The Chinese central government said Tuesday it has allocated 4.71 billion yuan (about 587 million US dollars) in subsidies for farmers in a bid to support their spring ploughing.

The Ministry of Finance said the subsidies include 3.67 billion yuan for purchases of improved strains of seed, 540 million yuan for farming machinery, and 500 million yuan to cover farmers' bills for testing the soil of their farmland before applying fertilizers.

The subsidies allocated constitute part of the proposed budget spending for this year, said the ministry in a statement. The country's budget, which was tabled on March 5 to the national legislative body for approval, is expected to be passed at the end of the ongoing session of the legislature next week.

Total proposed subsidies for improved strains of seed stand at 4.07 billion yuan, and the proposed subsidies for purchase of farming machinery is 600 million yuan, said the ministry.

The subsidies were designed as part of the measures by the central authorities to boost agriculture for improved agricultural production capability to ensure food security.

Source: Xinhua