Farmers have been planting GM soybeans for better yield despite the crop's illegal status. (Photo : Reuters)
The Chinese government is set to improve agricultural subsidy policies in an effort to provide in-depth rural reform, promote agricultural modernization and increase the income of peasants and rural families, the Global Times reported.
The Ministry of Agriculture announced on April 30, Thursday, that the government will release a total of 14 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), which will be given directly as financial assistance to grain farmers. In addition to this, the government will also give farmers another 20.4 billion yuan to help promote good crop varieties.
The report added that a total of 23.4 billion yuan will also be given to support the appropriate management scale of grain, with emphasis on big groups engaged in farming such as farmer cooperatives and family farms.
As part of the improvement, the ministry will also make adjustments on the on-going trial program on land use reform.
The government will also increase the number of pilot regions to nine in Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces, including the three experimental regions already existing in Sichuan, Jiangsu and Guizhou and 27 other counties.
In China, there are two types of land ownership; one is where rural lands are under collective ownership of the people, and the other is where land is owned by the state. Under the first setup, farmers enjoy the right to use the land as part of the collective community, with some restrictions.
Under the pilot scheme, farmers are allowed to convert their land-use rights into shares in cooperative groups or farming enterprises and agriculture business.
In March, the ministry has ordered local governments in the seven selected localities to submit their detailed plans before May as it urged protecting farmers' rights and interests during the reform.
