Recently, the General Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government issued the 15th Five-Year Plan of Jiangsu Province for Agricultural and Rural Modernization. Based on the province’s agricultural conditions and development needs, the Plan sets out a comprehensive framework and strategic roadmap for work relating to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers over the next five years. It defines the guiding principles, objectives, key tasks, and policy measures for accelerating agricultural and rural modernization during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, with the aim of keeping Jiangsu at the forefront of agricultural modernization and building the province into a leading agricultural powerhouse. 

The Plan emphasizes giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas and promoting integrated urban-rural development. It sets the goal of building Jiangsu into a leading agricultural province, calls for the continued application of the experience gained in Green Rural Revival Program in Zhejiang Province, and promotes agricultural and rural modernization in an integrated manner. It also calls for coordinated development of technology-driven, eco-friendly, quality-focused, and brand-oriented agriculture.

According to the Plan, by 2030, all-round rural revitalization will have achieved significant results, and major progress will have been made in agricultural and rural modernization. The province’s capacity to ensure supplies of grain and other key agricultural products will continue to strengthen, while the quality, efficiency, and competitiveness of agriculture will steadily improve. Farmers’ incomes will continue to grow at a relatively rapid pace, the development of livable, business-friendly, and beautiful villages will accelerate, and new breakthroughs will be made in integrated urban-rural development. The Plan establishes 16 major indicators for high-quality agricultural and rural development. Among them, overall grain production capacity is a binding target, with production capacity to remain at or above 38 million metric tons.

The Plan identifies seven key tasks. These include simultaneously strengthening output and production capacity, balancing agricultural production with ecological conservation, and promoting both increased output and higher incomes. It calls for coordinated improvements in soil, seeds, production, storage, and marketing; stronger dual drivers of technology and reform; the cultivation of new quality productive forces in agriculture; the promotion of urban-rural integration with counties as the key entry point; and accelerated development of livable, business-friendly, and beautiful villages.

The Plan sets out a number of major projects and initiatives, including an action plan to improve farmland quality, a project to modernize and upgrade facility agriculture, the “AI Plus Agriculture” 141 Action, a demonstration project for developing livable, business-friendly, and beautiful villages, and an initiative to cultivate a new generation of farmers. The Plan also calls for strengthening Party leadership over work relating to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers; improving the coordination mechanisms for advancing rural revitalization; strengthening the workforce responsible for affairs relating to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers; and advancing the rule of law for agriculture and rural areas.