New-type professional farmers become urgently needed talent for modern agriculture

Rural young people have gone to work in factories one after another. Who will farm the land tomorrow, and how will it be farmed? This is a realistic question that must be answered.

It is said that "without agriculture, there is no stability." Whether from the perspective of ensuring supply or from the perspective of ecology, Suzhou must ensure the foundation of agriculture, and the "four million mu" fundamentally guarantees Suzhou's solid position in agriculture, as well as the appearance of the Jiangnan "land of fish and rice." Although in form, agriculture is nothing more than planting and breeding, one million mu of high-quality grain and oil,

one million mu of high-efficiency horticulture, one million mu of special aquatic products, and one million mu of ecological forest land are all within the scope of crop cultivation and aquaculture, but in terms of content, they are already far beyond what agriculture in the traditional sense can carry, because the production of traditional "ordinary goods" simply cannot meet the needs of current market competition. It can be said that high-quality, high-efficiency modern agriculture is the direction Suzhou's agriculture should strive toward.

Then, who will farm the land tomorrow, and how will it be farmed? "At worst, I'll go home and be a farmer." Such bold words were still very useful decades ago, but in today's Suzhou they are probably already outdated and obsolete. Because farming in Suzhou today sees new varieties and new technologies emerging one after another, and even "old hands" will probably find themselves unable to keep up. What Suzhou's agriculture needs most is new-type professional farmers, who must not only be educated, but also understand technology, and also know how to operate a business. If one is not someone who "loves agriculture" and is "dedicated to agriculture," it is almost impossible to become a "laborer whose occupation is to engage in agricultural production, operation, management, and services," that is, a new-type professional farmer.

What are new-type professional farmers like? Various rural areas in Suzhou have answered this through practice and exploration. Starting this year, Kunshan will cultivate 3,000 new-type professional farmers through multiple channels, providing talent support for the local development of modern agriculture. To implement this measure, the day before yesterday, the Kunshan Municipal Agriculture Committee signed a targeted training agreement with Suzhou Polytechnic Institute of Agriculture, and 19 students will serve grassroots agriculture after training. Before that, the Taicang Municipal Government specially issued the "Opinions on Vigorously Cultivating New-Type Professional Farmers," providing support institutionally for the cultivation of new-type professional farmers, adapting to the needs of modern agricultural development, and accelerating the process of agricultural modernization.

Can new-type professional farmers be attractive? Such doubts and worries have already been eliminated in Taicang. Work contracts are signed, income is linked to occupational grade, and most importantly, they can enjoy their own social security systems such as pension and medical care just like enterprise employees. "As the comparative benefits of agriculture continue to rise, there will certainly be more and more young people joining the army of new-type professional farmers." Sun Weiliang, Party secretary of Shuangfeng Town in Taicang City, is full of confidence in the prospects of new-type professional farmers. According to reports, this profession of new-type professional farmer brings an annual income of about 100,000 yuan locally, and is very popular.

Suzhou's modern agriculture construction is vibrant and impressive. 90% of Suzhou's agricultural land has achieved moderate-scale operation, and the whole city has 15,176 various types of agricultural scale operation entities, initially forming Suzhou characteristics based on family farms and large contracting households, with various cooperatives as the main organizational form, and agricultural enterprises and others as supplements. It can be expected that Suzhou's army of new-type professional farmers will also quickly follow.