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Food processing to find farmers' wallets heftier
(China Daily by Zhao Huanxin)
Updated: 2004-03-01 23:33 The Ministry of Agriculture Monday pledged to
fully tap the potential of the agro-food processing sector in an effort to add
to the fiscal coffers of the nation's farmers and improve food safety.
Conceding a weak agro-processing industry has inhibited China's rural
economic growth, Vice-Minister Liu Jian said the country will prioritize
development and introduce key processing expertise and equipment, and improve
standardization and certification systems to guarantee the quality of processed
foods.
China's farm produce processing industry is still in its infancy stage,
experts said.
The country produces the world's largest amount of grain, oil crops, fruit,
beans, meat, eggs and aquatic products. However, less than one-third of the
total output is processed before reaching the marketplace, compared to the more
than 70 per cent processing rate in industrialized countries, according to Lu
Liangshu, a senior agronomist in Beijing.
In developed nations, turnover from agro-processing industry is usually three
times as much as that from the agricultural sector. While in China, the ratio of
output value of processing industry versus agricultural sector is 0.6 to
1,ministry statistics indicate.
The ministry estimates that if the agro-processing sector is expanded so that
the ratio grows by 10 per cent, the sector will be able to employ 2.3 million
more farmers, with their income substantially improved over their farming work
incomes, according to Liu.
Another field that China's agro-processing sector has yet to take advantage
of fully is quality standardization to assure safer food products, Liu said.
That's why the ministry has decided to initiate an all-round plan to beef up
farm produce processing industry, he said.
The agro-processing sector will implement food quality standardization and
certification systems in line with the country's actual conditions and
international practices, Liu added.
Chen Jianguang, an official with the ministry's Bureau of Township
Enterprises, said authorities are formulating guidelines for new standards, with
improvements expected this year for 100 new areas in regard to the processing of
wheat, corn and rice.
Internationally acknowledged standardization and certification regimes, such
as ISO14000 and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point , will be promoted
among China's processing businesses, Chen said.
Along with the Ministry of Science and Technology, agricultural authorities
will support enterprises to import agro-food processing techniques while
pursuing their own technological renovations, Liu said.
He said the ministry will offer support for the establishment of 500 pilot
companies in the processing of farm produce. They will be encouraged to sign
contracts with farming households, who otherwise process little of their
harvests and thus earn little from sales of their raw products in markets.
Output value of China's farm produce processing industry reached 3,100
billion yuan (US$373 billion) last year. The sector employs at least 16.08
million people,statistics reveal.
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