The Bawuliu Farm, located in the city of Hulin, is the largest rice growing area in Heilongjiang province. [Zhao Yuehui / for China Daily]

Jianshan Farm in Nenjiang county is located in a major soybean region in Heilongjiang province. [Zhao Yuehui / for China Daily]

The government of Northeast China Heilongjiang province will focus its goals on agricultural production and develop the rural area. It targets total grain production of 60 billion kilograms with a 12 percent increase of income for rural residents in 2012.

The construction of two of the largest agricultural development zones in the province is expected to play a leading role in improving the livelihoods of rural residents, while steps will be taken to develop water resources, speed up mechanization and science and technology applications for the agriculture sector and promote cooperation between agricultural producers to meet targets.

"Heilongjiang enjoys advantages of land and water resources, science and research, solid industrial capacity while boasting of a sizeable agricultural sector with high-quality products," said Ji Bingxuan, Party secretary of Heilongjiang province. "Our agriculture can fulfill its bright prospects as long as we give full play to these advantages."

In 2011, Heilongjiang made great achievements to local agriculture. Total crop production reached 57 billion kilograms, dwarfing all other provincial regions with per capital net income for rural residents increasing to 22.2 percent compared with the previous year.

"Model modern agricultural industries and prosperous towns and villages in rural areas have emerged in large numbers in the province and the whole country in the past three decades, which provide us with experiences for our future work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers," Ji said.

The government will establish a more modernized and sizeable agriculture sector with major tasks including the development of water resource, to accelerate mechanical applications along with science and technology innovations that, promote agricultural cooperation, marketization and ecological development.

A large proportion of fixed asset investments will go to water resources to lessen the impact of droughts and floods. Water conservation irrigation will develop to increase water usage efficiency. Mechanization efforts will focus on developing modern agricultural equipment manufacturing to increase competitiveness.

The government plans to speed up science and technological applications to make new breakthroughs in agricultural technology. Integration of technological research and manufacturing will quicken so advanced technologies can transform into better production capacity.

New breakthroughs will be made to increase industrial capacity to deepen the agricultural production process to transform Heilongjiang from a big producer of agricultural goods to a province that excels in agricultural production.

Organic farming will increase to provide enough materials for agricultural processing. Modern husbandry industry will develop to build the province into a national base for high-quality meat to boost exports, as well as expand on meat processing production.

The government will speed up agricultural marketization and progress with facilitating a stronger agribusiness to expand its market. Brands featuring green, safe and organic products will be fully supported. Development of export-oriented agriculture will expand to meet global demand.

The province will boost urbanization to establish more balanced development between urban and rural areas. Clusters of small cities and towns will develop to excel in manufacturing, commerce, trade and tourism. Meanwhile, this development is expected to increase land use efficiency.

Ecological conservation and development will move forward with new breakthroughs. Re-forestation can provide an ecological barrier to modern agricultural expansion. Investing in clean energy in rural areas would promote the low-carbon agricultural economy.

"Work related to agriculture, rural area development and farmers should always be our priority," said Wang Xiankui, governor of Heilongjiang province. The government places its priorities on grain production to contribute to grain security for the whole country, he stressed.