How to accurately put in place agricultural machinery subsidies for the transformation from small agricultural machinery to large agricultural machinery

It is the season of spring ploughing and preparation for ploughing, and in the vast fields of Jiangsu and Anhui, the main grain producing areas, more agricultural machines show their skills in the farmland.

In recent years, with the implementation of agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, agricultural machinery has replaced manpower as the main labor tool. The newly announced subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery highlights the universality of subsidies, which helps to improve the mechanization rate of agricultural production in our country. How to use the subsidy where it is most needed, so that every buyer can enjoy the sunshine and rain of the subsidy policy? A reporter from the Economic Daily recently went to the front line of agricultural production in Jiangsu and Anhui to conduct a survey.

Change from small agricultural machinery to large agricultural machinery

The spring breeze blows through the green wheat fields, bringing the fragrance of wheat seedlings. In the simple agricultural machinery shed of Changqian Agricultural Machinery Cooperative in Fuli Town, Hanqiao District, Suzhou City, Anhui Province, a 210 horsepower blue tractor stands out. Chairman Wu Changjin told the Economic Daily that he bought the tractor for 580000 yuan in 2013, with a state subsidy of 180000 yuan. It is the only tractor with more than 200 horsepower in Hanqiao District or even Suzhou.

Wuchangjin said that since the establishment of agricultural machinery cooperatives in 2011, newly purchased agricultural machinery and tools have enjoyed state policy subsidies, with a cumulative subsidy of more than 3.1 million yuan, and 443000 yuan in subsidies for land preparation and wheat straw returning. With the support of policies, cooperatives have developed rapidly. Wu Changjin said that the cooperative now has 32 large tractors with more than 80 horsepower, 30 combine harvesters and more than 80 sets of supporting machinery, with an annual agricultural machinery service capacity of 160000 mu. In 2014, he invested 870000 yuan to buy two 180 horsepower tractors at one time.

From 2004 to 2014, the central government allocated a total of 120 billion yuan in subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery, continuously stimulating farmers' enthusiasm for purchasing machines. New social service organizations such as agricultural machinery cooperatives have increased rapidly, and the number of agricultural machinery cooperatives has reached 47000. The national level of comprehensive mechanization of crop farming and harvest has exceeded 61%, providing support for the "11th consecutive increase" of grain.

Liu Shaotai, director of the Anhui Provincial Bureau of Agricultural Machinery, told reporters that as a major grain production province, Anhui's new subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery this year is skewed towards the key links of grain production, especially the weak links such as the comprehensive utilization of straw, and to new agricultural operators such as large grain growers, family farms and cooperatives in the main producing areas. Under the policy guidance, large and medium-sized agricultural machinery, such as combine harvester, rice transplanter, straw crushing and returning machine, are becoming the mainstream of agricultural machinery consumption. In 2014, the province subsidized a total of 19200 large and medium-sized tractors, 19700 combined harvesting machines, 1875 rice transplanters and 11800 straw crushing and returning machines.

With the rapid development of large-scale agricultural production and the driving of subsoiling operation and straw returning operation, farmers have a strong demand for large-scale agricultural machinery. However, there is a great demand for funds for the purchase of large agricultural machinery, which increases the financial pressure of machine buyers. In order to alleviate the financial pressure on machine buyers, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance will continue to carry out trials of financial leasing of large cotton pickers and sugar cane harvesters in Xinjiang, Guangxi and other places this year. at the same time, various localities actively explore rural financial services such as agricultural machinery financial leasing and agricultural machinery mortgage loans to support farmers in purchasing machines through various channels and forms. This will effectively meet the market demand for large-scale agricultural machinery.

Transformation from agricultural population to non-agricultural population

When the reporter came to the Hongyun Family Farm in Sanhe Town, Hongze County, Jiangsu Province, farmer Ma Jianguo was organizing workers to administer medicine and weed. Ma Jianguo, who used to work in Hongze County, resigned in 2013 to set up a family farm and rent 800 mu of land for wheat and rice breeding. Because he had a non-agricultural hukou and could not enjoy the subsidy for the purchase of agricultural machinery, he had to apply for an industrial and commercial license for the family farm in the name of his wife. This brings a lot of inconvenience to his work.

Under the new policy, individuals directly engaged in agricultural production can enjoy subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery, giving city dweller Ma Jianguo the opportunity to give full play to his ambitions. Ma Jianguo told reporters that when the farm was first established, it was unable to purchase agricultural machinery because of cash flow difficulties, so he could only contract farming and harvesting and other agricultural machinery operations to a local agricultural machinery cooperative. Agricultural season does not wait for people, weeding, pest control, the key is so a few days, once missed agricultural time, it will affect grain production. He plans to gradually purchase some necessary agricultural machinery and tools and take the initiative in grain production in his own hands. Last year he bought three grain dryers, and this year he plans to buy a large plant protection aircraft and a laser grader.

This year, the new subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery further broadens the subsidy target, making it clear that the subsidy target is individuals and agricultural production and management organizations directly engaged in agricultural production, among which individuals include both farmers, animal husbandry and fishermen, farm (forest farm) workers, and other residents who are directly engaged in agricultural production. Agricultural production and operation organizations include not only farmers' cooperatives, family farms, but also agricultural enterprises directly engaged in agricultural production.

A relevant official of the Ministry of Agriculture said that the adjustment of the scope of subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery is mainly due to the fact that with the rapid progress of urbanization and the accelerated pace of rural labor transfer, the main body engaged in agricultural production is not only farmers, animal husbandry and fishermen. More and more agricultural production tasks are undertaken by new agricultural operators such as cooperatives and agricultural enterprises. In addition, after the reform of the household registration system, farmers are only a division of occupations, and it is difficult to distinguish them from their place of residence and household registration.

Sheng Hai, director of the Financial Planning Department of Anhui Agricultural Machinery Bureau, believes that relaxing the qualification of agricultural machinery subsidies is a major breakthrough in the goal of agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy, which shows that agricultural machinery subsidy policy is transforming from a simple policy of benefiting farmers to a strong agricultural policy, which will attract more urban residents and agricultural enterprises to invest in agriculture.

Agricultural enterprises have strong funds and a large number of agricultural machinery, which may take up a lot of subsidy funds for the purchase of agricultural machinery. Anhui Province has imposed restrictions on the number of agricultural machinery purchased by agricultural production and operation organizations. in principle, each household can apply for subsidies of no more than 3 sets (sets) of agricultural machinery and tools in the year, agricultural production and operation organizations may apply for subsidies of no more than 10 sets of agricultural machinery and tools in the year. "by limiting the number of purchases, agricultural enterprises can prevent agricultural enterprises from occupying agricultural machinery subsidy funds, and ensure the fairness of subsidies." Sheng Hai said.

Transformation from selective to universal subsidy

For many years, the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery has been implementing "selective" subsidies, that is, a number of agricultural machinery enterprises and products with stable quality and after-sales service have been listed in the catalogue for farmers to choose to buy. "this is because the total amount of subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery is limited, and the country's economic development level is not up to the level of what farmers buy and what the government subsidizes." Zhu Yukui, deputy director of the Industry Development Department of Jiangsu Agricultural Machinery Bureau, said.

With the increasing of national agricultural machinery purchase subsidy funds, the new agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy highlights the universal benefits, the implementation of open subsidies. According to the development needs of local dominant leading industries and the scale of subsidy funds, each province selects some key links of machinery and equipment to carry out open subsidies; major grain producing provinces (regions) should select some of the equipment items urgently needed in key links of grain production to provide open subsidies; provinces with conditions, around the leading industries, in accordance with the principle that the scale of subsidy funds is consistent with the demand for purchasing machines, choose machinery items to try out all open subsidies.

From selective subsidies to open subsidies, the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery has taken a key step towards universal subsidies. "the universal subsidy policy has greatly stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for purchasing machines. at present, the development level of agricultural mechanization in Jiangsu Province has reached more than 78%." Wang Feng, deputy director of Jiangsu Agricultural Machinery Bureau, said.

At present, the central government has limited funds to support agriculture, and it is not possible to fully implement universal subsidies throughout the country. Jiangsu Province, as a major grain producing area with developed economy, implements universal subsidies for items within the scope of subsidies on the premise of reducing the scope of subsidies, reducing the items of subsidies and reducing the proportion of subsidies under the background of local finance. In major agricultural provinces like Anhui, it is more difficult to fully implement the policy of universal subsidy for the purchase of agricultural machinery. "in the future, Anhui Province will narrow the scope of subsidies, highlight key points, open subsidies, and promote subsidies for the purchase of universal agricultural machinery at different levels." Sheng Hai said.

Changqiao District, Suzhou City, Anhui Province is a major agricultural area. driven by subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery, the level of agricultural mechanization in Luoqiao District has developed rapidly, and the level of agricultural mechanization has reached more than 80%, but the funding gap of subsidies has also become larger. In 2014, the shortfall reached more than 20 million yuan. In 2015, farmers' enthusiasm for buying large-scale agricultural machinery was high, and the annual funding gap is expected to reach about 90 million yuan. In this regard, experts suggest that we should establish a benefit compensation mechanism for major grain producing areas, and further strengthen the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery in major grain producing areas, so as to promote the development of agricultural mechanization.

From buying machines at different prices to buying machines independently

The transformation from purchasing machines at different prices to purchasing machines independently is another innovation of the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery this year. As the so-called independent purchase of machines, buyers have the autonomy to choose and purchase machines, and the distribution enterprises of agricultural machinery production enterprises are gradually decoupled from the operation process of agricultural machinery subsidies. This will force agricultural machinery enterprises to improve their ability of independent innovation and promote the scientific and technological progress of agricultural machinery products.

The transition from price difference to independent purchase has gone through a process of exploration. At first, the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery is the purchase of machines at different prices, and the subsidy funds are directly supplied to the enterprises. The buyers can not directly feel the benefits of the subsidies, and can easily lead to corruption and transfer of benefits. In 2012, Jiangsu Province fully implemented the purchase of machinery at full price, and the subsidy funds for the purchase of agricultural machinery were directly subsidized to households, and the buyers could directly enjoy the benefits brought by the subsidy policy. However, the purchasing power of farmers is limited, and in some places, full-price purchase of machines with price differences is implemented, and after the subsidy funds are directly subsidized to households, farmers will supply the price differences to enterprises. This puts great pressure on enterprises to refund.

The choice of buying machines at the difference or at full price is not the best of both worlds for enterprises or farmers. Independent purchase of the machine has become the most practical choice at this stage.

It is understood that this year, Anhui Province has abolished the system of linking subsidized products to the catalogue of support and promotion, and implemented the operation mode of "independent purchase of machines, applications with machines, fixed subsidies, county-level settlement and direct subsidy to households". Farmers and distribution enterprises follow the market law and independently choose whether to purchase machines at different prices or at full price. Machine buyers can break through the provincial restrictions on subsidized machines and can independently choose to subsidize product dealers to purchase machines. You can also buy the machine through the enterprise direct sales. "this fully reflects the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources, further reduces administrative intervention, and maintains a fair and orderly competition order for subsidy machines." Sheng Hai said.

Jiang Yitao, deputy manager of the Zoomlion heavy Machinery Market Management Department, believes that purchasing machines independently can meet the needs of machine buyers to buy brand agricultural machinery with good quality and good service, and gradually guide agricultural machinery enterprises to shift from subsidy competition to technological competition and service competition. embark on the road of more healthy development.

In order to promote the innovation of agricultural machinery enterprises, starting from 2015, the qualification of subsidized products has been decoupled from the catalogue of agricultural machinery products supported by the state and provincial level, but subsidized products must have two qualifications: first, the subsidized machinery must be products produced within the territory of the people's Republic of China; second, in addition to the pilot subsidy for new products, the subsidized equipment should be products that have been effectively promoted and certified at the ministerial or provincial level. "through the restriction of subsidy conditions, foreign-funded enterprises will be guided to introduce advanced agricultural machinery technology into China, carry out localized production, and promote the transformation and upgrading of domestic agricultural machinery industry." Jiang Yitao said.

The change of agricultural machinery subsidy policy makes agricultural machinery enterprises feel the crisis and also see the opportunity. Jiangsu Qingtuo Agricultural equipment Co., Ltd. is one of the important manufacturers of large and medium horsepower tractors and large agricultural equipment in China. Wang Gang, deputy general manager of the company, told reporters that since last year, the growth rate of the agricultural machinery industry has declined, especially the tractor industry has suffered a cliff decline, while sales of high-powered tractors have rebounded against the trend. "the new agricultural machinery purchase subsidy policy provides a policy environment for enterprise transformation. Our company will increase investment in innovation, adjust product structure, and take high-horsepower tractors as the leading products of enterprises in the future." Wang Gang said.