What new policies does the central government have for farmers to increase their income in 2016?

2. Focus on increasing farmers’ income and intensify policies that benefit farmers

If China wants to be rich, farmers must be rich. Wealthy farmers must fully tap the potential for increasing income within agriculture, develop space for increasing income in rural secondary and tertiary industries, broaden channels for increasing external income in rural areas, increase policies to help increase agricultural income, and strive to maintain the momentum of continued narrowing of the income gap between urban and rural residents under the new normal of economic development.

8． Priority shall be given to ensuring investment in agriculture and rural areas. To increase farmers' income, it is necessary to clarify the government's responsibility for improving agricultural and rural development conditions. We will insist on treating agriculture and rural areas as a priority area for fiscal expenditures at all levels, accelerate the establishment of a mechanism for stable investment growth, continue to increase fiscal expenditures on agriculture and rural areas, and central infrastructure investment will continue to tilt toward agriculture and rural areas. Optimize the structure of fiscal support for agriculture, focusing on supporting farmers' income increase, major rural reforms, agricultural infrastructure construction, agricultural structural adjustment, sustainable agricultural development, and improvement of rural people's livelihood. Change investment methods, innovate the operation mechanism of agricultural-related funds, and give full play to the guidance and leverage of financial funds. Reform the agriculture-related transfer payment system, decentralize approval authority, and effectively integrate fiscal agricultural and rural investment. Effectively strengthen the supervision of agricultural-related funds, establish a standardized and transparent management system, and eliminate any form of misappropriation, interception, and false claims to ensure effective use of funds.

9. Improve the effectiveness of agricultural subsidy policies. To increase farmers' income, we must improve the state's support and protection system for agriculture. Maintain the continuity and stability of agricultural subsidy policies, gradually expand the scale and scope of the implementation of "green box" support policies, adjust and improve "yellow box" support policies, and give full play to the policy's effect of benefiting farmers and increasing incomes. Policies such as direct subsidies for grain farmers, subsidies for improved seeds, subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery and tools, and comprehensive subsidies for agricultural inputs will continue to be implemented. Select some places to carry out reform pilots to improve the guidance and effectiveness of subsidies. Improve the subsidy policy for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment, tilt it towards main production areas and new agricultural business entities, and expand the scope of subsidies for the purchase of water-saving irrigation equipment. Implement subsidy policies for the promotion of major technical measures in agricultural production. Implement financial incentive and subsidy policies for counties with major grain and oil production, major grain crop seed production, major pig transfer counties, and major cattle and sheep breeding counties. Expand the scope of rewards and subsidies for modern agricultural demonstration areas. Improve the system of interest compensation, farmland protection compensation, and ecological compensation in major grain-producing areas.

10． Improve the price formation mechanism of agricultural products. To increase farmers' income, we must maintain reasonable prices for agricultural products. Continue to implement the minimum purchase price policy for rice and wheat, and improve the temporary purchase and storage policy for important agricultural products. Summarize the experience of pilot target price reforms for cotton in Xinjiang, Northeast China and Inner Mongolia soybeans, improve subsidy methods, reduce operating costs, and ensure that subsidy funds are cashed to farmers in full and in a timely manner. Actively carry out pilot projects for agricultural product price insurance. Reasonably determine the reserve scale of important agricultural products such as grain, cotton, sugar, and meat. Improve the national grain reserve throughput regulation mechanism and strengthen the supervision of grain reserves. Implement the plan to increase the scale of local grain reserves, establish an agency storage system for important commodity trading enterprises, and improve the agency storage system for sugar companies. Use modern information technology to improve statistical surveys on planting area and output, and improve cost and price monitoring methods.

11． Strengthen agricultural social services. To increase farmers' income, we must improve the agricultural service system to help farmers reduce costs and control risks. We will do a good job in innovating pilot projects for socialized service mechanisms throughout the entire agricultural production process, focusing on providing farmers with services such as farming and harvesting, unified prevention and control, and drying and storage. Stabilize and strengthen grassroots agricultural technology extension and other public welfare institutions, improve funding guarantee and incentive mechanisms, and improve the working and living conditions of grassroots agricultural technology extension personnel. Give full play to the role of rural professional technical associations in agricultural technology promotion. Encourage and guide social forces to participate in public welfare services by purchasing services. Increase central and provincial fiscal premium subsidies for major food crop insurance. Incorporate major grain crop seed production insurance into the central government’s premium subsidy catalog. Insurance benefits from centrally subsidized insurance should cover direct material costs. Accelerate the study and introduction of a central fiscal reward-subsidy policy for the insurance of agricultural products with local characteristics and advantages. Expand forest insurance coverage. Support the postal system to better serve "agriculture, rural areas and farmers". Innovate the meteorological service mechanism for agriculture and promote integration into the agricultural social service system.

12. Promote the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas. To increase farmers' income, we must extend the agricultural industry chain and increase agricultural added value. Based on resource advantages and guided by market demand, we will vigorously develop characteristic planting and breeding industries, agricultural product processing industries, and rural service industries, support the development of one product per village, and one industry per township (county), strengthen the county economy, and drive farmers to find employment and become rich. Actively develop various agricultural functions and explore the value of rural ecological leisure, tourism, and culture and education. Support the construction of a number of characteristic landscape tourism villages and towns with historical, regional and ethnic characteristics, and create rural tourism and leisure products with diverse forms and distinctive characteristics. Increase investment in the construction of rural tourism and leisure infrastructure, enhance online and offline marketing capabilities, and improve management levels and service quality. Study and formulate land, fiscal, financial and other support policies to promote the development of rural tourism and leisure, and implement preferential tax policies. Activate rural factor resources and increase farmers' property income.

13． Expand external channels for increasing rural income. To increase farmers' income, we must promote farmers' transfer of employment and entrepreneurship. Implement the vocational skills improvement plan for migrant workers. Implement the policy of equal pay for equal work, protect the rights and interests of migrant workers in labor remuneration in accordance with the law, and establish a long-term mechanism for the normal payment of wages to migrant workers.

We will ensure that migrant workers in cities and their families who move with them have equal access to basic urban public services, expand the coverage of urban social insurance for migrant workers, carry out preventive and supportive actions for occupational diseases of migrant workers, and improve the local compulsory education for children who move with them. and policies related to participating in the high school and college entrance examinations, and explore specific methods for migrant workers to enjoy urban affordable housing. Accelerate the reform of the household registration system, establish a residence permit system, and promote the agricultural migrant population to settle in cities and towns by category and enjoy the same treatment as local residents. At this stage, farmers' settlement in cities must not be linked to their withdrawal from land contract management rights, homestead use rights, and collective income distribution rights. We will guide migrant workers with skills, capital and management experience to return to their hometowns to start businesses, implement targeted tax cuts and general fee reduction policies, and reduce start-up costs and business burdens. Optimize the industrial development environment of small and medium-sized cities and small towns in the central and western regions, and create conditions for farmers to relocate to nearby places for employment.

14. Vigorously promote rural poverty alleviation and development. To increase farmers' income, we must speed up the pace of rural poor people getting rid of poverty and becoming rich. Focusing on contiguous areas with extreme poverty, we will increase investment and work efforts, accelerate the implementation of regional planning, and fight against poverty alleviation and development. Promote targeted poverty alleviation and formulate and implement measures to assist poor villages and poor households that have been registered. Strengthen infrastructure construction, ecological protection and basic public services in concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken areas, increase land use policy support, and implement projects such as village promotion, immigration relocation, and rural tourism poverty alleviation. In principle, the power to approve poverty alleviation projects should be delegated to counties, and provinces and cities should effectively fulfill their regulatory responsibilities. Establish an announcement and publicity system to comprehensively disclose poverty alleviation targets, funding arrangements, project construction, etc. Improve the mobilization mechanism of social poverty alleviation organizations and build a platform for social participation in poverty alleviation and development. Improve the assistance system for cadres stationed in villages. Strengthen poverty monitoring and establish and improve mechanisms for assessment, restriction, and withdrawal of poor counties. Economically developed areas must continuously improve the level of poverty alleviation and development.

Reference: Full text of 2015 Central Document No. 1

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