Farmers sow seeds in a village in Shizuishan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, April 13, 2022. /CFP
China has continuously seen a bumper grain harvest in the past year with the country's green transition efforts in developing modern agriculture, an official said on Wednesday at a press conference about the agricultural and rural economic performance in 2022.
"China's grain output has remained above 1.3 trillion jin (around 650 million tonnes) for eight consecutive years," said Zeng Yande, head of the development and planning department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Zeng added that the grain sown area was 1.775 billion mu(around 118 million hectares), an increase of 10.52 million mu over the previous year, and the output was 1.37 trillion jin, an increase of 7.4 billion jin. One jin in weight converted to kilograms equals precisely 0.50 kg.
The tech-based modern agriculture construction and green transformation in agriculture development were also highlighted in the press conference.
Besides improving seeds' variety and quality, the country in the past year built 100 million mu of high-standard farmland, which are suitable for modern agricultural production and management mode, thus ensuring the goal of building 1 billion mu of high-standard farmland was achieved as scheduled, said Zeng.
A farmer loads wheat into the cart in Liaocheng City, east China's Shandong Province, December 12, 2022. /CFP
Noting that breakthroughs were made in the creation of agricultural machinery equipment, Zeng said the loss rate of grain harvest using machines was kept within three percent.
More efforts were also made in reducing environmental and ecological pollution in developing agriculture.
The utilization rate of fertilizers and pesticides exceeded 41 percent, and the utilization rate of fecal residue and waste water, straw and agricultural film exceeded respectively 78 percent, 88 percent and 80 percent, Zeng said, adding that agricultural ecological environment problems have been brought under control.
Zeng noted that the output of agricultural products with green, organic and geographical indications accounted for 11 percent of the total, and 97.6 percent of agricultural products passed routine quality and safety monitoring.
The modern agricultural development has increased farmers' income and improved their living environment.
The per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 20,133 yuan (around $2,968) last year, up by 4.2 percent in real terms, and the per capita income ratio of urban and rural residents was 2.45 yuan, 0.05 lower than that in 2021, Zeng said.
In the year of 2023, all efforts will be made to ensure national food security and make solid progress in key tasks including rural development and rural construction, thus promoting rural revitalization and accelerating agricultural and rural modernization, Zeng said.