Original Title: Implementation Opinions of the Huzhou Municipal People’s Government Office on Promoting High-Quality Development of Modern Agricultural Inputs Operations and Services
To the People’s Governments of All Districts and Counties, All Departments of the Municipal Government, and All Municipal-Level Units:
To implement the spirit of the “Opinions of the General Office of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government on Promoting High-Quality Development of Modern Agricultural Inputs Management and Services” (Zhe Zheng Ban Fa [2022] No. 66), leverage the role of agricultural inputs services in ensuring supply security, and promote the comprehensive high-quality development of agriculture and rural areas in our city, these Implementation Opinions are formulated with the approval of the Municipal People’s Government.
I. General Requirements
(1) Guiding Principles. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Focusing on ensuring food security, promoting high-quality agricultural development, and supporting the common prosperity of farmers and rural areas, we will implement the agricultural “Double Strength” initiative. We will concentrate on ensuring the supply, maintaining stability, and improving the quality of agricultural inputs, fully leverage the organizational and service advantages of the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and the Agricultural Cooperatives Federation, and vigorously promote the development of agricultural input distribution toward modern logistics, the extension of agricultural input operations into agricultural socialized services, and the transformation of agricultural input enterprises into comprehensive agricultural service providers.
(2) Main Objectives. Accelerate the construction of a modern agricultural input management and service system led by the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, driven by leading enterprises, and featuring joint cooperation among various agricultural input management and service entities.The goal is that, after 5 to 10 years of development, the city’s modern agricultural input management and service system will be relatively well-established, with significantly enhanced capabilities in specialized, digital, and systematic services. Substantial progress will be made in the integration of agricultural input warehousing, logistics, and distribution, and a group of leading enterprises in the agricultural input sector will have grown and strengthened. An agricultural input industry and supply chain system commensurate with the needs of ensuring food security and developing modern agriculture will be basically formed.
II. Key Tasks
(1) Establish a Modern Agricultural Inputs Operation and Service System. Adhering to a city-wide integrated development approach, establish a municipal-level supply and marketing agricultural inputs company. Support district and county agricultural inputs companies in taking equity stakes and participating in the construction of new fertilizer plants primarily invested in and built by provincial-level agricultural inputs companies. Based on deep business integration and shared resource channels, with property rights and services as the link, digital operation and management as the support, and agricultural service centers as the vehicle, integrate municipal and district/county resources toto build an integrated modern agricultural input business and service system comprising municipal leading enterprises, district/county-level companies, and grassroots retail outlets, thereby meeting the needs of all stages of agricultural production. Vigorously cultivate leading “chain leaders” in the city’s agricultural input sector. Utilize methods such as joint construction, brand licensing, management outsourcing, and cross-shareholding to promote cross-level and cross-regional cooperation among agricultural input enterprises, and explore new models of win-win cooperation in agricultural input business and services. Enhance the service capabilities of county-level agricultural input enterprises and establish a regional comprehensive agricultural input service system.(Responsible Units: Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau. The first-listed unit is the lead agency; the same applies below)
(2) Improve the agricultural input reserve system. In accordance with the principles of centralized management, routine service provision, and emergency response during disasters, implement a tiered reserve system for key agricultural inputs at the municipal, district, and county levels. Further optimize the structure and scale of reserves, ensuring that the proportion of formula fertilizers in compound fertilizer reserves is no less than 75%.Issue municipal-level management measures for commercial fertilizer reserves, improve the systems for commercial fertilizer reserves and emergency pesticide reserves, and promote the real-time aggregation of full-chain agricultural input data onto the "Strategic and Emergency Materials Online" platform to ensure orderly reserve management, transportation, and supply of agricultural inputs.Promote the establishment of a municipal-level fertilizer reserve center and support qualified agricultural input enterprises in actively undertaking agricultural input reserve tasks. The municipal-level commercial fertilizer reserve shall be no less than 12,000 metric tons annually, while pesticide and agricultural film reserves shall be no less than 160 metric tons and 150 metric tons annually, respectively. (Responsible Units: Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(3) Promote the development of a modern agricultural input logistics and distribution system. Optimize the layout of agricultural input warehousing and logistics, and promote the construction of regional logistics centers for key agricultural inputs in major grain-producing counties (districts) such as Nanxun District and Changxing County.Increase support for land use for logistics and warehousing by agricultural input enterprises, accelerate the renovation and upgrading of existing storage facilities, and ensure that all storage facilities of agricultural input enterprises meet modern logistics and distribution requirements within three years. Support agricultural input enterprises in developing smart logistics, accelerate the use of digital technologies to upgrade supply chain management, transportation and loading/unloading, and storage facilities, and enhance the level of intelligence in logistics processes such as warehousing, transportation, distribution, and delivery.Encourage agricultural input enterprises to provide “one-to-one” and “point-to-point” direct supply to large-scale farmers, expand the service functions of agricultural cooperatives, and vigorously promote a new model of direct supply for formula fertilizers—where cooperatives provide specifications, research institutions conduct R&D, agricultural and rural departments handle registration and filing, and agricultural input enterprises handle production and distribution. Establish an emergency supply and logistics smooth-flow mechanism for agricultural inputs to ensure timely delivery. By 2025, the city will establish a 45-minute agricultural input delivery service zone.(Responsible Units: Municipal Transportation Bureau, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Municipal Postal Administration)
(IV) Maintaining Order in the Agricultural Inputs Market. Improve the monitoring system for agricultural input prices and inventories; refine mechanisms such as the linked adjustment of agricultural input costs and grain production subsidies, as well as the dynamic release of agricultural input reserves; and strengthen safeguards for farmers’ grain production income.Strengthen quality management of agricultural inputs, standardize business practices, and encourage agricultural input enterprises, retail outlets, and other operators to integrate with the "Zhe Nong You Pin" application system. Fully implement a real-name purchase system and expand the use of electronic identifiers such as "in-store codes" and QR codes for agricultural input products to foster new retail models. Investigate and punish monopolistic practices and unfair competition in the agricultural input sector in accordance with the law to maintain normal market order.Organize special campaigns to crack down on counterfeit agricultural inputs during the annual peak agricultural production season, strictly prohibit hoarding and price gouging, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of farmers. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Municipal Public Security Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Municipal Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau)
(5) Enhance Agricultural Input Service Capabilities.Encourage municipal and district/county agricultural input companies to jointly establish regionally integrated agricultural input enterprises, creating a modern agricultural service ecosystem. This will address bottlenecks such as severe homogenized competition, fragmented business entities, and weak service capabilities within the agricultural input sector, thereby enhancing comprehensive service capacity. By 2025, cultivate at least three “small but excellent” and “specialized and distinctive” regional backbone agricultural input enterprises, and establish several comprehensive agricultural service providers with R&D capabilities, industrial scale, and driving influence that are recognized throughout the province.Promote the transformation of agricultural input enterprises into comprehensive agricultural service providers, expanding services such as soil testing and fertilization formulation, seed and seedling cultivation, unified pest control, agricultural machinery operation and management, and soil improvement and remediation. Promote customized, comprehensive, one-stop, and full-process service models, with the area covered by agricultural socialized services reaching over 800,000 mu annually.Encourage agricultural input enterprises to lead or participate in investments in specialized socialized agricultural machinery service organizations, promote the "agricultural machinery enterprise + cooperative + farmer" model, and improve the efficiency of socialized services.Vigorously develop "aerial pest control" services; by 2025, achieve drone-based plant protection coverage for major grain crops such as rice. Encourage and support agricultural input enterprises to actively participate in land trusteeship and the construction of high-standard farmland, modern agricultural parks, "Beautiful Farmlands," "Future Farms," and "Harmonious Rural Villages." (Responsible Units: Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs)
(6) Innovate agricultural input service models. Incorporate the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives’ Modern Agriculture Comprehensive Service Centers into the city-wide agricultural service center construction system. Promote the experience of Changxing County, a provincial pilot county for deepening reform through digital integration of the “three-in-one” model. Establish five county-level agricultural service centers city-wide, standardizing their names and management to achieve “one-stop” agricultural services.Support agricultural input enterprises and other entities in establishing or upgrading a batch of agricultural service centers that integrate comprehensive functions such as agricultural input distribution, agricultural machinery operations, agricultural technical services, farmer training, processing and marketing, and financial and insurance services. Fully leverage the service functions of grassroots Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, rural comprehensive service cooperatives, and industrial agricultural cooperatives; renovate and upgrade grassroots agricultural input stores; and transform agricultural input outlets into frontline service stations to ensure farmers have access to high-quality services nearby.(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(7) Strengthen the Supply of Agricultural Input Technology Services. Encourage agricultural input enterprises to research, develop, adopt, and commercialize advanced and applicable agricultural input technologies. Strengthen cooperation with universities, research institutions, and leading agricultural input enterprises to jointly establish modern agricultural input R&D centers, biodegradable agricultural film R&D centers, and modern agricultural science and technology parks, thereby fostering a cohort of high-tech enterprises.Encourage agricultural input enterprises to collaborate with universities, research institutions, and business entities within grain production functional zones and modern agricultural parks to jointly establish research and experimental bases, thereby advancing the R&D and application of new agricultural input technologies and products. Accelerate the iteration, upgrading, and widespread adoption of the "Smart Agricultural Inputs" platform. Relying on agricultural input enterprises under the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, establish a new batch of modern crop clinics, with the cumulative number reaching over 100 by 2025.(Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(8) Accelerate the widespread adoption of green agricultural inputs. Actively promote the participation of agricultural input enterprises in the formulation and revision of standards related to soil improvement and remediation, as well as fertilizer and pesticide application. Encourage the conversion of advanced technological achievements into national, industry, local, or group standards. Explore the standardization of agricultural input management and services, and encourage agricultural input enterprises, universities, research institutions, and social organizations to actively participate in agricultural input standardization projects.Deepen the reform of the "two-system" approach to fertilizers and pesticides, comprehensively advance the initiative to replace balanced fertilizers with formula fertilizers at the supply end, and improve subsidy policies supporting the promotion and application of formula fertilizers and organic fertilizers. By the end of 2025, the initiative to replace balanced fertilizers with formula fertilizers will have achieved basic coverage of crop production. Establish and improve a system for the release of recommended formula fertilizers, guiding agricultural input wholesale and retail enterprises at all levels to optimize their product ranges to achieve fertilizer ordering and sales based on specific formulas.Develop an upgraded version of soil testing and formula-based fertilization technology to optimize the structure of chemical fertilizer supply, promote scientific fertilization methods, and improve fertilizer utilization rates. Strengthen guidance on scientific fertilization for farmers; by 2025, the utilization rate of chemical fertilizers (nitrogen fertilizers) for major crops will reach over 43%, and the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides will maintain zero growth.Encourage pesticide enterprises to intensify efforts in developing and introducing new varieties and formulations of green pesticides, expand the market share of highly efficient, low-toxicity, water-based, and environmentally friendly pesticides, and strengthen the research, development, and promotion of high-performance specialized greenhouse films and biodegradable agricultural films. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Market Regulation Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(9) Improve the recycling and treatment system for waste packaging.Promote the greening and reduction of fertilizer packaging, pesticide containers, and agricultural films, and encourage enterprises to research, develop, produce, and use recyclable green packaging. Improve the working mechanism involving government procurement of services, collection by market entities, and disposal by specialized institutions. Accelerate the establishment of a comprehensive, category-based recycling and treatment system covering agricultural inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, and agricultural films. Optimize the layout and construction of the recycling network to bridge the "first mile" from farm fields to collection sites.Strengthen supervision over all stages of waste packaging, including collection, temporary storage, transportation, and treatment; properly dispose of residues and waste liquids in accordance with regulations; and establish an effective closed-loop management system to prevent environmental pollution. By 2025, the recovery rates for both pesticide packaging waste and used agricultural films will reach over 90%. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(10) Improve support policies for agricultural input operations. Departments at all levels—including science and technology, finance, agriculture and rural affairs, commerce, and supply and marketing—shall effectively coordinate the use of various agriculture-related funds to provide active support for the construction of eligible agricultural input warehousing and logistics facilities, agricultural input industrial projects, agricultural technology research institutes, comprehensive agricultural input service platforms, biodegradable agricultural film R&D and promotion projects, and modern agricultural input projects.Science and technology departments shall support universities, research institutions, and agricultural input enterprises in actively conducting research on green agricultural input technologies and crop solutions. Financial regulatory authorities shall guide financial institutions to increase support, provide credit support to eligible agricultural input enterprises and agriculture-related projects, encourage the standardized development of agricultural supply chain finance, strengthen insurance support, and guide government industrial funds and farmer cooperative funds to support the development of modern agricultural inputs. Tax authorities shall grant tax incentives to eligible agricultural input enterprises.Natural resources departments must fully consider the reasonable land use needs for agricultural input production, operations, and the construction of agricultural service centers, rationally allocate land for agricultural facility construction, and strengthen land resource guarantees. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources and Planning, Municipal Commerce Bureau, Municipal Water Resources Bureau, Municipal Financial Office, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative, Municipal People’s Bank of China, Municipal Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau)
(11) Strengthen support for high-caliber talent. Include agricultural input professionals in the Agricultural Innovators Cultivation Program and incorporate them into the specialized directory and talent pool for high-end, specialized, and scarce talent under the agricultural “Double Strength” initiative. To address the aging workforce in the agricultural input sector, introduce relevant policies to attract college graduates and young talent to employment in the industry.Encourage and support agricultural researchers from universities and research institutions to retain their personnel status while taking leave or engaging in part-time entrepreneurship and innovation, and promote the rational and orderly flow of scientific and technological talent among universities, research institutions, and agricultural input enterprises. Encourage Huzhou Normal University, the Municipal Farmers’ College, and district/county farmers’ schools to establish agricultural input-related disciplines or majors, or to collaborate with agricultural input enterprises on joint educational programs.Increase fiscal subsidies to support agricultural input enterprises in conducting training for new-type farmers. Implement the "Thousand-Hundred Talent Enhancement Plan" and a mentor-apprentice support system to cultivate 100 practical talents in areas such as new-type agricultural input technology and plant protection drone operation. Regularly organize training for leaders of key agricultural input enterprises to build a sufficient and high-quality workforce of new-type agricultural input professionals. (Responsible Units: Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, Municipal Education Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
(12) Promote the development of digital agricultural inputs. Advance the digital transformation of agricultural input operations and services; encourage leading agricultural input enterprises to build integrated online-offline digital service platforms; and promote the interoperability of applications such as “ZheNongMa,” “ZheNongFu,” and “ZheNongYouPin.”Expand the integrated application of the Digital Agricultural Cooperative Alliance in the agricultural inputs sector, promote the embedding of agricultural production factors, service resources, supply and demand entities, and market information into the Alliance platform, and facilitate information symmetry between supply and demand sides for various services—including agricultural production, supply and marketing, and credit—to establish a framework of efficient coordination and holistic intelligent governance for agricultural inputs operations and services. (Responsible Units: Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative)
III. Support Measures
(1) Strengthen Organizational Leadership. All districts, counties, and relevant municipal departments shall regard the high-quality development of modern agricultural input management and services as a key measure in implementing the agricultural “Double Strength” initiative and an essential component of agricultural and rural modernization. They shall intensify research and investigation, introduce specific measures, and jointly advance the implementation of these guidelines to ensure all tasks are fully executed.
(2) Foster Collaborative Efforts.All districts and counties shall establish multi-departmental coordination mechanisms to jointly address agricultural input supply security, price stabilization, emergency reserves, quality and safety, and warehouse logistics development, thereby collectively promoting the high-quality development of agricultural input management and services. Supply and marketing departments shall fully leverage their role as the primary channel for agricultural input circulation, optimize the supply structure of agricultural inputs, accelerate the construction of a modern agricultural socialized service system, and lead the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural input industry. The role of agricultural input industry associations shall be fully utilized to guide agricultural input management and service providers in strengthening industry self-discipline and honest business practices, thereby promoting the high-quality development of agricultural input management and services.
(3) Strengthen Publicity and Guidance. Summarize and promote best practices and exemplary cases to leverage the guiding role of models, thereby fostering a favorable environment for promoting the development of modern agricultural inputs and enhancing service capabilities for farmers. Actively identify and promote advanced models to showcase the positive image of agricultural input service professionals who are deeply rooted in rural areas and dedicated to serving farmers. Establish and improve incentive mechanisms to guide agricultural input enterprises and service personnel to devote themselves to serving farmers, thereby making due contributions to advancing the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
These guidelines shall take effect on July 1, 2023.
Office of the Huzhou Municipal People’s Government
June 13, 2023
