Jilin farmers get passes for spring farming amid COVID-19 resurgence

Northeast China's Jilin province, which is China's major commodity grain base, has worked out plans to secure spring sowing while curbing the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

In accordance with a work plan issued by the provincial leading group for COVID-19 prevention and control, Changchun and Jilin, two major cities of the province, will issue passes to farmers who wish to return to their villages for spring farming, officials said at a press conference held on Friday.

Each of the returning farmers will be given three antigen home-testing kits. They will carry out testings themselves under the supervision of their local village committee on the second, fourth and seventh day upon arrival, according to the provincial plan for farmers stuck in the cities of Changchun and Jilin to return home for spring farming.

The farmers are also required to conduct week-long health monitoring and to avoid social gatherings.

Those who return home from areas under closed-off management and areas under control need to observe home quarantine for a week without outdoor activities, according to the plan.

Since a cluster of new local infections began to emerge around March, over 60,000 people in Jilin have tested positive for COVID-19.

Nearly 16,200 farmers who now are in Changchun, the provincial capital, have applied for returning to their villages, said Li Linfeng with Changchun's agriculture and rural affairs bureau.

Starting from 4 pm Thursday, 22 areas in Changchun have been downgraded to low-risk areas for COVID-19, including Shuangyang district, the city of Gongzhuling, Nong'an county, the city of Dehui, and other key grain-producing areas.

The first batch of farmers will leave Changchun for their villages on Saturday, Li said.

The provincial COVID-19 prevention and control headquarters has also established a special working group in charge of organizing spring farming. Production materials including seeds and fertilizers are allowed to be given priority of transportation through "green channels."

The provincial agriculture and rural affairs department has arranged specific staff to solve the problems of some enterprises and transport vehicles for agricultural supplies stranded at health checkpoints.

About 500 key agricultural supply companies in the province have received certificates allowing their products to be smoothly transported to secure the timely launch of farming work.

Currently, nearly 8,000 hectares of rice seedling breeding greenhouses have been set up across the province, hitting over 80 percent of the target in the original schedule. Over 90 percent of seeds, including corn and soybeans, have been sent to farmers.

In the city of Jilin, an important rice production area, stores selling production materials have also launched online order and peer-to-peer delivery services.

Stringent disinfection measures, closed-off management of the drivers, and contactless delivery are also underway.

According to the provincial arrangements, all the production materials for planting corn should be delivered to households before April 20 and the major focus of spring farming from late April to early May will be corn sowing. Around mid-May, soybean sowing will be the major work priority, while the rice transplanting is expected to be completed before the end of May.

In 2021, the province saw its annual grain output exceeding 40 million tonnes, a record high.