SWB
FE/1012 B2/3
governments at all levels should increase agricultural investment in many respects. All trades and professions should energetically support agriculture.
The national meeting on exchanging experience in rural economic work continued its plenary session. Vice-Premier Tian Jiyun attended the meeting, while State Councillor Chen Junsheng presided over it. A written speech by Zou Jiahua, entitled "Continue To Support and Strengthen Agriculture and Bring About Steady Agricultural Development”, was read to the meeting.
Zou Jiahua first gave an account of China's present economic situation, fully affirmed last year's agricultural achievements and analysed the reasons for the good agricultural situation.
He emphasized: Although we gathered unprecedented, all- round good agricultural harvests in 1990, we must not blindly reach a conclusion that our agriculture has passed all tests, nor should we slacken our leadership over agriculture, reduce agricultural investment or even increase peasants' burdens. There are several reasons for me to say this.
First, one of the important factors for the good agricultural harvests in 1990 was good weather, and good harvests do not prove that China's overall agricultural production capability has certainly reached a new level. In fact, the infrastructure and basic conditions of our agricultural production have not fundamentally improved, the ability of our agriculture to resist natural disasters is still very poor, and the basis for further agricultural development remains insufficient.
low.
Second, the per-unit area yields of our agriculture are still
Third, the total grain output in 1990 was at an all-time high, but the per-capita grain output was still below the 1984 level, and so were the per-capita outputs of cotton, oil-bearing crops and sugar crops.
Fourth, our agricultural products cannot satisfy the needs of the society not only in quantity but also in quality, and the quality of many of our agricultural products need further improvement to meet the needs of the people's daily improving living standards and the growing light and textile industries.
Fifth, progress in using applicable agricultural science and technology is slow, and many scientific and technological results have not yet become productive forces.
Sixth, the external economic environment for agricultural production has not improved as it should.
disharmonious
Therefore, such major problems as relations among agricultural production, supply and marketing; difficulty in selling, storing and transferring some agricultural products; and increasing burdens on peasants still exist. These problems are dampening peasants' enthusiasm for agricultural development. For this reason, considerably arduous efforts remain to be made, so that our agriculture will climb new heights before the end of the century to meet the needs of both population growth and economic growth. We must not treat the task lightly.
Zou Jiahua pointed out that in 1991 we must continue to strengthen agriculture with correct policy, investment, and science and technology, keep a steady agricultural development, and strive for another good harvest. He proposed some concrete measures for this goal.
5 Mar
Zou Jiahua discussed in detail and from all angles the question regarding the basic strategic position held by agriculture in national economy. He pointed out that history has shown us an important revelation - that is, to bring about a sustained, stable and coordinated economic development, we must firmly regard agriculture as the foundation, fully understand that agriculture is the foundation of the national economy, always implement the guiding principle of regarding agriculture as the foundation in economic work, and push agricultural production forward persistently and constantly.
On the 10-year programme and the eighth five-year plan for agricultural development, Zou Jiahua said: The objectives of our agricultural development in the 1990s are to continue to stabilize and improve the household contract responsibility system linking output to payment as the main form, strive to develop the socialized service system, gradually bring to perfection the dual management system [which combines household with collective operations], strengthen the collective economy, increase agricultural investment, build up our capacity for sustained agricultural development, improve rural production conditions, make great efforts to popularize the application of effective agricultural scientific and technological results, make agriculture progress on two levels, and develop the rural economy in an all-round way.
He briefed the audience on the major tasks and objectives of the development of agriculture (including forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries), town and village enterprises, water conservancy and meteorological undertakings in the 10-year programme and the eighth five-year plan.
Zou Jiahua emphatically pointed out that all trades and professions should support agriculture energetically. He made the following demands:
First, the central government, local governments collectives and peasants should all strive to increase agricultural investment, strengthen agricultural infrastructure and build up the capacity for sustained agricultural development. During the eighth five-year plan period, the state will increase its investment in agricultural infrastructure year by year. The funds for agricultural investment in the hands of the state have increased by 23.3% in 1991, as compared with 1990. The agricultural development funds should be raised fully and spent effectively according to relevant regulations. A rational increase should be maintained in the amount of agricultural credit. Foreign capital appropriated for agriculture should be increased gradually, if possible. Local governments at all levels should increase further their agricultural funds. In the meantime, it is necessary to adopt necessary policies and measures to arouse the enthusiasm among collectives and peasants for investing more funds and labour in agriculture.
Second, industrial and communications departments, particularly the chemical, machine-building and electric power departments which support agriculture, should strive to increase the output of the agricultural means of production, improve the quality of industrial products for agricultural use, and satisfy the needs of agricultural production.
Third, the commodity circulation department should further improve the work of buying agricultural products and supplying agricultural means of production. In the course of deepening reforms, it should gradually straighten out the
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