How can transforming the agricultural development model loosen the stranglehold on development?
Currently, China's economy has entered a new normal, and agricultural development faces new challenges such as the “ceiling” capping the prices of agricultural products, the “floor” of production costs rising, and the intensification of “hard constraints” on resources and the environment. As China's foundational industry, agriculture has reached an important juncture of adjusting its structure and transforming its development model.
A few days ago, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Opinions on Accelerating the Transformation of the Agricultural Development Model” (referred to as the “Opinions”), providing guidance for China's agricultural transformation and development. In the process of accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model, how can national food security be ensured? How can the transformation of agricultural operation models be promoted? How can agricultural non-point source pollution be prevented and controlled, so that agriculture embarks on a track of sustainable development? In response, authoritative experts have responded.
Ensuring Food Security: Realizing “Storing Grain in the Land” and “Storing Grain in Technology”
⟦NL> Does transforming the agricultural development model mean relaxing food production?
In response, Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu clearly stated: “Transforming the agricultural development model absolutely does not mean relaxing food production, and absolutely must not weaken the comprehensive agricultural production capacity. The ‘Opinions’ propose adhering to enhancing grain production capacity as the primary prerequisite. We must ensure that our rice bowl is firmly held in our own hands at all times, and solidify the foundation for transforming the agricultural development model.”
Since 2004, China's grain output has increased for eleven consecutive years, and comprehensive production capacity has stepped up to a new level of 600 million tons. But in recent years, the space for China's grain production development has been squeezed by multiple factors.
“China's consecutive years of grain output increases have also accumulated many problems, such as excessive input of production factors and environmental deterioration. Under the influence of various adverse factors such as unstable planting area, declining input, and the impact of low international grain prices, we must directly confront the new challenges and new problems of future grain production development.” said Wang Dongyang, director of the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
In response, the “Opinions” made corresponding adjustments in the approach to safeguarding national food security, proposing to promote the transformation of grain production from focusing on annual output to steadily enhancing grain production capacity, realizing “stable output,” “storing grain in the land,” and “storing grain in technology,” and taking an intensive development path that relies on scientific and technological progress and raising per-unit yield levels.
“Comprehensive research shows that by 2020 China should have built 800 million mu of high-standard farmland. At the same time, we must rely on scientific and technological progress, effectively protect grain farmland and grain sown area, build up soil fertility, improve technology, and raise per-unit yield.” said Wang Dongyang.
Promoting “Connecting the Second and Third Industries”: Keeping More Returns in the Producing Areas and with Farmers
In China's agricultural production, having more people and less land is a basic national condition. The average land operation scale per household is only a little over 7 mu, which is not conducive to the optimal allocation of resources and the effective improvement of labor productivity, and to a certain extent has delayed the process of agricultural modernization.
Experts point out that in the long run, promoting the transformation of agriculture from traditional decentralized household operation to a new type of operation system combining intensification, specialization, organization, and socialization is the only way for China to build itself into a modern agricultural power.
“This requires us to continuously innovate agricultural operation models and extend the agricultural industrial chain. We should encourage innovation in land transfer forms, reasonably determine the scale of land operation, and improve the agricultural socialized service system.” said Han Changfu.
“In addition, we must organically combine the development of various forms of appropriately scaled agricultural operations with the extension of the agricultural industrial chain. In agriculture's transformation and development, advancing the industrialized operation of agriculture and promoting ‘connecting the second and third industries,’ that is, the integrated development of agriculture with the secondary and tertiary industries, is an important direction.” pointed out Huang Zuhui, dean of the China Academy for Rural Development at Zhejiang University. In response, the “Opinions” clearly propose promoting the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries, and promoting the retention of more value-added returns from the industrial chain in the producing areas and with farmers.
Huang Zuhui analyzed and pointed out that the key to realizing the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries is to choose the correct transformation paths and support policies, so that the broad masses of farmers obtain the returns they deserve in agricultural transformation. The focus is to build operation mechanisms compatible with the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and interest mechanisms for the relevant entities.
Huang Zuhui suggested introducing a shareholding system on the basis of agricultural cooperative systems. For example, farmers can contribute capital and become shareholders, establish share cooperatives, and enter agriculture's secondary and tertiary industries in the form of a share cooperative system, directly obtaining returns from operating agriculture's downstream operations; farmers can also lease or contribute as shares the contracted land they operate, jointly establish share cooperative enterprises or agricultural companies with industrial and commercial enterprises investing in agriculture, and obtain corresponding factor returns from this. At the same time, industrial and commercial enterprises should be encouraged to enter suitable fields in the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and establish communities of shared interests and win-win mechanisms with farmers.
Controlling “Non-Point Source Pollution”: Returning to a Track of Green and Sustainable Development
The First National Pollution Census showed that in 2007, chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen, and total phosphorus emissions from agricultural sources nationwide reached 13.2 million tons, 2.7 million tons, and 280,000 tons respectively, accounting for 43.7%, 57.2%, and 67.4% of the national total emissions respectively.
Regarding agricultural non-point source pollution, there is currently a saying that “China's agricultural non-point source pollution is the largest pollution source,” and another saying that “agricultural non-point source pollution accounts for more than half of the country's pollution emissions.” How should this be viewed?
Han Changfu responded that in recent years the situation of agricultural non-point source pollution in some parts of China has shown a trend of improvement, but on the whole the problem is still relatively prominent. In addition, much agricultural non-point source pollution is reversible. Therefore, regarding the issue of agricultural non-point source pollution, we must attach great importance to it and resolve it with great determination.
“Facing the double ‘stranglehold’ of resource conditions and the ecological environment, only by better transforming the agricultural development model and strengthening the treatment of agricultural non-point source pollution can we promote the sustainable development of agriculture.” pointed out Wang Yanliang, director of the Agricultural Ecology and Resource Protection Station of the Ministry of Agriculture. We must strictly control the total amount of agricultural water use and vigorously develop water-saving agriculture; at the same time, by implementing actions for zero growth in chemical fertilizers and pesticides, gradually reduce the total amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides applied. In addition, we must basically realize the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, crop straw, and agricultural film, and ultimately suppress the momentum of deterioration of resources and the environment, allow the overdrawn resources and environment to recuperate, and promote agriculture's return to a track of green and sustainable development.