58.1%, remaining in expansion territory above 50%, with month-on-month and year-on-year increases of 6.8 and 3.8 percentage points respectively, indicating continuous improvement in industry sentiment.
The five-year transition period for consolidating poverty alleviation achievements and connecting them with rural revitalization has been successfully completed. This year marks the first year of shifting to regular assistance mechanisms. Xu Jianmin noted that the Party Central Committee has comprehensively deployed establishing regular mechanisms to prevent relapse into poverty. The ministry has issued supporting policy documents with relevant departments to guide local implementation of precise assistance measures, continuously consolidate poverty alleviation achievements, and firmly prevent large-scale relapse into poverty.
In the first quarter, new small assistance loans totaling 10.13 billion yuan were issued to support production development among assistance recipients. Employment conditions remain generally stable. In March, the ministry published a list of 16 central government subsidies directly benefiting farmers, including farmland fertility protection subsidies, agricultural machinery purchase and application subsidies, and wheat spray protection subsidies. Xu Jianmin committed to working with relevant departments to fully implement these policies and translate them into tangible income benefits for farmers.
Maintaining stable rural land contracting relations remains crucial. The policy to extend second-round land contracts for another 30 years after expiration represents a major Party Central Committee decision. This year's No. 1 central document explicitly called for comprehensive provincial-level pilot programs for the 30-year extension. On March 18, guidelines issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council detailed specific arrangements for the pilot work.
Chen Bangxun, director of the Development Planning Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, reported that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China conducted seven province-wide and 221 county-wide pilot programs, with over 26 million households successfully signing contract extension agreements. Chen emphasized adhering to extension principles, maintaining "major stability with minor adjustments," and standardizing procedures. Disputes should be properly resolved, and while villages experiencing special circumstances like natural disaster damage may implement minor adjustments, the precondition remains major stability. The vast majority of households must maintain stable contracted land with smooth extensions, without wholesale restructuring or redistribution, and without illegally adjusting or reclaiming contracted land.