Policy Interpretation | Explanation of Xiamen Agricultural Support Policies: Cultivated Land Fertility Protection Subsidy

Recently, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the Xiamen Agricultural Support Policy Guide (2025), which provides interpretations of eight major categories of agricultural support policies, including crop production, cultivated land quality protection, agricultural machinery purchase and application subsidies, seed industry innovation and development, livestock industry development, agricultural industry development, cultivation of new agricultural business entities, and rural development. Today, the cultivated land fertility protection subsidy under the cultivated land quality protection category is introduced. Policy Basis Measures for the Management of Funds for Cultivated Land Construction and Utilization (Cai Nong [2023] No.12) and the 2025 Fujian Province Implementation Plan for Cultivated Land Fertility Protection Subsidies. Eligible Beneficiaries In principle, subsidy recipients are farmers in Xiamen who hold contractual management rights to cultivated land. Whether subsidies are granted for state-owned farms and collectively owned village land, as well as the eligible recipients and methods of distribution, shall be determined by each district based on actual conditions. The subsidized area shall be verified based on confirmed land contract and management rights registration certificates, second-round contracted cultivated land, or the third national land survey data, with areas not meeting subsidy conditions deducted accordingly. Specific verification standards shall be determined by each district. State-owned farms and village collective land may determine subsidized areas based on confirmed land rights or cultivated land areas recognized by the natural resources department. No subsidies shall be granted for cultivated land that has changed use, including forest land, land used for livestock or aquaculture, large-scale grain fields converted to facility agriculture, non-agricultural requisitioned or occupied land, balance-compensation land that does not meet cultivation conditions, or abandoned land left uncultivated for over one year. Subsidy eligibility will be reinstated only after land is restored to cultivation. Each district may formulate detailed implementation rules based on local conditions. Subsidy Content Cultivated land fertility protection subsidies shall be distributed to farmers holding cultivated land contractual rights in Xiamen based on the verified land area. Subsidy Standards Subsidy standards shall be calculated by each district based on the total available subsidy funds and the verified subsidized cultivated land area within the district, and a unified standard shall be applied across the entire district. Application Procedures 1. Village-Level Registration Village (community) committees shall register and verify household-by-household information according to the unified provincial Cultivated Land Fertility Subsidy Register, including eligible land area, non-subsidized area, “One-Card” bank account information, ID numbers, large-scale grain-growing area, and ratoon rice planting area. The information shall be publicly disclosed for 7 days. Objections shall be verified within 3 days and re-publicized for 5 days. After confirmation, the information shall be signed and stamped by village officials and submitted to the township (subdistrict or farm). Any changes in household information shall be updated before March 31 each year. 2. Township-Level Review Townships (subdistricts or farms) shall review and verify the submitted registers, confirm land area and planting information, and submit the approved data to the county (district) agricultural and rural affairs bureau. Township-level reviews should be completed by the end of April each year.