BEIJING, April 26 -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has allocated nearly 1.42 billion yuan (about 199.8 million U.S. dollars) from the central budget to support pest prevention and control efforts to boost agricultural production.

The fund will mainly be used for crop pest prevention and control in 30 provincial-level regions including Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and Henan, as well as to assist major agricultural producer Ltd. of Beidahuang Group.

Subsidies will be provided to local governments for the purchase of pesticides, equipment and other materials, and also for control services, according to the MOF.

More efforts will be made to guide local governments to further strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, and take effective measures to prevent and control pests in rural areas, so as to reduce risks and harm to agricultural production.