China gears up to allocate farmer subsidies

(ECNS) -- Local governments across China have geared up to allocate subsidies to farmers while some major grain-producing provinces including Heilongjiang and Henan announced that the funds would be distributed by the end of the month.

Ten billion yuan of subsidies (about $1.44 billion) have been allocated by the central government of China in Aprilto farmers to support spring ploughing and agricultural production.

On the one hand, price fluctuation of agricultural materials like fertilizer, pesticide, and fuel oil forces up cost of agricultural production when spring ploughing begins. On the other hand, since April, prices of grain, wheat, corn, and soy beans have shown a downward trend affected by multiple factors such as increasing grain imports and weak market demand.

Therefore, the central government decided to subsidize farmers to stabilize their income and agricultural production.

In June 2021, the central government provided 20 billion yuan of one-time subsidies to farmers to help them cope with rising costs of agricultural materials. And the subsidies in 2022 will be distributed to farmers in three batches before August.

As present, a total of 70 billion yuan of subsidies have been given to farmers since 2021.

According to Yang, a rice planting contractor in Shouxian County, Anhui Province, in 2022, he received the subsidies in three batches of 800 yuan, 400 yuan, and 400 yuan each.

Yang planted about 60 mu (about 4 hectares) of double-cropping rice. “The subsidies could cover the cost of fertilizer.”

In addition, the central government has allocated the first batch of agricultural production disaster prevention and relief funds of 1.251 billion yuan to support Heilongjiang, Shandong and other provinces to purchase pesticides, medical equipment and other materials.

Another 1.6 billion yuan has been provided to support 22 major wheat-producing provinces like Hebei and Anhui to ensure grain production.

Experts said that subsidies will further mobilize farmers, guide them to grow more and high-quality grain, thus effectively increasing grain output and ensuring the completion of the annual grain production tasks.

Data shows that in 2022, the central government provided over 350 billion yuan of various types of grain production subsidies covering agricultural materials, equipment, and subsidies for producers of corn and soybeans, among others.

This year, China will further increase agricultural investment and subsidies to encourage farmers and major grain producing areas.