The agricultural sector at all levels in the province have implemented the decision-making arrangements of the central and provincial governments for rural revitalization by paying close attention to the implementation of various work measures since the beginning of this year. The province's grain production has remained basically stable with the agricultural structure adjustment achieving remarkable results.
Statistics show that in the first half of the year, the province's summer grain planting area was 2.5 million hectares, a year-on-year decrease of 12,666 hectares. The total output reached 13.2 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 94 million kg. The province's grain production was basically stable. However, due to the decline in the purchase price of the wheat market this year, the average unit price of wheat sold in the province fell slightly from the previous year.
Contrary to the lower sales price of wheat, the efficiency of green vegetables and characteristic horticulture in the province has steadily increased. According to statistics, in the first half of the year, the vegetable planting area of the province increased by 2.5% year-on-year, vegetable prices rose by about 10% year-on-year, and the output efficiency per unit area of land increased year by year. This is mainly due to the initiative of the local agricultural sector to reduce the area of inefficient food crops and accelerate the development of high-efficiency crops such as high-quality grain and oil, green vegetables and special grain.
On the basis of strictly observing the red line of cultivated land, authorities in Dongtai County focused on the goal of reducing 300,000 mu of low-efficiency grain and oil crops in three years by making overall plans, guiding the development of high-efficiency agriculture in the townships and cultivating watermelon, green pepper, stevia and tree seedlings. Up to now, the output value of specialty industries in Dongtai City has exceeded 10 billion yuan. Among them, the average income of specialty agricultural products such as Dongtai watermelon and green pepper is over 10,000 yuan.
In addition to selling agricultural products directly to the market, Jiangsu has also vigorously developed the agricultural product processing industry, increased the added value of agricultural products to have extended the agricultural industrial chain and increased the processing industry's driving capacity year by year. In the first half of the year, the sales volume of 736 leading enterprises above the provincial level reached 450 billion yuan, an increase of 8.5% year-on-year, creating jobs for 3 million farmers.
This year marks the "Agricultural Quality Year" designated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Local governments in Jiangsu have relied on local specialty industries to accelerate the cultivation of brand name agricultural products. In the first half of the year, the province registered an addition of 411 new geographical indications of green food, organic agricultural products and agricultural products, with a total of 18,105 brands, ranking first in the country.
