How to develop cultural agriculture and enhance agricultural benefits?
In the face of a complex and ever-changing domestic and international environment, and increasingly fierce competition in international trade of agricultural products, choosing the development path of cultural agriculture can powerfully advance the development of modern agriculture, enhance the cultural connotation of regional agriculture, and promote economic and social development.
The scientific connotation and characteristics of cultural agriculture
Cultural agriculture mainly refers to a modern agricultural development model that relies on unique ecological resource endowments and cultural characteristics, takes industrial development and farmers' income growth as its goals, takes environmental protection and quality safety as its foundation, and takes agricultural science and technology innovation as its support. Through the creation of cultural connotation and integration with related industries, it evolves the interaction of the three industries into a new business format with relatively high cultural content and cultural value, and with the help of cultural creativity, shapes brand agriculture and conducts brand marketing, using the brand premium effect to maximize the added value of agriculture and promote regional economic development.
⟦NL> The connotation and characteristics of cultural agriculture mainly include four aspects. First, enriching the cultural connotation of agriculture. Give full play to the supporting role of cultural soft power in modern agriculture, and actively tap and innovate cultural factors in agricultural operations. Second, raising awareness of environmental protection. Through agricultural science and technology innovation and its promotion and application, promote the improvement of agricultural production levels and the quality of agricultural inputs. Third, integrated industrial development. In accordance with the requirements of “synchronization of the four modernizations,” build a development model for the entire industrial chain and introduce guiding policies. Fourth, highlighting the regional charm of brands. Give play to the unique advantages of regional agricultural resource endowments, cultivate characteristic leading agricultural products, integrate cultural connotation, and fully implement the brand marketing strategy.
Constraints on the development of cultural agriculture
At present, the momentum of cultural agriculture is beginning to emerge, and the genetic elements of soft cultural value are constantly being implanted into agriculture and agricultural products. Agriculture is shifting from traditional to scientific and technological, from small household operations to large-scale operations, and from selling raw materials (substances) to selling products (culture and concepts). The cultural connotation of products is the most unique, most differentiated, and most difficult to replace. The integrated development model of the entire agricultural industrial chain is currently the most complete integration form in modern agricultural development that integrates urbanization, industrialization, and informatization.
Although modern agriculture is currently advancing steadily, cultural penetration and industrial integration have emerged to a certain extent, and they play a positive role in regional economic development, overall, there is relatively little research on the cultural agriculture model, and its development and growth have great potential. At present, the main factors affecting the development of cultural agriculture are four aspects. First, weak policy guidance and planning concepts: there is a lack of foresight and strategy in formulating industrial development ideas and strategies, a lack of planning and layout in industrial structure adjustment, and a lack of core value and target positioning. Second, weak awareness of protecting the environment and the safety of agricultural products: violations such as the illegal use of pesticides, fertilizers, and additives, as well as harmful practices that damage the ecology in agricultural development, are common. Third, weak awareness of brand building: trademarks, certification, and standard system construction lag behind, local culture has not been tapped, the core value of brands has not been refined, and publicity is inadequate. Fourth, the industrial development model is single: some local governments neglect the construction of the industrial chain, and financial support lacks awareness of “integration” and “cross-sector” development.
The mechanism for developing cultural agriculture
The development strategy of cultural agriculture aims to break through the inherent paths and ideas of traditional agriculture. Through the penetration of cultural elements, it raises awareness of environmental protection, ensures the quality and safety of agricultural products, shapes agricultural product brands, advances the integrated development of the three industries, and ensures the implementation of the strategy of increasing regional agricultural production, farmers' income, and economic development. In connection with reality, a relatively complete mechanism for cultural agriculture development should include seven aspects.
Government guidance mechanism. Under the strategic opportunity of regional culture and industrial revitalization, the government should shape the core value system of local agriculture and, guided by this, introduce preferential policies for the agricultural industry. The government should formulate agricultural industry development plans, upgrade the industrial structure, reasonably divide the layout of agricultural products, and gradually form industrial belts, gathering areas, and business formats of “one town, one industry” and “one village, one product.” At the same time, it should further transform its functions and work style and improve government service efficiency.
Industrial interaction mechanism. To achieve leapfrog industrial development, it is necessary to focus on building an interactive mechanism among the three industries that is full of vitality, highly efficient, and conducive to scientific development, and to follow the integrated development model of “agricultural production + deep processing + ecological tourism.” In the primary industry, new types of agricultural business entities should be actively cultivated and appropriately scaled agricultural operations should be developed to improve the degree of farmers' organization. In the secondary industry, agricultural product processing parks should be actively created, high-precision and advanced agricultural enterprises should be introduced, and the industrial chain should be extended. In the tertiary industry, in combination with the current construction of beautiful villages and family farms, the construction of ecological agriculture bases and the development of leisure agriculture and creative agriculture should be actively expanded to promote the deep integrated development of agricultural production and agricultural leisure tourism.
Ecological protection mechanism. Ecological and environmental protection is an obligatory duty of governments at all levels. It is necessary to vigorously develop agricultural technologies that conserve resources and protect the environment, focus on promoting comprehensive waste utilization technologies, related industrial linkage technologies, and renewable energy development and utilization technologies, strengthen environmental monitoring in the agricultural production process, strictly manage the production, operation, and use of agricultural inputs, and intensify efforts to prevent and control agricultural non-point source pollution. At the same time, strengthen the construction of an agricultural product safety supervision system and implement full-process supervision responsibility from field to table.
Brand building mechanism. Encourage trademark registration for agricultural products, vigorously implement agricultural standardization, advance agricultural industrialization, and steadily carry out certification work for pollution-free agricultural products, green food, and organic agricultural products, as well as certification of agricultural production systems. What is worth promoting is that in the process of trademark registration and brand cultivation, folk customs, history, intangible cultural heritage, and farming culture can be integrated and incorporated as cultural elements such as legendary stories or allusions, creating a unique brand value and enhancing the added value and market competitiveness of agricultural products.
Technical support mechanism. To advance the development process of cultural agriculture and realize agricultural modernization, it is necessary to rely on the support of upgrading the agricultural science and technology innovation system and achieve the “five modernizations,” namely, high-quality varieties, mechanization of farming (breeding), facility-based bases, refined management, and knowledgeable farmers. This will promote the integration of agricultural technology, mechanization of labor processes, and informatization of production and operations, and build a technical system that meets the requirements of high-yield, high-quality, high-efficiency, ecological, and safe agricultural development. In addition, it is necessary to further strengthen the building of agricultural science and technology talent, management talent, and marketing talent teams, providing strong talent and intellectual support for promoting a new leap forward in modern agriculture.
Risk prevention mechanism. To promote the steady development of cultural agriculture, it is necessary to establish a risk prevention mechanism in industrial development, use appropriate means to effectively avoid various risks in agricultural production and operations, and reduce economic losses. First, improve the investment and financing system, establish a regular government fiscal investment mechanism, strengthen the service capacity of commercial finance for “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” and small and micro enterprises in counties, encourage the participation of social capital, guide and support the rapid development of industries, support qualified leading enterprises in listing and financing, create agricultural and forestry product processing parks, gather agricultural processing enterprises, extend the industrial chain, and boost the scale of industrial development. Second, improve the agricultural insurance service system, continuously increase the coverage of agricultural product variety insurance and the level of risk protection, and encourage various forms of mutual aid and cooperative insurance. Standardize the management of catastrophe risk reserve funds for agricultural insurance, and accelerate the establishment of a government-supported catastrophe risk diversification mechanism for agricultural insurance. Explore the launch of businesses such as loan guarantee insurance and credit insurance in agriculture-related financial fields.
Publicity and marketing mechanism. Encourage the implementation of the new integrated marketing concept of “production, supply, marketing, and media,” where “media” refers not only to publicity media, but also to “online and offline” marketing platforms and the marketing strategy of brand trademarks. The development of cultural agriculture must not only upgrade the agricultural industry, linking the secondary and tertiary industries, but also shape brands, strengthen publicity, improve product competitiveness, broaden sales channels, and increase the added value of the agricultural economy. First, improve the construction of market trading platforms. Strengthen the construction of regional agricultural product wholesale markets and market informatization, support the construction of small agricultural product collection markets and collection and distribution centers in production areas, accelerate the development of modern warehousing and logistics facilities for bulk agricultural products in main production areas, and improve the cold chain logistics system for fresh agricultural products. Second, strengthen market promotion. Increase publicity of cultural agriculture and branded agricultural products through various media, plan agricultural festivals, agricultural product promotion fairs, or online promotion fairs, and encourage the establishment of direct-sales chain physical stores for agricultural products. Third, strengthen the construction of e-commerce platforms. In addition to building traditional publicity and marketing models such as websites, steadily test the waters in PC e-commerce industries such as Tmall and Taobao; encourage agricultural enterprises to enter “micro-malls” and seize new high ground in the market.