East China’s Jiangsu province will make unremitting efforts to promote the construction of high-level agricultural powerhouse to ensure its agricultural modernization will rank foremost in the country, according to a press conference held by the provincial government on Wednesday.
In recent years, Jiangsu has given priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas and made every effort to promote the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy so that significant progress has been made in the construction of agricultural modernization.
As of 2022, Jiangsu recorded a total grain production of over 35 billion kilograms for 9 consecutive years. This year, Jiangsu achieved another bumper harvest with a total production of 14.07 billion kilograms in summer grain, an increase of approximately 70 million kilograms year-on-year.
Jiangsu continues to remain at the forefront of vegetable production in the country while freshwater fishery output value rank first in the country for 31 consecutive years.
Behind the enhanced supply guarantee capability of grain and important agricultural products is the strong support of Jiangsu’s agricultural technology equipment. In 2022, Jiangsu recorded a contribution rate of 71.8% to agricultural scientific and technological progress, and a comprehensive mechanization rate of 85% for crop cultivation and harvest, both exceeding the national average by about 10 percentage points.
The General Office of the Provincial Party Committee and the General Office of the Provincial Government have recently issued the "Action Plan for Building a Strong Agricultural Province at a High Level", which specifies seven special actions to enhance the production capacity of grain and important agricultural products, promote high-quality development of rural industries, innovate agricultural science and technology, and achieve a ten-year doubling of farmers' income. The province will aim to be the first in the country to basically achieve agricultural modernization by 2030, and ensure that rural areas have basic modern living conditions.
“We prioritize increasing farmers' income and strive to achieve an average annual growth rate of around 7.2% in rural residents' income, while the income ratio between urban and rural residents continues to shrink”, Sun Xiang, Deputy Director of Jiangsu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said.
