How can the shortcomings in agricultural modernization be addressed?

"Simultaneously advancing industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization" was clearly set out as one of the major policy orientations in the "12th Five-Year Plan" outline. Looking ahead to the "13th Five-Year Plan," while this policy orientation continues its essence and expands into the "new four modernizations," it also reveals an intent to address shortcomings. At the recent symposium of responsible officials from seven provinces and municipalities, when speaking about economic and social development during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, President Xi Jinping pointed out that new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization must be advanced simultaneously, and stressed that "the weak link is agricultural modernization."

Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to focus on accelerating the pace of agricultural modernization, and while stabilizing the output of grain and important agricultural products and safeguarding national food security and the effective supply of important agricultural products, accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model, accelerate the pace of agricultural technological innovation, and embark on a path of modern agricultural development that is intensive, efficient, safe and sustainable.

⟦NL> In the view of Wu Zhenjun, associate researcher at the Rural Economy Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, agricultural development is not only related to farmers' wallets, but also to the continued advancement of urbanization, and determines the quality of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, making it of great significance.

In an interview with a reporter from International Business Daily, Wu Zhenjun said that calculated by household registration, China has nearly 900 million farmers, and agriculture is closely related to farmers' incomes. "According to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in 2014 was 10,489 yuan, a real increase of 9.2% after deducting price factors. In recent years, the share of farmers' wage income has increased somewhat, but farming remains an important source of increasing farmers' incomes, especially the incomes of rural households in remote areas."

The continued advancement of urbanization also cannot be separated from the strong support of agricultural development. "At present, China's grain gap is huge. In 2014 alone, imports of soybeans reached 71.4 million tons. According to estimates, by 2020 China's grain gap may reach 120 million tons. Safeguarding food security is China's eternal task. From a policy perspective, 'moderate imports' became part of China's food security strategy for the first time in 2013. But at the same time, China's food supply security must rely more on its own strength and must accelerate the process of agricultural modernization. Otherwise, once food supply becomes a problem, many development strategies, including the urbanization process, will be greatly affected," Wu Zhenjun said.

The environmental conditions and internal drivers of agricultural development are undergoing profound changes, and the requirement to advance agricultural modernization by transforming the agricultural development model has become even more urgent.

Song Hongyuan, director of the Rural Economy Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, pointed out that the process of agricultural modernization cannot be separated from innovation in agricultural technology and business models, and that focus is needed in four key areas: First, agricultural scientific and technological innovation must be advanced. We must accelerate the breeding of new varieties that are high-yielding and stable-yielding, high-quality and efficient, promote the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy, strengthen the training of agricultural and rural talent, raise the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress and the level of agricultural facilities and equipment, and improve agricultural production efficiency and business returns. Second, a new type of agricultural operation system must be built. We must uphold the foundational position of family operation, promote the common development of multiple operation models such as family operation, collective operation, cooperative operation and enterprise operation, cultivate new types of operating entities such as large growers and breeders, family farms, cooperatives and leading enterprises, and establish and improve the agricultural socialized service system. Third, appropriately scaled agricultural operations must be developed. We must adhere to the development direction of appropriately scaled operations, promote the orderly and standardized transfer of land operation rights, and improve the returns of scaled operations. Fourth, the efficiency of agricultural product processing and circulation must be improved.

At the same time, developing modern agriculture must adapt to market changes and meet market demand, must be based on resource endowment conditions and give full play to comparative advantages, and must advance the adjustment of the agricultural structure by further optimizing the regional layout of agriculture, optimizing the structure of crop farming and livestock breeding, and developing the multiple functions of agriculture.