The key to transforming the agricultural development model lies in renewing development concepts

Accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model is the main task and basic path for advancing agricultural modernization. During the decisive stage of the “13th Five-Year Plan” for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the task of transforming the agricultural development model is extremely urgent. Fundamentally speaking, the transformation of the development model depends on the renewal of development concepts.

Grain production and food security must be guaranteed, but the government-led, extensive development concept for grain production has led to a series of problems, including high farming costs, high agricultural product prices, low competitiveness of agricultural products, excessive exploitation of agricultural resources, excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural film, and deterioration of the agricultural ecosystem. To fundamentally solve these problems, it is necessary to renew the agricultural development concept, shift to a market-led approach, and pursue precision in factor inputs and intensification of agricultural production. At the same time, instead of relying on subsidies to eliminate the negative effects of agriculture's inherent weakness, we should start from moderate scale, high-quality seeds, standardized processes, precision operations and systematized technology to improve agriculture's competitiveness, the safety of agricultural products and the sustainability of resource utilization; with professional farmers as the main body, increase farmers' income by expanding the scale of agricultural operations, improving production efficiency and expanding agricultural functions, so that professional farmers can live a decent life.

Of course, the market cannot solve all the problems of “agriculture, rural areas and farmers.” Another aspect of renewing the agricultural development concept is to better play the role of the government. The government's responsibilities in developing modern agriculture mainly include: implementing the strictest farmland protection system and the total agricultural water use control system, and holding the red line for land and water resources; formulating and implementing standards for land cultivation intensity and chemical inputs, controlling inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and holding the red line for the ecosystem and the bottom line for the safety of agricultural products. At the same time, it should also provide public goods with multiplier effects that all farming households can share for the development of modern agriculture; increase investment in ecological development, raise the level of national ecological security and improve the quality of life of the people. China is a populous country with relatively scarce per capita agricultural resources, so it should make full use of both domestic and international markets and both domestic and international resources to achieve a balance between supply and demand of agricultural products and reduce the pressure on domestic agricultural resources and the environment.

Once the agricultural development concept of being market-led and better playing the government's role is established, the focus of transforming the agricultural development model will become clearer. First, give play to the positive effects of the farmland system. An ineffective farmland system cannot guarantee more than 30 years of stable agricultural growth. Practice has proved that China's farmland system is effective, and its positive effects can be summarized as three relatively easy things: land exchange between farming households is relatively easy -- the neatness and scale of China's vegetable greenhouses are higher than those of other East Asian economies; land transfer is relatively easy -- farmland transfer in China is noticeably faster than in other East Asian economies; and contiguous farmland cultivation is relatively easy -- the advancement of contiguous farmland cultivation in China is faster than in other East Asian economies. These three relatively easy things should be made good use of to promote appropriately scaled agricultural operations and farmland consolidation. Second, develop various forms of appropriately scaled operations. Among them, a relatively good approach is to use land contractual management rights as shares to establish land share cooperatives, so that farming households remaining in rural areas have the conditions to expand the scale of operations and carry out land consolidation, thereby promoting efficient mechanized operations and precision in factor inputs, reducing production costs and improving production efficiency. Third, cultivate professional farmers. With economic development, ultra-small-scale agriculture is declining, which objectively requires cultivating professional farmers and developing modern agriculture. Professional farmers are farmers with an appropriate operating scale and market competitiveness; manufacturers are willing to cooperate with them, banks are willing to lend to them, and insurance companies are willing to insure them. Once professional farmers become the main body of agricultural operations, a market-oriented business environment will take shape. The government's responsibility is to create a fair competition environment for professional farmers.

More specifically, at the level of agricultural development policy, the agricultural development concept of being market-led and better playing the government's role should also be reflected. For example, the current minimum grain purchase price policy aims to guarantee that farmers' income does not decline by mitigating agricultural risks. This policy has achieved notable results in practice. But in the new stage of development, from the perspective of optimizing resource allocation and adapting to international trade and economic rules, the government's responsibility in mitigating agricultural risks should shift to providing public goods in order to stimulate farmers' enthusiasm for production. This mainly includes: building systems for agricultural technology research, development and extension; systems for collecting, organizing, analyzing and publishing agricultural meteorological information and agricultural product market information; and systems for agricultural infrastructure such as roads and water conservancy. Farmers optimize resource allocation according to market signals and pursue income maximization. In this way, it is more conducive to fully bringing into play the roles of an effective government, an efficient market and professional farmers with the capacity for self-development.