Help for farmers ahead of summer harvests

Local governments should act in a timely manner and manage farming properly to ensure summer harvests, the State Council said at an executive meeting on Feb 18.

The authorities should provide more detailed guidance for rural areas to curb the spread of novel coronavirus pneumonia, and support farmers in making the best use of the spring time and plowing the fields, the State Council said.

They should also push for faster resumption of operations by seed, fertilizer, pesticide and feed companies, and ensure the timely supply and smooth transport of such products.

The minimum purchasing price of paddy should remain stable this year, although a moderate increase will be allowed, the State Council said.

It also urged proper management of livestock and poultry farming. For farmers who have suffered big losses, the authorities should come up with supportive policies, such as allowing extensions of loan repayment terms.

The authorities should also speed up the resumption of pig farming by granting subsidies for loan interest costs to more pig farms. They should be granted to farms that raise at least 500 pigs a year, instead of 5,000 under previous policies, the State Council said, while also calling for the national reserve of frozen pork to be increased.

It also asked the authorities to invest more efforts in preventing insect attacks and major poultry and livestock diseases, such as highly pathogenic bird flu and African swine fever.

State Council issues guidance on epidemic

All regions and relevant authorities should adopt more targeted policies to tackle novel coronavirus pneumonia while restoring economic and social order, the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism said in guidance issued on Feb 17.

The epidemic situation has started to turn for the better after painstaking efforts, Xinhua News Agency quoted the guidance as saying.

Under the centralized and unified leadership of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, all regions and relevant authorities have resolutely implemented the CPC Central Committee's decisions and spared no efforts in preventing and controlling the disease, the guidance said.

Now they need to design specific measures for different counties, it said. They should determine a county's level of risk according to its population and how the epidemic is developing there, and formulate clear prevention and control measures for different levels of risk.

The authorities should also divide a county into different small units for disease control, and all the communities, government departments, companies, government-sponsored institutions, social organizations and individuals in the county should implement its prevention and control policies.

Regions that have a low level of risk should carry out policies to prevent the epidemic from coming in and fully restore business activities and the normal life of residents.

Regions with a medium level of risk should keep incoming cases at bay and prevent infection from spreading in the neighborhood, while working to resume business operations as soon as possible.

Regions with a high level of risk should adopt strict policies to prevent the disease from spreading or being transmitted to other regions, while gradually restoring business operations.

Hubei province and its capital city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease, must continue to take the strictest measures to firmly prevent the infection from spreading, it said, adding that Beijing should continue to adopt proper prevention policies and ensure its own security.

Governments of all provinces should adjust their counties' risk levels to the development of the situation, the guidance said.