Where is the new "rice bag" governor responsibility system

Enhance sustainable grain production capacity, protect farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain, enhance local grain reserve capacity, ensure grain market supply, ensure food quality and safety. Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the measures for the examination of the responsibility system for Provincial Governors for Food Security, making it clear that the people's governments at the provincial level must earnestly assume the main responsibility for ensuring food security in the region, and make detailed provisions on the subject, principle, content, procedure and reward and punishment mechanism of the assessment. The "measures" are concrete measures formed by implementing the "opinions on establishing and improving the responsibility system of provincial governors for food security" issued by the State Council at the beginning of this year. It can be said that the "measures" and "opinions" together constitute a new "rice bag" provincial governor responsibility system for safeguarding China's food security under the new situation.

In 1995, the "rice bag" provincial governor responsibility system was first written into the government work report. at that time, the document explained that "to be responsible for the rice bag is to be responsible for the grain supply of the province, that is, to ensure the planting area, increase per unit yield, increase reserves, adjust supply and demand, and stabilize prices." Over the years, especially in the period of excessively high price increases, this system has played an important role in ensuring China's food security and maintaining social stability.

In recent years, the food security situation in China has undergone profound and complex changes: the quantity and quality of cultivated land has decreased, groundwater has been overexploited, agricultural non-point source pollution has been aggravated, and grain production is facing increasingly prominent constraints from agricultural resources and environment. The temporary storage price and the minimum purchase price of domestic grain have continued to rise, the prices of the three major domestic staple grains have been higher than those of the international market for a long time, the quantity of imported grain and state-owned stocks have been increasing, and there has even been a momentum of "difficulty in selling grain" in some areas. In the face of this situation, it is particularly important to further strengthen, enrich and improve the "rice bag" provincial governor responsibility system. Compared with the previous system, the new "rice bag" provincial governor responsibility system covers a wider scope, from grain production, storage, circulation, consumption and other links, the provincial people's governments' powers and responsibilities in safeguarding national food security have been further clarified, and the requirements are more comprehensive and more specific.

From "grasping output" to "grasping output" and "grasping production capacity", it is more prominent to enhance the sustainable production capacity of grain. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the rice bowls of the Chinese people should be firmly in their own hands at all times, and the rice bowls must be mainly filled with Chinese food. Grain production can be adjusted according to market demand, but grain production capacity must be consolidated and increased. In the "measures", the enhancement of sustainable grain production capacity is the highest among the six assessment contents, with a weight as high as 30% and 40%. The assessment indicators include eight small categories, such as resolutely guarding the red line of cultivated land, speeding up the construction of high-standard farmland, and improving the scientific and technological level of grain production, through "storing grain in the ground and technology" to ensure "basic self-sufficiency of grain and absolute safety of rations".

From "relying on producing areas" to "relying on both producing areas" and "relying on marketing areas", it highlights the balance of the main responsibility of the provinces to ensure food security. In the past, in the main grain selling areas, due to the lack of rigid tasks and rigid requirements for grain production, there was a subjective lack of enthusiasm for grain production, and some places relaxed grain production, ignored grain circulation and relied too much on the central government. The "measures" stipulate that the people's governments at the provincial level must earnestly assume the main responsibility for ensuring food security in the region and comprehensively strengthen the building of grain production, reserve and circulation capacity. This is the first time that the General Office of the State Council has clearly assessed the food security responsibilities of provincial people's governments with special documents, which fully shows that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to ensuring national food security.

From "emphasizing quantity" to "emphasizing both quantity" and "quality and ecological security", we will give more prominence to strengthening food quality and security and the governance of agricultural ecological environment. The "measures" propose to prevent and control grain pollution from the source, and measures such as soil restoration of cultivated land, adjustment of planting structure and delineation of prohibited areas for grain production should be taken in areas with serious soil pollution; to strengthen the control and control of excessive grain residues, heavy metals and mycotoxins, and to establish a long-term mechanism for the disposal of excessive grain. We will strictly implement the responsibility system and accountability system for the supervision of grain quality and safety, and implement the responsibility of local governments for territorial management and production and operation. These are the new requirements for safeguarding national food security under the new situation, and are more in line with the practical needs of ensuring food security.

From "frequent reminders" to "frequent reminders" and "clear rewards and punishments", it highlights the seriousness of supervision and assessment. In the past, in its government work reports, the State Council often reminded governments at all levels to put the "rice bag" head responsibility system in a "more important position" without strong and operable means of reward and punishment. At present, the "measures" clearly stipulate that the assessment results should be submitted to the competent departments of central cadres as an important reference for the comprehensive assessment and evaluation of the principal responsible persons and leading bodies of the people's governments of all provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). The people's governments of provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) whose assessment results are excellent shall be praised, and the relevant departments shall give priority to the arrangement of funds for relevant projects and special grain support policies. If the assessment results are unqualified, a written report shall be made to the State Council within one month after the notification of the assessment results, proposing rectification measures and time limit; if the rectification measures are not in place within the time limit, the relevant departments shall interview the relevant responsible persons of the people's governments of the provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), and when necessary, the leading comrades of the State Council shall interview the principal responsible persons of the people's governments of the provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). If the failure to perform duties and major work mistakes have seriously affected the grain market and social stability, the relevant responsible persons shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

The more we have grain in hand, the more we should step up efforts to consolidate the grain foundation. The promulgation of the "measures for assessing the responsibility system of provincial governors for grain security" reflects the firm determination of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to safeguard national food security under the new situation, and releases a strong signal of stabilizing grain production.