China underlines stable agricultural production

The Chinese government on Wednesday urged greater effort to ensure the smooth agricultural production needed to sustain growth in the world's second-largest economy, amid multiple events that have pummelled the farming industry.

In an executive meeting of the State Council headed by Premier Li Keqiang, the cabinet underlined the importance of agriculture, describing it as the "foundation of the national economy and key insurance of stabilizing growth, controlling inflation and preventing risks."

The rural economy has been running smoothly since early this year, but agricultural production still faces difficulties, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Floods in China's northeast, which is the country's farming heartland, and droughts in the northwest and southwest will hurt output, while falling pig prices, tight supply of beef and mutton, and the outbreak of H7N9 influenza will also weaken the industry.

The 7.0-magnitude quake that hit Lushan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province also dealt a blow to regional agricultural production.

To cope with these challenges, efforts must be made to ensure stable supply and prices, according to the statement.

The meeting stressed the importance of smooth spring farming, encouraging the use of machinery in ploughing to boost output and lay foundations for developing modern agriculture.

The cabinet also pledged to raise the minimum purchase price of corn, and increase pork reserves to prevent steep falls in prices.

Facilities to raise flocks and herds should be standardized and improved. More subsidy funds should be allocated to major producers to boost beef and mutton supplies, it urged.

The government also vowed harsher punishment for fake meat production.

Pork adulterated with clenbuterol or from diseased pigs has been found by police in recent years, with the latest astonishing case involving making fake mutton and beef from rat, fox and mink by adding chemicals like toxic gelatin.

Special importance should be attached to the poultry sector after the bitter loss caused by the H7N9 avian flu virus, the statement said.

It was proposed at the meeting that central finances will also provide short-term subsidies for loans by the key poultry processing enterprises, so as to mitigate damage caused by the virus.

H7N9 has killed at least 31 people thus far since it was first detected in Shanghai in March.

Fearing a bird flu outbreak, the Chinese government ordered the culling of poultry in some areas and the safe disposal of the animals in order to prevent them from entering the food chain as well as the feed chain.

Meanwhile, the cabinet demanded the recovery of agricultural production in the quake-stricken area as soon as possible. Sichuan has been serving as China's major pig raising base.

The repair of facilities and farmland and the restoration of crops and livestock should be speeded up, with central and local support, it said.

The meeting also covered policies to optimize funds supporting agriculture for more profound farming development and secure the livelihoods of people with low incomes.

The government demanded all local authorities enhance the farming sector, so as to guarantee sustaining output and supply of major farm produce, increase the pace of agricultural reform and innovation, help curb inflation and improve living standards in rural areas.

Food prices account for about one-third of the prices used to calculate the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, which rose 2.1 percent year on year in March, down from a 10-month high of 3.2 percent in February.