However, the investment growth was still not much compared to the growth pace of the total government revenues, Han said, adding that the investment in agriculture still needs to grow on a steady basis in the future.

A major chasm exists between the income of rural and urban people. According to National Bureau of Statistics data, per-capita disposable income was 13,786 yuan in urban areas last year, up 12.2 percent in real terms, while per-capita income was 4,140 yuan in rural areas, up a real 9.5 percent.

Although farm produce sold at higher prices last year, with grain prices up 5.7 percent and cooking oil increasing 37.1 percent, farmers complained the benefits were eroded by rising production costs.

"Grains are selling at a better price, but costs in fertilizers, pesticides, gasoline and agri-machinery rose at a faster pace. That nearly offset a large portion of the benefits obtained from canceling agri-tax, subsidies and a bumper harvest," said a Wang Fuchen, a Hebei Province farmer.

"I earned 120 yuan more per mu (0.06 hectares) of wheat from subsidy and price increases, but it cost nearly that much in buying fertilizers, gasoline to pump water and hiring hands to plant and harvest," he said.

"We could only keep the money in our pockets when prices for the production costs are kept down," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2008)