The official "Voice of China" listed 31 subsidy programs to apply for in 2018 that illustrate Chinese leaders' plans to transform agriculture. According to Voice of China, agricultural subsidy programs will emphasize aid for businesses engaged in environmental protection, those that increase industry efficiency and those that strengthen food safety. The list below includes the name of each program and the dates for application. (Voice of China also listed the government entity to apply to, but these are excluded here for brevity.)
Applicants for these programs must be registered as enterprises (which would include farmer cooperatives, agribusinesses and "family farms" holding a business license, but not individual farmers). They must demonstrate adequate "business management capability" and cannot have a bad social credit score, nor can they be on a black list. Aid cannot exceed the expenses of the project and a project cannot be supported by multiple subsidies.
The programs below focus on developing new-type farms, cooperatives, agricultural service providers, farm-industry linkages, soil improvements. Many of these programs are ideas that have been tried before. For example, producing oils from tree nuts has been proposed every 15 years or so, and feeding crop stalks/straw to cattle and sheep was a big initiative in the 1990s that has been revived. The programs feature "model farm" approaches and upgrades of the animal breeding system that have been around since at least the 1950s. Also prominent is the "comprehensive agricultural development" begun in the 1980s, which finances an overhaul of farming infrastructure in a village or larger contiguous area, including development of a processing or other agribusiness linked up with farmers. Industrial parks are another long-time socialist favorite now being adopted for agriculture.
This does not appear to be an exhaustive list of agricultural subsidies. It does not include payments to the broad population of farmers, such as the "support and protection payment" for grain farmers, target subsidy for cotton producers in Xinjiang, nor direct payments to producers of corn, soybeans, and rapeseed in select provinces. The programs below appear to be special project aid that companies, cooperatives, and licensed farms can apply for, not broad entitlements to all farmers.
Applicants for these programs must be registered as enterprises (which would include farmer cooperatives, agribusinesses and "family farms" holding a business license, but not individual farmers). They must demonstrate adequate "business management capability" and cannot have a bad social credit score, nor can they be on a black list. Aid cannot exceed the expenses of the project and a project cannot be supported by multiple subsidies.
The programs below focus on developing new-type farms, cooperatives, agricultural service providers, farm-industry linkages, soil improvements. Many of these programs are ideas that have been tried before. For example, producing oils from tree nuts has been proposed every 15 years or so, and feeding crop stalks/straw to cattle and sheep was a big initiative in the 1990s that has been revived. The programs feature "model farm" approaches and upgrades of the animal breeding system that have been around since at least the 1950s. Also prominent is the "comprehensive agricultural development" begun in the 1980s, which finances an overhaul of farming infrastructure in a village or larger contiguous area, including development of a processing or other agribusiness linked up with farmers. Industrial parks are another long-time socialist favorite now being adopted for agriculture.
This does not appear to be an exhaustive list of agricultural subsidies. It does not include payments to the broad population of farmers, such as the "support and protection payment" for grain farmers, target subsidy for cotton producers in Xinjiang, nor direct payments to producers of corn, soybeans, and rapeseed in select provinces. The programs below appear to be special project aid that companies, cooperatives, and licensed farms can apply for, not broad entitlements to all farmers.
| Directory of China agricultural subsidy/aid programs, 2018 | |
| Program description | Application period |
| Model farmer cooperatives | Jan-June |
| Cropland protection and quality improvement aid | Jan-March |
| Aquaculture breeding and production model farms | Feb-June |
| Projects raising livestock on crop straw | Feb-June |
| Grassroots agricultural technology extension system aid | Feb-March |
| Modern agricultural industrial parks | March-April |
| Grain/cotton/oilseed/sugar high-yielding field construction | March-May |
| Agricultural machinery purchase subsidy (for "green" projects) | March-May |
| Aid for production of agricultural resources and ecological protection | March-May |
| Agricultural disaster prevention fund | March-May |
| Socialized services for the whole agricultural production process | April-Dec |
| Soil fertility testing aid | Before April |
| Aid for potato, fruit, vegetable storage facilities | Before April |
| Pastoral complex construction | May-June |
| Logistics upgrades | May |
| National agricultural industry chain innovation model districts | June-July |
| National comprehensive agricultural industrialized development (for new-type farms) | June-July |
| Modern young farmer plan | June-Aug |
| Model districts integrating production with cities (agricultural industry parks) | July-Aug |
| Ministry of Agriculture Food Grain Processing Model Enterprises | July-Sept |
| Fostering of New-type Professional Farmers | July-Aug |
| National Agricultural Comprehensive Development Industry Integration for managed land, organic fertilizer, low-residue pesticides | July-Oct |
| Aid for Outstanding Young Agricultural Technicians | July-Oct |
| National Outstanding Rural Practical Personnel Aid (large farms, S&T model farms, returned migrants) | Aug-Oct |
| Model Agricultural Comprehensive Development of Forestry (for tree-based oils, national forest reserves, forest economy) | Aug-Jun2019 |
| National Agricultural Comprehensive Development (for production and breeding of improved varieties of crops and livestock) | Aug-Dec |
| Closed-System Ecological Agriculture Model (storage and processing of ag by-products, straw, manure) | Aug-Dec |
| National Model Districts Combining Rice and Fish production | Sept-Dec |
| Action Plan for Rural Migrants and Other Entrepreneurs Returning to Countryside (targeted tax and fee reductions, support for rural industry) | by Dec 31 |
| Agricultural Comprehensive Development Fund for High-Yielding Fields, Ecological Projects, Irrigation water conservancy | by Mar2019 |
| Modern Crop Seed Resource Protection, Crop Breeding, Variety Testing | by Jan2019 |
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