Agricultural machines harvest wheat in Linyi, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The province of Shandong has been ramping up efforts to fuel the development of agricultural and rural areas and promote rural revitalization during the 13 Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).

As an agricultural powerhouse, the province has been working to bolster its agricultural production and keep total crop acreage and grain output stable.

The province has kept its crop acreage at a minimum of 8 million hectares and has designated grain production functional zones and cotton production protection zones of 3.76 million hectares. A total of 4.08 million hectares of high-standard cropland has been built in the province.

This year, the total grain output in Shandong province reached 54.47 million tons, accounting for 16 percent of the national total.

The province has been working to deepen the supply-side structural reform in agriculture, accelerate the development of a modern agricultural industrial, production, and business system, and strengthen investment in agricultural technology and equipment.

In 2019, the contribution rate of Shandong's provincial agricultural science and technology progress reached 64.56 percent, 5.36 percentage points higher than the national rate. The comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvest in the province reached 87.85 percent, nearly 17 percentage points higher than the national average.

Moderate scale operations in agriculture have been developing rapidly in Shandong, with 82,800 family farms and 224,100 farmer cooperatives currently present in the province.

The province has optimized agricultural structures to feature more high-quality agricultural products, provide better certification of healthy food, organic produce and source of production, enhance e-commerce penetration in rural areas and improve oversight of food and produce.

The province has also improved rural education by strengthening the building of boarding schools in townships and increasing supplies of inclusive preschool education resources through multiple channels.