Saturday, September 17, 2016

Liaoning Corn Subsidy 120-180 yuan per mu

More details about China's new subsidy for corn farmers were revealed by Liaoning Provincial authorities this month. The subsidy is slated to be given for the next three years. The payment will vary from county to county, is expected to be in the range of 120-to-180 yuan per mu, and cash will be distributed to farmers by October 31, 2016. The details are based on propaganda articles released earlier this month. According to one microblog, the province has not released the actual documents online.

The corn producer subsidy will be paid to farmers in the provinces Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia. The subsidy will be based on the area of land they plant in corn.

The central government has allocated funds to the four provinces. The provinces then divide up the funds among prefectures and then to counties. The payment in each county will vary depending on the ratio of funds to area planted in corn. Liaoning's Agriculture Department estimates that the subsidy payment will vary from 120 to 180 yuan per mu ($109-$163 per acre), with an average of 150 yuan per mu ($137 per acre).

Farmers submit an application for the subsidy to their village committee who should verify the farmer's eligibility. The applications are compiled and passed up to the township government and then the county and prefecture agriculture departments. The township and county authorities must verify the area planted in corn in 2016 by September 30 (the deadline will be June 30 in 2017 and 2018). They must issue payments to farmers through electronic bank accounts by October 31 (the deadline will be September 30 in 2017 and 2018). Officials are not allowed to withhold, deduct, or misappropriate the funds.

Rural families, family farms, farmer cooperatives, and agricultural enterprises who grow corn are eligible for the subsidy. Corn has to be planted on approved cultivated land. Land retired through "grain for green" (退耕土地), land that has not been approved for reclamation, and land requisitioned by the government with compensation is not eligible for the corn subsidy.

The article revealed that Liaoning Province is also giving a nearly-equal 150 yuan-per-mu subsidy to farmers who stopped growing corn this year. This subsidy payment reportedly will be issued at the same time as the corn producers' subsidy. This subsidy is part of a provincial structural adjustment plan announced in March that aims to reduce corn area by 2 million mu and shift cropping patterns in the various regions of the province. Liaoning will install "infrastructure agriculture" in its drought-prone northwest; expand small grains and peanuts in hilly parts of the northwestern region; focus on flower, medicinal crops, and berries in cold mountainous areas; expand "scale" livestock farming in central and western regions, guiding farmers to plant corn for silage and forage crops; rice and soybeans will be promoted in river valleys.

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