Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged Thursday to add another 120 billion yuan to boost the country's agriculture.

Addressing nearly 3,000 lawmakers at the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress, Wen said in his government work report that central government spending on agriculture, farmers and the rural areas would total 716.1 billion yuan (104.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 120.6 billion yuan.

Calling agriculture the "foundation of the economy", Wen said the investment was part of a package plan to ensure steady and rapid economic development of the country against the global financial crisis.

The money would be used for improvement or construction of rural public facilities, expanded agricultural subsidies to farmers, subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery and tools, and popularizing agricultural science and technologies.

The government would apply the strictest possible systems for protecting arable land and economizing on the use of land, and do everything in its power to keep the total amount of arable land above the red line of 120 million hectares, Wen said.

"We will effectively keep the area planted in grain crops stable, focus on increasing the yield per unit area and optimizing the variety mix, and increase the country's grain production capacity by 50 million tons," he said.

China, with a population of 1.3 billion, is faced with severe challenges in safeguarding grain security due to rising living standards, decreasing arable land, water shortages and climate change.

Continuous drop in economic growth rate due to the impact of the global financial crisis has become a major problem affecting the overall situation, Wen said in his report.

"It has become more difficult to maintain steady agricultural development and keep rural incomes growing", he admitted.

According to Wen, greater priority would be given to major grain-producing counties in implementing the policies and measures supporting grain production. More financial rewards would be provided to major projects for industrializing grain production.

The country would also raise minimum grain purchase prices "significantly", and keep the prices of agricultural products stable at a reasonable level to encourage farmers to grow more, Wen said.

The Premier further pledged to ensure the existing land contract relationships remain stable and unchanged for a long time to come, and enhance and better protect the land contract and management rights enjoyed by rural residents, including migrant workers who are away from their home villages.

Other major items on the agenda include adjusting the agricultural structure based on market demand, and intensifying development of agricultural infrastructure and projects designed to improve the life of rural people, such as building roads and water conservancy facilities and upgrading low and medium-yield farmland.

The government would increase farmers' incomes in a variety of ways, Wen said, quoting steadily growing rural incomes as one of the major targets for this year's national economic and social development.

To achieve this goal, the country would vigorously develop modern agriculture with distinctive local features, support intensive processing and sale of agricultural products, develop rural secondary and tertiary industries, accelerate the development of small towns, and strengthen county economies, Wen said.

Efforts to alleviate poverty in the countryside would also be intensified, said the Premier, adding that a new poverty line would be adopted and all low-income rural residents would be covered by the poverty relief policy with grants increased to 1,196 yuan per person on average.

The policy, which would cover more than 40 million people, marked a new stage in China's efforts to reduce poverty through development, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)