How should the two paths of agricultural scale management be chosen?
△In some suburban areas of cities and developed regions, where there are more off-farm employment opportunities and a large rural labor force has basically or completely left agriculture, production scale should be achieved through the transfer of land management rights
△In vast agricultural areas, where large numbers of young and middle-aged laborers have gone out to work and part-time farming is prominent, service scale should be achieved through the development of agricultural production services
△Give play to the advantages of new production entities and service entities to promote the development of modern agriculture
Let new production entities and service entities lead the two directions of scale management
Developing agricultural scale management is the core and main line of transforming the agricultural development model. During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, to follow the path of modern agriculture with Chinese characteristics, we must adhere to the basic direction of scale management. To develop moderate scale management in multiple forms, starting from China's national conditions, conforming to the trend of accelerated development of industrialization, informatization and urbanization, and adapting to the situation of large-scale transfer of rural labor and the continuous improvement of agricultural production conditions, there are two path choices:
The first is that in suburban areas of cities and developed regions where there are more off-farm employment opportunities, the trend toward specialization is obvious, and a large rural labor force has basically or completely left agriculture, efforts should focus on transferring land management rights, cultivating new agricultural production entities, and achieving scale management of production, so as to solve the problem of “who will farm the land.” From actual practice, in 2014 the area of rural land management rights transferred nationwide reached 403 million mu, accounting for 30.4% of household contracted cultivated land area, while Shanghai, Jiangsu and Beijing reached 71.5%, 58.4% and 52% respectively. This fully proves that the more developed the region, the higher the proportion of land management rights transfer, the more obvious the scale management formed by land transfer, and the more necessary it is to cultivate new production entities.
The second is that in vast agricultural areas where large numbers of young and middle-aged laborers have gone out to work, part-time farming is prominent, but the elderly and women left behind still have time and willingness to farm yet do not farm very well, efforts should focus on developing agricultural production services, cultivating new agricultural service entities, and achieving scale management of services, so as to solve the problem of “how to farm the land well.” In fact, the land transfer ratio in the major agricultural province of Jilin is 24%, in Sichuan 25.4%, and in Jiangxi 28.6%, all lower than the national average; such regions more need to cultivate new service entities.
To adapt to specialized requirements, cultivate new production entities, and solve “who will farm the land,” it is necessary to emphasize that, on the basis of continuing to support the development of ordinary farmer households, we should advance the orderly transfer of land management rights, focus on developing family farms characterized by household management, moderate scale, concentration on one main industry, and intensive production, and promote intensive agricultural management. To meet the needs of part-time farming, cultivate new service entities, and solve “how to farm the land well,” it is necessary to emphasize developing socialized services in multiple forms, focus on developing service-oriented farmer cooperatives characterized by mutual aid and cooperation, and promote standardized development of cooperatives and enhance service capacity.
It should be noted that there is no clear boundary dividing the organizational forms and operating mechanisms of various new production entities and service entities; both may take the three major organizational forms of household management, cooperative management and enterprise management, and in practice most production entities are also service entities. Their respective advantages should be brought into play, promoting their mutual integration and coordinated development, so that the two major entities lead the two directions of scale management and promote the development of modern agriculture.
Improve policy design and solve the three major problems of “land, people and money”
To develop the two kinds of scale management of production and services and create an external environment conducive to the healthy growth of the two major entities of production and services, policy design is of paramount importance, and the focus is still on solving the three major problems of “land, people and money.”
“How should land be transferred?” The principle is that no matter how land is transferred, agricultural land must remain in agricultural use, and efforts should be made to improve land use and allocation efficiency. Improve the theory of “separation of three rights,” promptly and clearly put forward opinions on keeping rural land contracting relationships stable for the long term, and build an agricultural land system with a relatively long term for land management rights transfer and stable operating expectations. Agricultural investment should be tilted toward farmland infrastructure construction; in the near term, land leveling and exchange and consolidation of land should be used to solve the problem of fragmentation, with emphasis on building production infrastructure urgently needed for scale production and scale services, such as farmland water conservancy, and supporting service facilities such as centralized seedling raising, storage and drying, and grounds, warehouses and sheds. New farmland added after leveling field ridges should be allowed to be used as supporting auxiliary facility land for new operating entities, solving the problem of insufficient land use quotas.
“How should people enter?” The goal is to make new agricultural production entities and service entities the leading force in modern agricultural development, and farmers should become specialized and professionalized. Focus should be placed on four types of people: traditional farmers, first- and second-generation migrant workers returning home, rural junior and senior high school graduates, and new farmers, cultivating two major groups of professionalized rural practical talents and managerial talents, with the direction being to form the two major entities of new agricultural production entities and service entities. Targeted, categorized vocational education and various training project plans should be formulated at the national level, with emphasis on enabling new agricultural operating entities to master various professional skills and improve professional quality, so as to meet the requirements of modern agricultural development.
“Where should money come from?” The approach is to focus on building an investment and financing system conducive to agricultural scale management, leveraging financial capital and social capital by increasing government input, stimulating farmers' enthusiasm for investment, and achieving “three breakthroughs.” First, how should the state's money be invested? A breakthrough must be made in combining innovation in the land system and the financial system, and a stable input mechanism adapted to the development of agricultural scale management must be established. Eligible new operating entities should be supported in taking priority in undertaking agriculture-related projects, a special fiscal fund for the development of new agricultural operating entities should be established, and market competitiveness should be improved. Second, how should bank money be lent? A breakthrough must be made in establishing a support system for medium- and long-term agricultural loans, with fiscal interest subsidies for medium- and long-term large loans, improving the credit satisfaction of new operating entities and solving the problem of insufficient fixed asset investment. Third, how should farmers' money be used? A breakthrough must be made in establishing a healthy development mechanism for farmers' mutual fund cooperation, encouraging farmer households to standardize the development of mutual funds and credit cooperation for self-development of production and market expansion, while strengthening regulatory measures to prevent alienation phenomena such as illegal fundraising.