Pay equal attention to "protection" and "governance" and firmly follow the sustainable development of agriculture.

Pay equal attention to "protection" and "governance" and firmly follow the road of sustainable development of agriculture

-- Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu answered questions on the National Plan for Sustainable Development of Agriculture (2015-2030)

Agriculture is related to national food security, resource security and ecological security. "sustainable" is a "hot word" in which China's economic development has entered a new normal and comprehensive reform has entered the deep water area. The National Plan for Sustainable Agricultural Development (2015-2030) has been officially released among many expectations. What is the background and significance of this "plan", which is called a "programmatic document"? What profound changes will it bring to the agricultural development of our country? What kind of road will China's agriculture take? This reporter interviewed Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture.

Reporter: in the current stage of economic and social development, what is the background of introducing such a "plan"?

Han Changfu: in recent years, China has implemented a series of policies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers and rich farmers, made great achievements in agricultural development, achieved historic "11 consecutive increases" in grain production, and made new progress in the construction of modern agriculture. However, China's agricultural development is also faced with great challenges, with increasingly tight constraints on soil and water resources, aggravating agricultural non-point source pollution, obvious degradation of agricultural ecosystem, and imperfect systems and mechanisms such as soil and water resources management and ecological compensation. the traditional mode of agricultural development has been difficult to sustain, so it is very urgent to promote the sustainable development of agriculture. At present, the people are more looking forward to the protection of resources and environment and the quality and safety of agricultural products. The output of major agricultural products has been increased year after year, the market supply of international agricultural products has been sufficient, and technological models such as ecological agriculture and circular agriculture have been constantly integrated and innovated. Rural reform and the reform of the ecological civilization system have been steadily advanced, which has laid a good foundation for promoting the sustainable development of agriculture.

"Agriculture is the foundation of the state". Agriculture, rural areas and farmers are the important foundation of national stability and security. For the sustainable development of agriculture, on the one hand, we should ensure that China's ability to ensure food security is sustainable, and that the rice bowls of the Chinese people are firmly in their own hands; on the other hand, we should ensure the sustainable use of China's agricultural resources. leave fertile land, green mountains and green waters for future generations.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the sustainable development of agriculture. In accordance with the deployment of the State Council, the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Forestry Bureau, on the basis of in-depth investigation at the grass-roots level and organizing expert argumentation, jointly formulated the National Plan for Sustainable Development of Agriculture (2015-2030). This is a programmatic document to guide the sustainable development of agriculture for some time to come. Next, the Ministry of Agriculture, together with relevant departments, will conscientiously perform its duties, grasp the implementation, and organize the implementation.

Reporter: why is "planning" called a "programmatic document"? Please describe for us what is the blueprint for the sustainable development of China's agriculture in the future?

Han Changfu: the Plan has made an overall macro design for the sustainable development of agriculture for a period in the future, with both a timetable and a road map, phased goals and regional layout.

First of all, the Plan defines the guiding ideology and basic principles of sustainable agricultural development. The guiding ideology is to "firmly establish the concept of ecological civilization, adhere to the guiding principles of capacity-oriented, conservation priority, innovation-driven, governance according to law, benefit people's livelihood and ensure safety, speed up the development of resource-saving, environment-friendly and ecological conservation agriculture, and earnestly change the mode of agricultural development, from extensive management relying on resource consumption, agricultural material input and ecological environment. Turn to intensive management that focuses on improving quality and efficiency as soon as possible. The five basic principles are: we should adhere to the matching of production development with the carrying capacity of resources and environment; adhere to the coordination of innovation-driven and legal governance; adhere to the unity of current governance and long-term protection; adhere to the overall planning of pilot first and demonstration and promotion; adhere to the combination of market mechanism and government guidance.

Secondly, the Plan depicts a blueprint for the sustainable development of agriculture, which is also a development goal. This is: by 2020, the sustainable development of agriculture will achieve preliminary results, with obvious economic, social and ecological benefits. Positive progress has been made in the transformation of the mode of agricultural development, the comprehensive production capacity of agriculture has been steadily improved, the agricultural structure has been more optimized, the level of quality and safety of agricultural products has been continuously improved, and the protection level and utilization efficiency of agricultural resources have been significantly improved. phased results have been achieved in the treatment of outburst problems in the agricultural environment, ecosystem functions such as forests, grasslands, lakes and wetlands have been effectively restored and enhanced, and the decline rate of biodiversity has gradually slowed down. By 2030, the sustainable development of agriculture will achieve remarkable results. The new pattern of sustainable development of agriculture with strong supply guarantee, efficient utilization of resources, good environment of producing areas, stable ecosystem, affluent farmers and beautiful pastoral scenery has been basically established.

In order to achieve the above development goals, the key is to make a rational planning of regional layout, echelon promotion, and classified measures. The "Plan" requires that according to the problems faced by the sustainable development of agriculture in various regions, and comprehensively considering such factors as the carrying capacity of agricultural resources, environmental capacity, ecological types and the basis of development, the whole country is divided into optimized development areas, moderate development areas and protection development areas. In accordance with the principles of adapting measures to local conditions, echelon promotion, and classified measures, the direction and focus of agricultural sustainable development in different regions are determined. Among them, the optimized development areas include the northeast region, Huang-Huai-Hai area, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and South China, which are the main producing areas of agricultural products in China, with good agricultural production conditions and great potential. however, there are also some problems, such as excessive consumption of water and soil resources, environmental pollution, excessive use of agricultural inputs, low degree of recycling of resources and so on. It is necessary to give priority to production, give consideration to ecology, and combine planting and cultivation, and on the premise of ensuring a steady increase in the comprehensive production capacity of grain and other major agricultural products, we should protect agricultural resources and the ecological environment, and achieve stable production development, sustainable utilization of resources, and friendly ecological environment. The moderate development areas include the northwest and the areas along the Great Wall and the southwest, where the characteristics of agricultural production are bright, but the ecology is fragile, the allocation of soil and water is misplaced, the shortage of water resources and engineering is serious, the carrying capacity of resources and environment is limited, and the agricultural infrastructure is relatively weak. We should attach equal importance to protection and development, be based on resources and environmental endowments, give full play to our strengths and circumvent weaknesses, appropriately tap potential, intensive economy, and orderly utilization, and improve the utilization rate of resources. The protection and development area, including Qinghai-Tibet area and marine fishing area, has a special important strategic position in ecological protection and construction. Qinghai-Tibet area is the birthplace of major rivers in China and an important ecological security barrier. The plateau is rich in agricultural resources, but the ecology is very fragile. With the rapid development of marine fishery areas, there are also some problems such as the decline of fishery resources and prominent pollution. We should give priority to protection, restrict development, appropriately develop ecological and characteristic industries, recuperate grasslands, oceans and other resources, and promote a virtuous cycle of the ecosystem.

Reporter: the "Plan" has put forward phased development goals. How can we achieve them?

Han Changfu: according to the Plan, in the coming period, we should focus on promoting and accomplishing five main tasks:

First, optimize the layout of development and steadily increase agricultural production capacity. Optimize the distribution of agricultural production. In accordance with the requirements of "basic self-sufficiency of grain and absolute safety of rations", we persisted in adjusting measures to local conditions, suitable for agriculture, animal husbandry for animal husbandry, and forest for forest, and gradually established a new pattern of agricultural production that matched agricultural productivity with the carrying capacity of resources and environment. We will strengthen the construction of agricultural production capacity. We should give full play to the driving role of scientific and technological innovation, implement the strategy of revitalizing agriculture through science and education, strengthen independent innovation, integrated innovation, popularization and application of agricultural science and technology, and strive to take the lead in breakthroughs in the seed industry and efficient utilization of resources. We will promote the development of eco-circular agriculture. Optimize and adjust the structure of planting and breeding industry, and promote the cycle of planting and breeding, the combination of agriculture and animal husbandry, and the combination of agriculture and forestry. According to local conditions, promote water-saving, fertilizer-saving, medicine-saving and other conservation-oriented agricultural technologies, as well as "rice-fish symbiosis", "pig biogas fruit", under-forest economy and other ecological circular agriculture model.

The second is to protect cultivated land resources and promote the sustainable use of farmland. Stabilize the area of cultivated land. We will implement the strictest cultivated land protection system, stabilize the sown area of grain, strictly control the occupation of cultivated land for new construction, ensure that the amount of cultivated land is more than 1.8 billion mu, and ensure that the basic farmland is not less than 1.56 billion mu. Permanent basic farmland shall be designated and permanent protection shall be implemented. We should attach equal importance to both quantity and quality of cultivated land, and comprehensively promote the stripping and reuse of soil in the tillage layer of cultivated land occupied by construction. Improve the quality of cultivated land. Soil improvement methods such as deep ploughing, conservation tillage, returning straw to field, increasing application of organic fertilizer and planting green manure were adopted to increase soil organic matter and improve soil fertility. Restore and cultivate soil microbial community, build a healthy nutrient cycle channel, and promote the decomposition of agricultural wastes and environmental organic matter. Moderate reduction of cultivated land. According to the new round of overall plan of returning farmland to forest and grassland approved by the State Council, for the "unstable ploughed land" that is not suitable for cultivation, returning farmland to forest and grassland should be implemented, and the combination of forest and grass should be implemented where conditions permit. Increase the coverage of vegetation.

The third is to save efficient water and ensure the safety of agricultural water use. Implement the red line management of water resources. Establish the red line of water resources development and utilization control; establish the red line of water use efficiency control. We will promote the over-utilization of surface water and the comprehensive treatment of groundwater overmining areas, and appropriately reduce the irrigation area. Popularize water-saving irrigation. We will promote efficient water-saving irrigation on a regional scale and speed up the construction of an efficient water-saving system in agriculture. We will develop water-saving agriculture and intensify the construction of water-saving irrigation projects in major grain producing areas, areas with serious water shortage and areas with fragile ecology. Develop rain-fed agriculture. In semi-arid and semi-humid areas, facilities such as rain harvesting and rain-harvesting cellars should be built, plastic film mulching technology should be popularized, grain and forage rotation and belt planting should be carried out, and the combination of planting and cultivation should be promoted. In areas prone to soil erosion, the area of conservation tillage should be expanded.

The fourth is to control environmental pollution and improve the agricultural and rural environment. Prevention and control of farmland pollution. We will comprehensively strengthen the prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution, do a good job in the fight against non-point source pollution, use agricultural inputs scientifically and rationally, improve the efficiency of use, and achieve zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides by the end of the 13th five-year Plan period, so as to reduce endogenous pollution in agriculture. Comprehensive control of aquaculture pollution. Support large-scale livestock and poultry farms (residential areas) to carry out standardized transformation and construction, improve the level of mechanization of livestock and poultry manure collection and treatment, implement rain pollution diversion, manure resource utilization, and control the discharge of livestock and poultry breeding pollution. Improve the rural environment. We will scientifically formulate plans for village renovation, speed up the comprehensive improvement of the rural environment, protect drinking water sources, strengthen the treatment of domestic sewage and garbage, and speed up the construction of a clean energy system in rural areas.