Thoughts and Suggestions on the Coordinated Development of Agricultural Industrialization and Rural Urbanization
At present, China has entered a new period of economic development. In promoting the development of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers”, agricultural industrialization is the direct driving force of rural urbanization. Rural urbanization is the spatial carrier of agricultural industrialization. The two influence, interact with and develop alongside each other, and have become the two main engines of China's rural economic development. Drawing on the successful case of the “Huashan Model” in Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, the author carefully analyzed the restrictive factors in the coordinated development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization in Hubei Province, and put forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions.
I. Basic situation and analysis of the “Huashan Model” in Qianjiang City
(1) Basic situation
The “Huashan Model” is a reform exploration in which Qianjiang City vigorously promotes the “synchronization of the four modernizations”, centering on the integrated interaction between the agricultural product processing industry and modern agriculture, and integrating “land transfer and operation, co-cropping and co-existence of rice and shrimp, joint community building by towns and enterprises, strong market leadership, and win-win cooperation among multiple parties”. Its core connotation is mainly “lease-back and re-contracting, combination of unified and separate management, equality between farmers and enterprises, and urban-rural integration”, which provides a new path and a new model for effectively solving the “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” problems in Hubei Province. The development of the “Huashan Model” did not happen overnight, but was a gradual and step-by-step process.
1. Promote the “rice-shrimp co-cropping” ecological planting and breeding model. “Rice-shrimp co-cropping” is an important part of the “Huashan Model”. In 2006, the “rice-shrimp rotation” ecological planting and breeding model was written into Document No. 1 of the Hubei Provincial Party Committee. Starting in 2010, Qianjiang, on the basis of “rice-shrimp rotation”, innovatively developed the efficient ecological planting and breeding model of “rice-shrimp co-cropping”. This model achieved the “four increases” effect (increased grain output, increased cultivated land, increased farmers' income, and increased village collective efficiency), and realized the ecological benefit of resource recycling. At present, “rice-shrimp co-cropping” has become the industry in Qianjiang that develops most rapidly, has the most distinctive features, has the greatest potential, and brings the most obvious increase in farmers' income. In 2014, the city had 130,000 mu of “rice-shrimp co-cropping” and 130,000 mu of “rice-shrimp rotation”.
2. Explore the “lease-back and re-contracting” land operation model. “Lease-back and re-contracting” is the core essence of the “Huashan Model”. The so-called “lease-back” means leasing land from farmers and leveling and building it into high-yield and high-efficiency model bases. The so-called “re-contracting” means that the enterprise then contracts the leveled land in contiguous plots at the lease price to capable growers and breeders. Through “one lease and one contract”, the enterprise and farmers form a community of shared interests, which not only consolidates the land and safeguards farmers' interests, but also stabilizes the enterprise's raw material base, employment, labor use and product quality.
3. Innovate the “joint community building by towns and enterprises” industry-city interaction model. “Joint community building by towns and enterprises” is the purpose of the “Huashan Model”. Xiongkou Town, with Huashan Company as the leader, built the “Huashan Comprehensive Community” in the town area to resettle farmers during the land transfer process in Zhaonao Village, achieving in-situ urbanization. In the earlier stage, 585 households and more than 2,400 people in Zhaonao Village had already moved in as a whole, and this was basically completed by the end of 2013. At present, Xiongkou Town is making every effort to advance the construction of the 160-mu Zhaonao farmers' community, and at the same time has started construction of a commercial complex covering a total area of 120 mu and specialized markets for small commodities and agricultural trade. After completion, it will form an integrated whole with the Zhaonao community and create a new urban commercial landmark.
(2) Main practices
1. Grasp the leading enterprise and implement large-scale operation. Huashan Company, as the “leader” of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization in Xiongkou Town, chose Zhaonao Village in Xiongkou Town for a pilot first. In accordance with the principle of “lawful, voluntary and compensated”, it piloted the “separation of three rights” of rural collective land ownership, contracting rights and management rights, encouraged farmers to transfer land management rights to Huashan Company, and the company built them in a unified way to establish a modern agricultural base. By the end of 2014, Zhaonao Village had transferred 9,056 mu of land, accounting for 98.2% of the land area. At present, Xiongkou Town is vigorously implementing the project of relocating villages and freeing up land, relocating the entire Zhaonao Village into the market town, leveling the land to build standardized breeding bases, and striving to build a 30,000-mu “rice-shrimp co-cropping” base.
2. Highlight distinctive advantages and make the shrimp-rice brand well known. “Rice-shrimp co-cropping” is a sunrise industry and meets the strong demand of the people for green food and organic food, and can be replicated and promoted throughout the province. Under the “rice-shrimp co-cropping” model, the shrimp are fat and the rice is fragrant, one field has multiple uses, and it has also changed from the past “one rice crop and one shrimp crop” to “one rice crop and two shrimp crops”. “Shrimp Village Rice” is green, environmentally friendly, organic and pollution-free, and has obtained national green food certification. The carefully selected and deeply processed “Shrimp Village Rice” reaches 40 yuan/kg, 10 times higher than ordinary rice, and demand exceeds supply. Under this model, it not only solves the food security problem, but also solves the problem of increasing farmers' income, opening up a new channel for increasing grain output, improving agricultural efficiency and raising farmers' income.
3. Persist in adapting measures to local conditions and in scientific planning and management. Through unified planning, unified construction and unified management, the pilot Zhaonao Village took on a “completely new look”. Two hundred and twenty standardized breeding units, the dredged and hardened Tongcheng River, more than 50,000 greening trees, the Huashan (Zhaonao) Comprehensive Community, the newly built East Ring Town Road, and supporting public facilities within the community such as the central stage, community activity center, clinic and community activity rooms are all fully available, forming a high-quality “ten-minute living circle”. At the same time, two cooperatives, “Lutu” and “Funong”, were established to increase collective income and use collective funds to provide public services and improve the people's quality of life.
II. Restrictive factors in the coordinated development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization
It is worth mentioning that in the process of the coordinated development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization, there are still some restrictive factors.
(1) Limited rural resources
First, there is insufficient funding, especially the insufficient capacity for self-accumulation of funds in rural areas, which requires greater government investment or the attraction of foreign capital as a supplement. Second, land resources are limited, which places certain constraints on agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization. Third, the level of rural human resources is relatively low. The main force in agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization is the broad mass of farmers. Hubei Province is a province with a large rural population and abundant labor, but most people have a relatively low educational level and lack certain labor skills, often showing “structural” defects in employment positions. This is the “bottleneck” in the development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization. In addition, the poor living and working conditions in rural areas make it difficult to retain all kinds of talent for the long term.
(2) Management and planning are not reasonable enough
With the development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization, traditional management methods can no longer adapt to the development of new rural areas and towns. Some outdated management methods are still used in modern management, producing “path dependence”, and it is difficult to innovate management methods suited to local development in keeping with the times and based on one's own characteristics and the current actual development situation. At the same time, town planning also lacks foresight, and investment in infrastructure is weak. For example, stations, streets and recreational and leisure spaces are too small to meet development needs.
(3) Insufficient external radiation from towns
At present, most towns have a relatively large proportion of self-service, and towns have not yet changed their concepts, nor have they fully recognized the important position and major role of towns in regional economic development. At the same time, the government also lacks attention to and guidance for town functions, and the external functions of towns have not been brought into full play. Most towns have not been able to effectively radiate and drive the “agriculture, rural areas and farmers” toward in-depth development.
(4) Weakening of the ecological environment
In the process of urbanization construction, there is a lack of capacity and funds for garbage treatment, sewage and waste gas treatment, and phenomena such as random garbage dumping and sewage and waste gas pollution appear. In addition, the unreasonable layout of industrial zones and residential areas leads to the deterioration of the urban ecological environment and has caused certain damage to the ecological environment of towns and villages.
(5) Institutional and mechanism constraints
In the process of rural urbanization, it is necessary to solve problems such as land use, town planning, resource integration and infrastructure, involving various government departments such as land, transportation, finance and civil affairs. Because township governments have limited power and are subject to constraints, it is difficult for them to truly become leaders and decision-makers, and the phenomena of multiple leadership and conflicting policies from multiple sources often occur. At the same time, the current series of systems, including the household registration system, still have certain limitations, such as systems for housing, personnel and labor, and social security, making it difficult for farmers to obtain employment and settle down, which is not conducive to the orderly transfer of rural surplus labor to towns and, to a certain extent, hinders the process of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization.
III. Relevant suggestions
In response to the above problems arising in the coordinated development of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization in Hubei Province, and drawing on the Qianjiang “Huashan Model”, the following opinions and suggestions are put forward:
(1) Scientifically and reasonably allocate resources and enhance sustainable development capacity
1. Establish diversified financing channels and increase sources of funds. Actively use modern means such as the Internet and e-commerce to attract investment from outside, attract enterprises to develop markets in rural areas, establish bases, increase external capital input, and form a new situation of “going to the countryside”. At the same time, be market-oriented, encourage government fundraising and financing, establish diversified and multi-channel fund-raising and investment mechanisms and risk restraint mechanisms, avoid blind investment, and improve the utilization rate of funds.
2. Formulate reasonable land use policies and promote the process of agricultural industrialization. On the premise of protecting cultivated land, according to factors such as local distinctive resources, industrial advantages and development stages, formulate land use policies in light of local conditions to avoid blind development and the waste of land resources. Promote the “separation of three rights” of land ownership, contracting rights and management rights, encourage farmers to transfer land management rights, free farmers from the traditional land cultivation model, fully protect farmers' returns, and promote the process of agricultural industrialization.
3. Improve the level of rural human resources and cultivate new-type farmers. On the one hand, internally strengthen skills training for the rural labor force and provide employment space for rural labor. Establish technical training schools or training classes, offer online classrooms, and conduct training in scientific farming, market operation and professional skills. On the other hand, externally attract highly skilled talent, optimize the environment, encourage university students to work at the rural grassroots level, and inject fresh blood. At the same time, it is necessary to effectively strengthen the building of the rural “two committees” and give play to the leading role of the leadership team.
(2) Optimize the industrial structure of towns and establish a scientific and reasonable town system
1. Give play to the aggregation effect and radiation effect of the town system. Formulate relevant encouragement and support policies, pay attention to combining old city transformation with new city planning, and pay attention to combining town characteristics with urban culture, and accelerate the formation of regionalized and specialized towns with distinctive features such as tourism-oriented and culture-oriented ones. At the same time, actively encourage the functions of central towns to radiate to agriculture, rural areas and farmers.
2. Promote the optimization and upgrading of the town industrial structure. In terms of industrial structure, it is necessary to drive the vigorous development of the secondary and tertiary industries through industrial upgrading and industrial structure adjustment. At the same time, it is necessary to determine industries for priority development and adopt the method of “leading industry promotion”, using leading industries to drive other industries, and promoting the rapid development of the town economy through mutual industrial driving and regional interaction.
(3) Keep a close eye on leading enterprises and advance the development of agricultural industrialization
1. Formulate relevant policies to support the development of leading enterprises. Through policy support and funding support, focus on supporting a group of leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization, further make them bigger, stronger and more solid, fully give play to the leading role of leading enterprises, actively develop industrialized agricultural operations, and improve the economic benefits of agriculture.
2. Encourage and guide leading enterprises to reform and innovate. Support leading enterprises in implementing specialized and large-scale production, give play to the aggregation effect of industry, expand the consumer market and create well-known brands by improving the level of science and technology and production and marketing capabilities. At the same time, encourage leading enterprises to carry out reforms in various forms such as joint-stock systems, joint-stock cooperative systems, acquisitions and mergers, further integrate factors such as capital, technology and manpower, and improve enterprise competitiveness and development vitality.
(4) Plan layout scientifically and take a distinctive and green development path
1. Persist in planning first and improve the land utilization rate. Scientifically plan the spatial locations of industrial circles, commercial circles and residential circles, and carry out scientific and reasonable layout for agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization. Further accelerate land transfer, economize and intensively use land, carry out land consolidation and quality improvement, improve the land utilization rate and floor area ratio, and enhance the sustainable development capacity of rural towns.
2. Tap resource endowments and implement regional planning. According to factors such as local resource characteristics and industrial development, optimize the layout of enterprises in the production, supply and sales of agricultural products, intensively use various effective local resources, save the costs of dispersed operations, rationally plan the layout of agricultural products, and form a scientific and reasonable agricultural industrialization system at different levels and with distinctive features.
3. Protect “green” space and build beautiful villages. In accelerating the process of agricultural industrialization and rural urbanization, it is necessary to persist in the harmonious unity of society, economy and ecology, scientifically and reasonably plan the layout of towns, improve infrastructure construction, attach importance to ecological and economic benefits, and actively develop ecological industries. Taking the “three-dimensional” outline as the criterion, vigorously develop the circular economy and green economy, and build beautiful villages.
(5) Improve systems and policies to make people's lives smarter
1. Smart management and coordinated leadership institutions. Be market-oriented, reform the original management system, explore the establishment of an urban-rural coordinated management system suited to local realities, realize the integration of scientific management, and avoid the phenomena of “multiple leadership” or “conflicting policies from multiple sources”.
2. Smart reform and improved social security. In aspects such as household registration management, labor, education and housing, establish and improve social security, ensure fairness and justice, break down regional boundaries, formulate preferential policies for farmers entering cities, and abolish unreasonable restrictive conditions.
3. Smart development and improved service systems. Improving the rural socialized service system is an important symbol of modern agricultural development. It is necessary to vigorously cultivate and improve socialized organizations for public services such as agricultural technology extension, risk prevention and control, and quality and safety monitoring, as well as farmers' cooperative organizations, such as operational organizations for preservation, processing, sales and information, effectively improve the level of agricultural industrialization, and promote the process of rural urbanization.