China will further improve its agricultural plantation structure and narrow the deficit in the supply of certain farm products in 2019, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu said on Wednesday.
Corn planting will be more concentrated in high-yield areas to ensure a steady supply, while rice and wheat fields in regions with damaged underground water supplies will be reduced, Han said at a national work conference on spring farming.
Production of soybeans and oil plants will be expanded, he said.
The minister called for efforts to keep China’s grain output stable in 2019. The country’s grain output has stabilized above 600 billion kg for six years in a row by 2018.
In the meantime, China will expand marketing channels of agricultural goods produced in poor regions in a bid to help with the country’s poverty eradication campaign, according to an official statement released by the state council on January 29.
China will encourage wholesalers, e-commerce companies and supermarkets to establish stable and long-term cooperative relationships with impoverished villages with the potential to develop the agricultural sector, according to a plan released by 10 agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce.
The country will also support direct purchase of farm produce from poor regions by universities, hospitals, canteens of public institutions and trading platforms, the plan said.
Logistics in the poor areas should be improved, while cold chain facilities should be established at the production bases of agricultural goods to support better storage, the plan said.
The plan released on Jan 29 came after the release of State Council guidelines earlier this month that encourage the consumption of goods and services provided by people living under the poverty line.
（source：ourjiangsu.com）
