Modern breeding is expected to become a key area of support under the 13th Five-Year Plan
On October 29, the communique of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China stated that by 2020, agricultural modernization will have made notable progress. Vigorously advance agricultural modernization, accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model, and take a path of agricultural modernization featuring high output, safe products, resource conservation and environmental friendliness.
Song Jiening, a researcher on agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery at China Investment Consulting, said in an interview with a Securities Daily reporter that agricultural modernization can widely apply science and technology to agriculture, raise the level of agricultural mechanization and the technological content of products, and enhance agricultural production efficiency and product competitiveness. In addition, it can realize industrialized agricultural operation, transform the agricultural growth model and improve agriculture's ability to adapt to the market.
“At the same time, agricultural modernization is conducive to forming a regionalized layout for agriculture, improving the international competitiveness and market share of agricultural products. It will also drive the construction of agricultural infrastructure, improve the agricultural ecological environment, and create economic and ecological benefits for the sustainable development of agriculture.” Song Jiening said.
Xie Gang, a researcher at Zhongtai Securities, said that informatization, mechanization and technological innovation work together to build modern, efficient agriculture. Efficient agriculture cannot do without the support of information technology, and the application of information technology in agricultural production can be viewed separately from the production side and the consumption side. On the production side, it is mainly reflected in precision agriculture, while on the sales side it is reflected in agricultural e-commerce.
“From high yield to high efficiency, invigorating agriculture through science and technology is the inevitable path for modern agriculture. In addition to informatization, modern equipment, modern breeding technology and other areas that the ‘13th Five-Year Plan’ may involve are all directions for key support in the future.” Xie Gang said.
According to a Securities Daily reporter's understanding, the plenary session proposed that to uphold coordinated development, we must firmly grasp the overall layout of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics, correctly handle major relationships in development, focus on promoting coordinated development between urban and rural areas and between regions, promote coordinated economic and social development, and promote the synchronized development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization. Relevant experts said that agricultural reclamation enterprises and agricultural modernization service providers will both benefit from the “13th Five-Year Plan”.
Song Jiening said that during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, the degree of agricultural marketization is expected to increase, breakthroughs will be made in the reform of agricultural product prices, and rural e-commerce will develop rapidly. At the same time, the level of agricultural mechanization will rise, and the application rate of automated and intelligent agricultural machinery and equipment in agricultural production will increase. The pace of change in agricultural operation methods will accelerate, and a new type of agricultural operation system will gradually take shape. The agricultural growth model will transform rapidly, agricultural production efficiency will improve, and the rural ecological environment will be optimized.
The quality and safety of agricultural products will become a focus of supervision by relevant departments during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period. Xie Gang said that moving from food security in terms of “quantity” to the safety of agricultural products in terms of “quality” will become the main direction promoted by future policies, and the corresponding investment opportunities will involve aspects such as the safety of the breeding and planting environment, the safety of the breeding and planting process, quality preservation during circulation, and quality improvement of variety taste.
“The reform of agricultural product prices is an inevitable path for agricultural modernization, and it is also where the difficulty lies. During the ‘13th Five-Year Plan’ period, some policies will be introduced for the reform of agricultural products. In fields such as rural express delivery, rural e-commerce, cold-chain logistics, agricultural machinery and equipment, and leisure agriculture, the state is expected to introduce specific support policies, using the development of these industries to drive agricultural modernization. In addition, to ensure the safety of agricultural production, the scale of infrastructure construction such as water conservancy, power stations and roads is expected to expand further. To solve problems such as insufficient funds for rural development and financing difficulties for agricultural enterprises, rural finance may also become a policy focus.” Song Jiening told the reporter.