June 17, Xinmu News: The Ministry of Agriculture announced on its website that through an open competition and selection, key counties for livestock and poultry feces utilization in 2017 have been determined. According to an insider from Xinmu, 51 counties and cities were shortlisted, most of which are large swine breeding areas in China.
The central government will provide appropriate support for the full-quantitative and effective treatment of the centralized construction of livestock and poultry manure treatment facilities and scale farms by means of awards and subsidies.
The central government substitutes subsidies with rewards, and gives supports to main market players to construct facilities for the collective treatment of livestock and poultry feces and large-scale farms to achieve full-quantified effective treatment.
The subsidies from the central government are mainly used to improve the breeding technology and equipment of large-scale farms, build livestock and poultry feces collection, storage, treatment facilities and pipeline networks, and centralized feces treatment and resource utilization facilities, but not for follow-up operations. The funds are preferentially allocated to key counties that are both major swine breeders and beef suppliers.
Notice on the Implementation of the Resource Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Feces by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance
List of Key Counties for the Resource Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Feces in 2017
In order to implement the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Accelerating the Resource Utilization of Livestock and Poultry Breeding Wastes, with the approval of the State Council, the central government allocated funds to support the resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces in 2017. Through county-level (city, district-level) application, provincial-level recommendation, expert review and open competition selection procedures, the key counties (cities, districts; hereinafter referred to as key counties, see appendix for the names) for the resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces for 2017 have been confirmed. In order to better the resource utilization work and improve fund efficiency, matters of concern are hereby notified as follows.
1. Straightening out thinking and stay oriented
The resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces is a fundamental way to solve breeding pollutions, which is vital to the construction of a moderately prosperous society and ecological civilization, and concerns the interests of the people. It is a major project for people's livelihood and public interest. Animal husbandry and finance departments at all levels should thoroughly study and understand the spirit of the important speech made by the General Secretary Xi Jinping on accelerating the treatment and recycling of livestock and poultry wastes, focusing on the "five-in-one" overall layout and promoting the "4-pronged strategy". With green ecology orientation, they should utilize rural energy and agricultural organic fertilizer, and highlight major livestock and poultry breeding counties and large-scale scale farms, backed-up by government, taking enterprises as main body and adhering to marketization operation, to continuously improve the comprehensive utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and accelerate the development of industrialization, market-oriented management, scientific management and socialized services related to livestock and poultry manure utilization.
In the process, all localities must adhere to the accountability policy and strengthen the main responsibility of large-scale farms, explore mandatory livestock and poultry manure utilization system, reinforce supervision and management; stick to combing planting and breeding, taking into consideration resource and environmental capacity, livestock supply capacity, livestock and poultry manure utilization capacity, and make scientific planning of agricultural and livestock development layout, promote planting-breeding, recycling development, achieving basic balance of planting and breeding in the region, with livestock and poultry feces consumed locally; insist on market-oriented operation, improve incentive policies, encourage and guide all kinds of social capital to be used in the resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces, and establish an effective long-term mechanism for sustainable development.
2. Clarifying missions and innovating work implementation mechanism
The central government has fully mobilized local governments and the market through promoting work in all areas while drawing upon the experience gained on key points, accelerating the replicable livestock and poultry feces utilization mechanism, and greatly improving the utilization rate, ensuring that during the 13th 5-Year-Plan period the problem of manure treatment and resource utilization in large-scale livestock and poultry farms will be basically solved. The task mainly involves: First, improve infrastructure conditions. Following the path of combining planting and breeding, we should build sophisticated facilities for manure treatment, centralized treatment of livestock and poultry feces, agricultural organic fertilizer production, biogas storage and transportation, open up manure and fertilizer utilization and energy utilization channels, to achieve on-site manure absorption. The second is to explore effective governance mechanisms. Guided by green ecology theory, we should establish an effective utilization mechanism for livestock and poultry manure, market operation mode, policy support system and responsibility supervision system adapting to the county's conditions, and promote the use of manure resource utilization in line with local conditions.
Animal husbandry and finance departments at all levels should highlight innovative working mechanism, improve management measures, and promote the resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces. Provincial animal husbandry and finance departments should strengthen monitoring, precise supervision and the assessment of key counties, and explore a "tick-off policy", which means the county which passes the assessment will be ticked off the list, and those fail will be notified and rectified. All key counties should strengthen the supervision and management of the whole process of livestock and poultry feces utilization by large-scale farms in the county, and take environmental protection and sustainable operation as the core indicators of project acceptance, to ensure true and permanent compliance.
3. Optimizing investment and improve capital efficiency
The central government appropriately supports the construction of centralized treatment facilities for livestock and poultry manure by main market players and the full-quantified effective treatment by large-scale farms by means of substituting subsidies with rewards. The subsidies from the central government are mainly used to improve the breeding technology and equipment of large-scale farms, build livestock and poultry feces collection, storage, treatment facilities and pipeline networks, and centralized feces treatment and resource utilization facilities, but not used as follow-up operational subsidies. The funds are preferentially allocated to key counties that are both major swine breeders and beef suppliers.
The provincial finance and animal husbandry departments shall, in accordance with the subsidy standards determined by the central government, combining the actual use of livestock and poultry manure resources in key counties, determine the subsidy methods and receivers. It should strike an overall balance with key points emphasized so as to improve funds efficiency. In order to execute incentives and constraints, and strengthen the responsibility of local governments and market entities, the central government allocates subsidy funds to key counties in two years. In 2018, the counties who have been proved qualified will be awarded.
Encourage all localities to utilize the guiding role of the central financial subsidy funds, through public-private partnership (PPP), by purchasing services and loaning with discounted interest subsidies, the government can incite financial and social capital to be put into the resource utilization of livestock and poultry feces.
4. Strengthening management and ensure concrete results
The county-level people's government is the main body of implementing the utilization of livestock and poultry feces. Relevant provincial (autonomous regions) animal husbandry and finance departments should strengthen their cooperation and coordination, guide and supervise key counties to carry out the utilization of livestock and poultry manure.
(1) Improving the implementation plan. Key counties should modify and improve the implementation plan based on the preliminary work and local practices, refine specific policy measures and application models, identify main support body and links, scientifically determine subsiding methods, and ensure the utilization of livestock and poultry manure is practical, operational, and effective. Provincial animal husbandry and finance departments should urge key counties to formulate implementation plans and examine them as soon as possible. The provincial animal husbandry department shall work with the financial department to formulate a work plan for the province to promote the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and submit it to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance for filing before August 31, and report the work to the two ministries before January 31, 2018.
(2) Refining technical roadmaps. Key counties should understand the situation of livestock and poultry breeding in the region, especially the basic information of manure use in large-scale farms and concentrated aquaculture areas, and establish accounts in different categories, plan as a whole concerning swine, cattle and other livestock and poultry, large-scale farms and scattering raising households, fertilizer utilization and energy utilization, to form a roadmap for the utilization of livestock and poultry manure with clear objectives, clear ideas and specific measures. At the same time, combined with the seven kinds of livestock and poultry manure resource utilization modes issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, determine a method based on local conditions and thus refining techniques and promoting them.
(3) Improving supporting policies. Key counties should combine the central financial support policies, timely introduce or implement the financial and land policies that support the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, integrate various resources to form a strong synergy to promote work implementation. Encourage the introduction of supporting policies and measures, make use of funds for livestock and poultry standardized breeding, organic fruit, vegetable and tea fertilizer replacing chemical fertilizers; with rational layout and supporting facilities, to increase the support for the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure.
(4) Reinforcing publicity. Relevant provinces (autonomous regions) should enhance publicity and reporting, timely release the central government's subsidy policy for the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, let out positive signals to create a good atmosphere for the whole society to promote the utilization of livestock and poultry feces. It is necessary to sum up the typical cases that have been effective in various places, and explore a major method which can be promoted according to different livestock species and regional characteristics, and demonstrate the use of livestock and poultry manure resources.
