Chinese Premier Li Qiang has called for the promotion of high-standard farmland cultivation to make greater contributions to ensuring food security, and to accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

The premier's instruction was delivered on Friday at a national video conference on high-standard farmland construction and farmland water conservancy construction over the winter-spring period.

Li said that recent years have seen the accelerated construction of farmland water-conservancy infrastructure and high-standard farmlands, providing strong support for consecutive bumper harvests and the sustained income growth of farmers.

Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged efforts to store grain in the land and in technology, and to implement China's latest round of initiatives to increase the country's grain production capacity.

Li stressed the necessity of restoring farmland ditches, of improving flood control on certain plains, and of strengthening the country's capacity to prevent and mitigate agricultural disasters.

He also highlighted the need to improve full-process management, strictly control the quality of projects, and strengthen fund supervision to attract the participation of more farmers and the public.

Addressing the conference, Vice Premier Liu Guozhong called for further efforts to enhance China's comprehensive agricultural production capacity, as well as its disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. He also called for the formulation of overall arrangements for autumn and winter sowing, aiming to lay a solid foundation to ensure food security and build a strong agricultural sector.