Chinese Minister of Agriculture Chen Yaobang said on January 5 that restructuring the country's agriculture and rural economy while helping raise the incomes of farmers will be a priority this year.

China will accelerate reform by developing rural enterprises and strengthening agricultural infrastructure. At a National Work Conference on Agriculture which opened in Beijing on January 5 Chen said that China will also accelerate the innovation and popularization of agricultural technology and improve its poverty relief work.

The Ministry has set a target of 490 million tons of grain, 3.2 million tons of cotton, 60 million tons of meat, and over 40 million tons of aquatic products for 2000.

Chen has also set a target of over 14 percent growth in rural enterprises, a 4 percent net increase of farmers' incomes and bringing more than 10 million people out of poverty in rural areas.

In 1999, China's agriculture and rural economy maintained a steady growth despite a slump in the farm produce market at home and abroad as well as severe floods and droughts that hit most parts of the country.

Chen particularly stressed restructuring the agriculture sector and the rural economy which are important in keeping up with the global economy and liberalization of trade. Rural businesses and towns need to develop further and more jobs are needed for a growing number of surplus farmers.

The production of farm products should meet the demand of the market, said Chen, adding that traditional farming methods which focus only on quantity should be abandoned.

"Cereal production in eonomically-developed regions can be reduced according to market demand, but cultivated land should be protected."

Chen called for reduction in the acreage of cotton and sugar crops as the price of these crops dropped dramatically last year. Chen said that poor quality indica rice (polished long-grained nonglutinous rice) varieties in the south, winter wheat grown south of the Yangtze River and spring wheat in northeastern areas should be eliminated, while more quality grains and grains for special purposes should be grown.

More efforts should also be taken to promote the industrialization of animal husbandry, the improvement of farm machinery and aquatic breeding, said Chen, adding that the "zero growth" plan for marine fishing will continue to be implemented this year.

The Conference will end on Saturday.