making rural areas more tech savvy
workers build a smart greenhouse at saihu farm in ruichang, jiangxi province, feb. 20, 2023. (photo: xinhua)
by zhong jianli
rural vitalization and development have been among china's top priorities over the years. the no.1 central document for 2023, recently released in beijing, outlines major tasks to "comprehensively push" rural vitalization, including offering more technological support for farmers.
the document stressed a number of projects to drive rural vitalization, such as strengthening agricultural infrastructure construction, consolidating the support of agricultural science, technology and equipment, and building beautiful and harmonious rural areas.
"this is the 20th no.1 central document this century that has focused on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers, which highlighted the government's emphasis on rural development. the main messages of the document can be summarized as securing bottom lines, bolstering vitalization efforts, and reinforcing support," said tang renjian, minister of agriculture and rural affairs at a recent press conference.
experts noted that the document shows the country's emphasis on modernizing agriculture and rural areas, which is also indicated in the report to the 20th cpc national congress. that report said that, "the most challenging and arduous tasks we face in building a modern socialist china in all respects remain in our rural areas."
to secure the stable production and adequate supply of grain and other important agricultural products, the document underlined efforts to keep annual grain production over 650 billion kilograms, expand the acreage of soybeans and oil crops, and develop modern protected agriculture.
another highlight of the document is that china will endeavor to build an agricultural science and technology innovation system with clear tier, division of labor and cooperation, and moderate competition, to accelerate breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies.
it says the country will support the building of national laboratories, manufacturing innovation centers and other platforms in the agricultural field, strengthen the construction of long-term observation and experiment stations for agriculture, and improve the support mechanism for basic research on agricultural science and technology.
in addition, to develop green agriculture, the document calls for establishing a sound collection, utilization and treatment system for agricultural waste, developing a monitoring system for agricultural ecological environment protection, and preventing the illegal introduction of alien and invasive species.
