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Heilongjiang Farmers Get Grain Subsidies a Month Early

China's Heilongjiang Province announced that grain subsidies will be paid a month earlier than usual this year. Producer subsidies for corn, soybeans, and rice will be issued to Heilongjiang farmers by the end of August based on area they planted in the three crops. 

Heilongjiang accounts for about 10 percent of China's grain output, and it produces the biggest surplus of grain to supply to other provinces. The producer subsidy policy is meant to encourage Heilongjiang farmers to produce by offsetting the province's low prices to generate better net returns.

The amount of the subsidies will not be determined until August, but officials indicated the corn subsidy will be raised from last year while the soybean subsidy will be held steady. Last year's corn subsidy was 38 yuan per mu, and the soybean subsidy was set at 238 yuan per mu to stimulate more soybean production. This year the priority has switched to boosting corn output, with corn prices soaring and record corn imports. Last year's rice subsidy was 136 yuan per mu for rice grown with surface water and 86 yuan per mu for rice irrigated with groundwater.

Heilongjiang farmers will report area actually planted in the crops last year (in 2020), so this year's payments will not reflect changes in this year's crop planting. Farmers are believed to be  planting about 4-5 percent more corn this year in response to the boom in corn prices. Government officials will verify the planting reports by July 20, determine the amount of the subsidy by August 15, and make payments by August 30. 

Farmers can't get subsidies for land reclaimed without authorization, and they can't double-dip by collecting subsidies for land for which they're receiving subsidies for growing corn for silage or land idled by the "grain for green" environmental program. 

The terms  are set by a Heilongjiang 2020-2022 corn and soybean producer subsidy work program and a similar Heilongjiang work program for rice producer subsidies.

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