Since 2015, Dongli district has promoted the construction of high-quality farming lands, increased its investment in agricultural infrastructure construction, maintained and upgraded irrigation canals and ditches, and field roads, and improved farmland soil, building up three high standard farmland areas and promoting the intensive use and effective conservation of land.
Farmland in Dongli district [Photo/WeChat account: tianjindongli]
Dongli has about 80,000 mu of farm land, which is mostly planted with wheat, rice, corn and sorghum, as well as soybeans. Through the protection of the lands, by the end of 2021, 29,000 mu of high standard farmland had been built in the region. At the same time, Dongli has made every effort to tap the potential of its grain planting area, and to the achieve sustainable recovery and growth of farmlands. The rice area increased from less than 200 mu 10 years ago to 12,000 mu in 2021. In 2021, the grain sown area in Dongli reached 75,400 mu, an increase of 31% year-on-year. The planting area of wheat and rice reached the historical peak, with a year-on-year growth of 45% and 21% respectively.
Farmland in Dongli district [Photo/WeChat account: tianjindongli]
Dongli has established a long-term monitoring network for the quality of cultivated land. According to the monitored data on soil fertility, soil degradation, nutrient resources and fertility, the quality of cultivated land has been effectively improved. Moreover, soil improvement, the breeding of high-yield and high-quality varieties, large-scale planting, the promotion of yield increasing technology, the upgrading of mechanized operation, and the application of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things and big data, have benefited the planting of grain.
Additionally, the local government has introduced a series of preferential agricultural subsidy policies to increase support for grain production. The full payment of grain planting subsidies, agricultural machinery purchase subsidies, straw returning subsidies and social service subsidies has mobilized farmers' enthusiasm for grain planting in an all-round and multi-angled way.
"In the past 10 years, government subsidies for grain growing have continued to increase. Taking agricultural machinery subsidies as an example, from 2012 to 2021, cumulative financial subsidies reached more than 7 million yuan (about $1 million), which has greatly encouraged farmers' enthusiasm for farming”, according to the Dongli Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.