Ensuring food security and looking for new growth points

At the beginning of the new year, the public opinion that potato has become the fourth staple grain has attracted much attention. Relevant leaders of the Ministry of Agriculture predict that by 2020, more than 50% of China's potatoes are likely to be consumed as staple grains. The planting area of potatoes will increase from the current 80 million mu to 150 million mu.

Zhejiang is a province actively promoting the transformation of potatoes into staple grains. Since 2013, the province has issued a policy of allocating 50 million yuan a year to support the production of dry grain, including potatoes.

Why should Zhejiang make great efforts to promote dry grain production? what are Zhejiang's considerations and measures on the issue of turning potatoes into staple grains? The reporter interviewed Vice Governor Huang Xuming a few days ago.

Reporter: as we all know, Zhejiang is not a major potato producing area, compared with Gansu, Ningxia and other places, it is not only small in scale, but also has no advantage in terms of output and technology. May I ask why Zhejiang should encourage dry grain production and potato cultivation?

Huang Xuming: in the final analysis, this is the strategic choice for Zhejiang to ensure food security.

Zhejiang has a large population and little land, with more than 55 million permanent residents and less than 30 million mu of arable land, as well as more than 20 million migrants from outside the province. In this case, Zhejiang agriculture can only take the road of efficient ecology. Zhejiang has created 3.1% of the country's agricultural added value with 1.1% of the land and 1.49% of the cultivated land.

Zhejiang is a province of grain shortage, and ensuring food security has always been a "top priority". In terms of food security, we have "three red lines", that is, maintaining a grain production capacity of 30 billion jin and striving for a sown area of 19.5 million mu and a total output of 16 billion jin. The provincial government issues grain support policies every year, and the provincial financial support funds have increased by more than 20% every year since 2012.

Once grain production is relaxed, it will be difficult to restore. Food security in Zhejiang must take a diversified path and find new growth points, that is, dry grain.

Reporter: at present, farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain is generally not high. Under such a background, Zhejiang has proposed to develop dry grain production. What are the specific considerations?

Huang Xuming: first, from the perspective of grain composition, it is difficult to have much room for growth in the area and yield of rice in Zhejiang, so we must speed up the development of dry grain. At present, under the influence of industrialization and urbanization, Zhejiang has reduced more than 100,000 mu of paddy fields every year; at the same time, due to the low efficiency of rice planting, complex agronomy, high labor intensity, and the overall decline in sown area, it has been reduced by an average of 120000 mu per year in recent years. In recent years, Zhejiang's stable grain output mainly depends on the increase of per unit yield, but the space for per unit yield increase is limited after all. In addition, judging from the existing water resources in Zhejiang, if the grain output of 30 billion jin is to be achieved, more than 4 billion square meters of additional irrigation water is needed. Therefore, it is necessary to develop dry grain crops with less water demand.

Second, from the perspective of the potential for increasing production, dry grain has more room for improvement. It is estimated that Zhejiang dry grain still has a growth potential of about 2 million mu. However, dry grain has been neglected, and the average yield of dry grain in the province is only 514 jin. As long as the infrastructure is improved and the "three new" technologies are applied, the per unit yield can be greatly increased. The average yield of fresh potato in Zhejiang is nearly 1500 kg per mu, with the highest yield of 3221 kg, and the yield of sweet potato per mu has reached 4000 kg. From this point of view, supporting the development of dry grain has the greatest marginal effect and the greatest potential.

Third, from the perspective of function, the development prospect of dry grain is broad. How to solve the contradiction between "the government wants grain" and "farmers want money", the development of dry grain is an effective way. For fresh corn, potato, broad pea, small sweet potato, etc., the average net income per mu is more than 3000 yuan, and the low one is more than 2000 yuan. Generally, the output value per mu of spring and autumn potatoes is more than 1000 yuan, and the output value of facilities potato per mu is more than 5000 yuan.

Eggs can't be put in one basket. We believe that to ensure food security, we must adhere to the diversification of the food structure and leave more hands in order to have more security.

Reporter: it seems that the development of dry grain is indeed necessary and feasible, so what measures does Zhejiang have in developing dry grain production? Is the effect obvious?

Huang Xuming: in September 2013, the provincial government issued the "opinions on speeding up the Development of dry Grain production", allocating more than 50 million yuan of support funds every year to include dry grain production in the food security responsibility system assessment. Two meetings were held by the provincial government to mobilize and deploy. After more than a year of vigorous promotion, Zhejiang dry grain industry has achieved remarkable results. The area of dry grain in the province has reached 6.64 million mu, accounting for 35% of the grain sown area, an increase of 264000 mu over the previous year, of which potato is nearly 1 million mu, an increase of 4.6% over the previous year. Potato has become the fourth largest food crop in Zhejiang after rice, wheat and soybeans. According to the winter seed intention survey, the potato planting area in Zhejiang in spring in 2015 is expected to increase by more than 5% over the previous year.

Reporter: will the development of dry grains such as potatoes affect other food crops? What problems should we pay attention to?

Huang Xuming: first, we should adhere to the same efforts with grain and increase policy support and work promotion. Since dry grain is a part of grain, it should enjoy the same support policy as rice. We stipulate that for dry grain production bases of more than 100 mu, the provincial finance will directly subsidize 125 yuan per mu, which is equal to that of rice; for those intercropping dry grain crops in orchards, mulberry orchards and young woodlands, 20 yuan per mu will be directly subsidized; and for the establishment of provincial demonstration bases, the province will also give strong support in infrastructure construction.

Second, persist in not competing with rice for land, and scientifically distribute the production of dry grain. Rice is still the largest food crop and the main body to ensure food security, which cannot be shaken. In the planning and layout of dry grain production and policy support, we adhere to the principle of not competing with rice for land, such as no subsidy for planting dry grain in paddy fields, subsidies for interplanting dry grain in the "three gardens", and trial implementation of order incentives for wheat in major non-early rice producing areas, and so on, to guide all localities to focus on winter fallow fields, dry land, newly reclaimed arable land and low hilly and gentle slopes. Scientific layout will develop dry grain crops with suitable planting characteristics and advantages, and strive to cultivate regional, large-scale and characteristic dry grain industrial belts.

Third, adhere to the market orientation and promote the industrial management of dry grain. We insist on paying equal attention to quantity, quality and benefit, comprehensively consider the links of post-natal sales and processing, and strive to cultivate dry grain processing enterprises with strong driving ability and strong post-natal processing ability. we will promote the storage and fresh-keeping, cold chain transportation, processing, development, transformation and utilization of dry grain products, improve the industrial chain, and guide them to establish a cooperative relationship with farmers in the form of orders, so as to expand and strengthen the dry grain industry with regional advantages and characteristics. We will persist in setting production by sales, docking production and marketing, and giving priority to marketing, and actively build a public marketing platform to increase farmers' production and income.

Reporter: at present, the function of potato and its important position in food security have not been widely recognized, and the level of production and industrialization need to be improved. Do you have any suggestions on this?

Huang Xuming: first, increase the publicity and promotion of potatoes, so that more people understand potatoes, consume potatoes, and expand the market of potato products. The second is to increase policy support and guidance. In 2008, the State Council issued opinions to promote the development of edible vegetable oil industry, and also held a national Camellia oleifera production site meeting for deployment, support is very strong, so Camellia oleifera industry develops rapidly. It is suggested that the State Council should issue a number of policies to support production and processing with reference to the Camellia oleifera industry. The third is to enhance the status of potatoes in food security. Since potatoes are to be used as staple food, potatoes should be used as grain reserves. It is reported that the whole potato powder can be preserved for 15 years, the storage cost is much lower than other varieties, and is conducive to the development of potato industry.