Guangdong to achieve basic modernization of agriculture, rural areas in Pearl River Delta by 2025

On September 7, Guangdong released a five-year outline on agriculture, with fully advancing rural revitalization and facilitating modernization of agriculture and rural areas as top priorities.

Photovoltaic project in Guangdong's Heyuan (Photo: Nanfang Daily)

Guangdong is committed to realizing basic modernization of agriculture and rural areas in the Pearl River Delta by 2025 where an integrated urban-rural development mechanism will be established, thus leading the progress of other regions of the province, said Gu Xingwei, director of Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs at a news conference yesterday.

By the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan Period (2015-2020), Guangdong’s food production held steady at 12 million tons and 23.52 million mu (1.568 million hectares) of farmland have been built up. The contribution rate of scientific and technological progress to agriculture stood at 70.2% and the qualified rate of quality and safety of agricultural products has remained above 97% for 5 consecutive years.

2,277 relatively-poor villages with a total population of 1.615 million people have been lifted out of poverty. The per capita disposable income of rural residents of the province reached 20.1 thousand yuan, with the income ratio between urban and rural residents decreasing to below 2.5: 1.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (2021-2025), Guangdong plans to invest 537.6 billion yuan in 43 major projects for the development of agriculture and rural areas, covering technological support, farmland construction, industry upgrading, improvement of living environment, farmhouse management and style promoting, and public infrastructure perfecting.

Rural industry revitalization is one of the focuses. A modern agricultural industry system will be established mainly based on the development of cross-country industrial clusters, and industrial parks of unique characteristics and functions.

Measures of technology, trade and logistics, and finance will be launched to achieve the goals. In the next five year, Guangdong strives to develop key breeding technologies and cultivate new varieties of plants. The province will also lay emphasis on digital agriculture, organize international digital agriculture conference and build 10 unmanned farms in the Greater Bay Area.

Diverse groups of technicians from the fields of health, education, culture and tourism will be deployed to rural areas to help with tasks concerning technology introduction, achievement transformation, industry upgrading and so on.

Author |Abby

Editor |Olivia, Jerry