Minister of Agriculture: Vigorously Advance Modern Agriculture and Promote the Integration of the Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Industries

China Securities Journal Online, Nov 25 - Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu published a signed article in the People's Daily. The article stated that accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model must be placed in an important position, modern agriculture must be vigorously advanced, and the synchronous development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization must be achieved.

The article emphasized that greater attention must be paid to optimizing the agricultural structure and cultivating a modern agricultural industrial system. Modern agriculture must be oriented by market demand, achieve regionalized layout and specialized production, and promote the coordinated development of grain, cash crops and feed, the integration of farming, animal husbandry and fisheries, the integration of planting, breeding and processing, and the deep integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

The article also stated that greater attention must be paid to increasing grain production capacity and tapping new potential for increasing grain output. Steadily increasing grain production capacity must be the primary task of accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. Grain output can be adjusted according to market demand, but grain production capacity must be ensured and consolidated. We must adhere to the strictest farmland protection system, firmly uphold the farmland red line, comprehensively designate permanent basic farmland, explore pilot programs for farmland crop rotation and fallow systems, implement the strategy of storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology, and ensure that "grain is basically self-sufficient and rations are absolutely secure."

⟦NL> The article stated that greater attention must be paid to scientific and technological innovation and enhancing overall agricultural production capacity. Accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model fundamentally depends on innovation-driven development. We must accelerate the establishment of a modern agricultural scientific and technological innovation system and promote the transformation of achievements and the extension of technology. We must vigorously develop the modern seed industry, make integrated breeding, propagation and promotion seed enterprises larger and stronger, and actively advance the construction of national-level breeding and seed production bases. We must accelerate the pace of agricultural mechanization and promote full mechanization in the production of major crops. We must advance agricultural informatization, carry out the "Internet Plus" modern agriculture initiative, implement the project of bringing information to villages and households, and accelerate the demonstration and application of the agricultural Internet of Things.

The article also emphasized that greater attention must be paid to the protection and governance of the agricultural ecological environment and to achieving sustainable agricultural development. Resource conservation and environmental friendliness are the basic requirements of modern agriculture. We must vigorously develop water-saving agriculture, advance water conservation through engineering, varieties, agronomy, management and pollution control, and improve the efficiency of agricultural water use.

The full text of the article is as follows:

Accelerating the Transformation of the Agricultural Development Model (Studying and Implementing the Spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee)

Han Changfu

The "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" (hereinafter referred to as the "Recommendations") clearly proposed accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model, improving the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of agriculture, and making marked progress in agricultural modernization. This is a major strategic deployment made by the Party Central Committee with an eye on the overall situation of socialist modernization and in response to new challenges in agricultural development. We must deeply understand and comprehensively implement it, place accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model in an important position, vigorously advance modern agriculture, and achieve the synchronous development of new industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization.

China has reached the stage where it must accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model

Agriculture is the foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and achieving modernization, and it is a strategic industry that stabilizes people's hearts and brings peace to the nation. During the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, China's modern agriculture development accelerated. Overall agricultural production capacity rose to a new level, grain production climbed two 100-billion-jin steps in 5 years, and total grain output in 2014 reached 1214.2 billion jin, remaining stable above 1200 billion jin for two consecutive years. At the same time, cotton, oil, sugar, fruit, vegetables, tea, meat, eggs, milk and aquatic products developed steadily. Modern agriculture development made new breakthroughs. In 2014, the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress exceeded 56%, major crops, especially grain crops, basically achieved full coverage of improved varieties, the comprehensive mechanization level of cultivation, sowing and harvesting exceeded 61%, and the proportion of effectively irrigated farmland exceeded 52%. New progress was made in building the agricultural operation system, land transfer advanced in an orderly manner, moderate-scale agricultural operations developed steadily, and new types of agricultural operating entities gradually grew. By the end of 2014, there were more than 870,000 family farms nationwide, farmers' cooperatives reached 1.28 million, and the area of rural land transferred accounted for more than 30% of household contracted farmland. Farmers' income levels rose to a new level, with growth rates for 5 consecutive years higher than those of GDP and urban residents' income, and the urban-rural income ratio fell from 3.33:1 at the end of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" to 2.92:1 in 2014. Against the backdrop of increasing downward economic pressure, the good situation in agriculture became the "stabilizing anchor" for sustained and healthy economic and social development.

The "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period is the decisive stage for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. It should be noted that China's agricultural modernization still lags relatively behind and faces many challenges, manifested in "three increasingly prominent" issues: First, constraints on agricultural resources and the environment are increasingly prominent. Problems such as the reduction in the quantity and quality of farmland, groundwater overexploitation, and the worsening of agricultural non-point source pollution have become prominent. The string of resource factors is being pulled tighter and tighter, and the agricultural ecological environment has shown a "red light." In particular, after the problem of food and clothing was solved, the public has increasingly high demands for the ecological environment and the quality of agricultural products. Second, the imbalance in agricultural production structure is increasingly prominent. The agricultural regional layout does not fully match resource endowments, and the north-to-south grain transport and south-to-north water diversion coexist; the structure of grain, cash crops and feed is unreasonable, and the increase in inventories of some agricultural products coexists with increased imports; the combination of planting and breeding is not close and circulation is not smooth, and the decline in soil fertility coexists with the failure to effectively utilize manure from the breeding industry; production, processing, circulation and consumption are disconnected, and the entire agricultural industrial chain has not yet been formed. Third, the problem of low quality and efficiency in agricultural development is increasingly prominent. Agricultural production costs are in an "upward channel," and international bulk agricultural product prices have fallen below domestic prices to varying degrees. Under the double squeeze of the cost "floor" and the price "ceiling," the comparative efficiency of agriculture has continued to decline. The trends of part-time farming and aging farmers are obvious, and the problems of "who will farm" and "how to farm" are prominent.

Overall, China is in a critical period of transition from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. In accordance with the requirements of the "Recommendations," we must persist in taking accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model as the main task and basic path for advancing agricultural modernization during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, accelerate the building of a modern agricultural industrial system, production system and operation system, promote comprehensive grain production capacity, the level of agricultural product quality and safety, the utilization rate of agricultural resources, and farmers' income to new levels, and drive agricultural development from focusing mainly on quantity growth to placing equal emphasis on quantity, quality and efficiency, from relying mainly on input of material factors to relying on scientific and technological innovation and improving the quality of the labor force, and from relying mainly on exhausting resources and consumption to sustainable development, thus taking a path of agricultural modernization featuring high output, safe products, resource conservation and environmental friendliness.

Key tasks for accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model

The "Recommendations" made comprehensive arrangements for accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. We must proceed from China's national and agricultural conditions, identify the focus of our work, and grasp it firmly and effectively to achieve results.

Greater attention must be paid to increasing grain production capacity and tapping new potential for increasing grain output. With the increase in total population, the rise in the proportion of urban population, the improvement of residents' consumption levels and the expansion of industrial uses of agricultural products, China's demand for agricultural products shows a rigid growth trend. According to expert forecasts, by 2020 China's grain demand will be about 1400 billion jin, leaving a gap of about 200 billion jin. Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized that the rice bowl of the Chinese people must be firmly held in our own hands at all times, and our rice bowl should mainly contain Chinese grain. Steadily increasing grain production capacity must be the primary task of accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model. Grain output can be adjusted according to market demand, but grain production capacity must be ensured and consolidated. We must adhere to the strictest farmland protection system, firmly uphold the farmland red line, comprehensively designate permanent basic farmland, explore pilot programs for farmland crop rotation and fallow systems, implement the strategy of storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology, and ensure that "grain is basically self-sufficient and rations are absolutely secure." At present, China's low- and medium-yield farmland accounts for about 2/3, and most of it still depends on the weather. We must advance large-scale land consolidation, the transformation of low- and medium-yield farmland, and the construction of high-standard farmland, and build 800 million mu of high-standard farmland by 2020.