Agricultural reclamation explores the path to modern agriculture, with vast potential for development

As the national team in the agricultural sector, agricultural reclamation has unique advantages, especially abundant land resources and huge production potential, a high commodity rate of agricultural products, and integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Through deepening reform, it can further enhance the development vitality, endogenous impetus and market competitiveness of agricultural reclamation enterprises, build a number of large modern agricultural enterprise groups with international competitiveness, better demonstrate and drive the development of surrounding modern agriculture and help farmers increase their income, and better drive the new-type urbanization of surrounding rural areas and farmers' employment and entrepreneurship——

Sixty years of trials and hardships, agricultural reclamation has forged brilliance.

On December 1, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Promoting the Reform and Development of Agricultural Reclamation." This is the first time in 25 years that the central government has issued a programmatic document to comprehensively guide the reform and development of agricultural reclamation, marking that the reform and development of agricultural reclamation has risen to a major national strategy and a major measure for comprehensively deepening reform.

“As international agricultural competition becomes increasingly fierce, the pressure on China's agricultural transformation and upgrading continues to increase. Agricultural reclamation, as the ‘vanguard’ of China's modern agriculture, will usher in a major transformation of far-reaching significance, so as to give full play to its important role in the overall national economic and social development.” Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu told the reporter of "Economic Daily."

Leading agricultural science and technology innovation

Agricultural reclamation is an economic entity established under specific historical conditions to undertake important national missions, engaging in agricultural production in an industrial production manner, and is an early explorer in China of promoting agriculture through industry and driving rural areas through cities. In over 60 years of development, agricultural reclamation has made important contributions to safeguarding national food security, supporting national construction, and maintaining border stability.

The "Opinions" made the important judgment that “agricultural reclamation is the backbone and representative of the state-owned agricultural economy, and an important force in promoting new-type agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics.” Wang Shoucong, Director of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that for agricultural reclamation to take the lead in achieving agricultural modernization, it must stay at the forefront of agricultural science and technology innovation and application, promote innovation in the agricultural science and technology system of agricultural reclamation, establish agricultural industry technology innovation alliances with enterprises as the main body, and strengthen the construction of the agricultural technology promotion service system of agricultural reclamation.

In agricultural science and technology innovation, the seed industry must lead the way. The seed industry is a traditional advantageous industry of agricultural reclamation, and agricultural reclamation occupies an important position in seed production and supply. He Ziyang, Inspector of the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, told reporters: “Competition in the modern seed industry is competition in scientific and technological and capital strength. At present, breeding has fully entered the era of molecular breeding. The concentrated and rapid application of new technologies requires enterprises to become the main body of science and technology innovation, to establish commercialized and factory-based industrial scientific research organizational forms adapted to the development of breeding technology, and to cultivate world-class basic breeding strength. The seed industry of agricultural reclamation must continuously improve its science and technology innovation capacity and enhance its competitive strength.”

During an interview in Hubei agricultural reclamation, the reporter learned that Hubei agricultural reclamation took the seed industry as a breakthrough point, united 9 state-owned farms with advantages in seed industry development and core technologies, and built a modern seed industry company integrating breeding, propagation and promotion as well as production, processing and sales——Hubei Agricultural Reclamation Lianfeng Seed Industry Technology Development Co., Ltd. At present, the company has a seed production base of 70,000 mu.

Wang Shoucong told reporters that although the overall strength of agricultural reclamation seed enterprises is strong, resources are relatively scattered and it is difficult to form a joint force. In response, the "Opinions" proposed to integrate resources and build larger and stronger integrated seed enterprises of breeding, propagation and promotion. In August 2014, led by the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, the China Agricultural Reclamation Seed Industry Alliance was established, and proposed to use about 5 years to build a national seed industry flagship with a market value of 30 billion yuan, sales revenue of 5 billion yuan and profit of 1 billion yuan. As of now, agricultural reclamation has 195 seed industry companies integrating production, processing and sales at all levels, 340 new variety experimental stations, and 8,523 seed business outlets.

Achieving control of the entire industry chain

Recently, the reporter came to the Jiaxian Farm Supermarket located in Tianhe District, Guangzhou. This is a physical sales brand launched by Guangdong Agricultural Reclamation Green Agricultural Products Co., Ltd. since last October. It has now opened 10 directly operated chain stores in the Pearl River Delta and opened an online mall on portals, WeChat and other carriers.

Walking into the Jiaxian Farm sales hall, the reporter saw that the shelves were full of various agricultural and sideline products. “The products here are basically all under agricultural reclamation's own brands. Every product, from production to planting, processing, logistics and sales, is handled by agricultural reclamation enterprises throughout the whole process, truly achieving control of the entire industry chain.” said Cai Jie, General Manager of Jiaxian Farm.

Wang Shoucong believes that to improve agricultural efficiency and enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products, it is necessary to achieve the entire industry chain. If there is only planting without processing, or processing but no logistics, or only quantity but no quality, then it is impossible to grasp pricing power, let alone market share.

“From the perspective of agricultural reclamation's development, it is necessary to vigorously strengthen the construction of warehousing, processing, transportation and marketing, especially agricultural product e-commerce and modern logistics distribution systems, realize the transformation from producer to supplier, form a new pattern of industrial development driven by both online and offline, and build an entire industry chain supply guarantee system capable of competing with large foreign grain merchants.” Wang Shoucong told reporters.

At present, Shanghai, Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Ningxia, Chongqing, Beijing and other reclamation areas have successively built regional e-commerce platforms with distinctive features. Some reclamation areas have initially established logistics network systems with relatively large radiation ranges, the construction of logistics parks has also begun to take shape, and cold chain logistics is being accelerated.

Next, agricultural reclamation will encourage enterprises to strengthen the construction of modern warehousing facilities, ensure that high-quality agricultural products of agricultural reclamation can be stored and transported out, and grasp the initiative in sales; increase the construction of large wholesale markets or logistics parks with market influence, seize key nodes in the circulation of agricultural products, and enhance market control; seize the opportunity to guarantee urban supply by connecting cold chain logistics with last-mile delivery; use the Internet of Things and big data to exercise full-process refined management and control over logistics distribution and reduce logistics costs.

Driving new-type urbanization development

After long-term construction and development, agricultural reclamation small towns centered on the headquarters of state-owned farms have begun to take shape and have become important carriers for absorbing population and gathering industries, and promoting integrated urban-rural development. The "Opinions" require agricultural reclamation to play a demonstrative role not only in modern agricultural construction but also in new-type urbanization development. Through enterprise-oriented operation, it is necessary to ensure that agricultural reclamation small towns have industries and can provide employment and entrepreneurship, drive surrounding farmers to achieve rapid professionalization and low-cost citizenization, and realize the transformation from “urbanization of land” to “urbanization of people.”

Taking Anhui agricultural reclamation as an example, after nearly 10 years of rapid urbanization development, this reclamation area has taken the lead in achieving urbanization of the farms themselves, and some farm headquarters towns have become local regional economic and social centers.

Looking across all reclamation areas nationwide, in terms of attracting farmers to settle and work in cities, agricultural reclamation has its own comparative advantages: clear land property rights, and property rights can flow; a high level of farm agricultural modernization and a high degree of agricultural industrialization, making it easy for farmers to find employment; farms are mostly located in the rural hinterland, making it easy for farmers to “bring land into the city,” and so on.

Farms in various places have developed agricultural industrialization-oriented operations and built many factories, driving grain production and the trading of means of production and daily necessities, and attracting surrounding rural populations to gather, work and live. Reclamation areas plan urban construction at a high starting point, rationally lay out functional zones, integrate farm agricultural machinery and agricultural technology resources, and provide farmers with full-process agricultural socialized services. Many farms have also built farmer entrepreneurship parks, industrial parks, etc., to help farmers entering cities find employment and start businesses.