Optimize the agricultural structure and accelerate the pace of agricultural modernization

Given that our country already possesses strong grain production capacity and that a large international grain circulation system has already taken shape, the state should appropriately lower the grain security coefficient, establish a mechanism for protecting grain production capacity and converting it in a timely manner, and shift from physical grain reserves to grain production capacity reserves.

The optimization and upgrading of our country's agricultural structure and the development of agricultural modernization face several prominent problems: First, because of the long-standing adherence to “taking grain as the key link,” the “farming, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline production, and fishery” sectors have not achieved all-round development. Second, the low quality of the rural labor force severely constrains the optimization and adjustment of the agricultural structure. Third, the market order for agricultural and sideline products is chaotic, with genuine and fake products hard to distinguish and good and bad products not separated, so that high quality does not command a high price and quality improvement is hard to turn into efficiency improvement, seriously undermining the enthusiasm and creativity of production entities in adjusting and optimizing the structure. Fourth, the degree of farmers' organization is low, and the secondary and tertiary industries in the rural economy develop slowly. Fifth, the external environment for agricultural structural adjustment urgently needs to be optimized.

There are the following ways to achieve the optimization and upgrading of the agricultural structure:

First, correctly handle the relationship between grain production and cash crop cultivation and diversified operations. Given that our country already possesses strong grain production capacity and that a large international grain circulation system has already taken shape, the state should appropriately lower the grain security coefficient, establish a mechanism for protecting grain production capacity and converting it in a timely manner, and shift from physical grain reserves to grain production capacity reserves. At the same time, grain subsidy standards should be adjusted according to the average prices of cash crops, and the country should actively participate in the large global grain circulation.

Second, vigorously improve the quality of the agricultural labor force. Implement a certification subsidy system for young people engaged in agricultural production in order to change the age structure of practitioners. At the same time, the state should increase investment in rural human resources and change the problem of agricultural research institutions and agricultural colleges being detached from rural areas, agriculture, and farmers. Young people dedicated to rural construction should be selected and sent free of charge to agricultural colleges to study, so that they become high-quality talent with business management and agricultural science and technology knowledge. Short-term skills training should be carried out regularly according to the actual needs of rural workers. At the same time, the state should improve the science and technology support system for the agricultural economy as soon as possible.

⟦NL> Third, accelerate the improvement of farmers' degree of organization and actively cultivate new models of agricultural operation. Under the premise of integrating production, processing, and sales, unite farming households, vigorously support the development of farmers' cooperatives, and have all preferential policies implemented uniformly through cooperatives.

Fourth, actively promote the deep integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in the rural economy, so that farmers can obtain profits from the production stage as well as profits from high value-added stages such as agricultural product processing. In this way, more rural labor can be absorbed, the disadvantaged position of agriculture can be fundamentally changed, the competitiveness of agriculture can be greatly improved, and the pace of farmers becoming prosperous can be accelerated.

Fifth, create an external environment conducive to the optimization and upgrading of the agricultural structure. Accelerate the improvement of fiscal subsidy policies, and shift direct subsidies to agriculture toward agricultural insurance. Increase the intensity of rural financial reform so that the state agricultural development bank truly plays a leading financial role in supporting agricultural economic development. The reform of rural credit cooperatives should be considered comprehensively and carried out together with the cultivation of farmers' cooperatives. Furthermore, the state should instruct relevant departments to seriously rectify the market order for agricultural and sideline products and standardize market management. Finally, improve laws and regulations on agricultural economic development, solve the problems encountered in agricultural structural adjustment, and ensure that there are laws to abide by and rules to follow.