How Can the Second Generation of Farmers Shoulder the Burden of New Farmers
Along with the footsteps of spring, more members of the “second generation of farmers” are stepping into the fertile soil and joining the ranks of “new farmers.”
The entry of the “second generation of farmers” into the ranks of “new farmers” lets us feel the new hope and new strength of the fields. In practice, in recent years the role played by the “second generation of farmers” returning to agriculture has grown larger and larger. Some large growers, because of the entry of the “second generation of farmers,” show advantages in introducing new varieties, large-scale management and other aspects; in some traditional agricultural areas, because the “second generation of farmers” bring new technologies and new methods back to the villages, land efficiency grows rapidly; some traditional products, because the “second generation of farmers” introduce internet thinking, see their value multiply. As a brand-new generation with new knowledge and new vision, the “second generation of farmers” makes the value of “new farmers” increasingly prominent.
Looking at various places, the “new farmers” transformed from the “second generation of farmers” fall roughly into several categories: one is the descendants of leaders of family farms, specialized large growers or professional cooperatives, who under the guidance of their parents become familiar with farming and learn management, and some of whom have already stepped to the forefront; one is the children of farming families who have returned after completing their studies or who have grown up locally, who spread their knowledge and skills across the farmland and increasingly stand out in the fields; another is those who, under the influence of the new wave and new thinking of modern agriculture, join the ranks of farming in the form of “agriculture + internet,” or as “college-graduate village officials,” adding a modern color to traditional agriculture with their learning and courage.
⟦NL> Whichever type they are, they share one identity: “second generation of farmers.” Such an identity makes their “nostalgia” run deep in their bones, and gives them a deep sense of identification, emotion and responsibility toward agriculture, the countryside and farmers. Therefore, when they face career choices or life plans, under the same background conditions and weighing of interests, they have a stronger initiative and a higher degree of self-awareness in choosing agriculture and devoting themselves to agriculture. This characteristic also makes them fundamentally different from the several major “rustication waves” in the history of New China: their “going to the countryside” is in order to eat better and eat for longer, and it merges the goal of realizing the value of life with that of changing the face of the countryside into one.
Recognizing this characteristic of the “second generation of farmers” is highly realistic and targeted for the guidance, cultivation and expansion of the growth of new-type professional farmers that is currently being vigorously advanced. To cultivate new-type professional farmers, we should not only encourage more young people who have knowledge, understand management and know how to run a business to join the “new farmers,” but also guide them according to the situation and act in line with the trend, creating conditions for the “second generation of farmers” who love agriculture and who have natural blood ties and emotional ties to agriculture to grow into “new farmers.” This will let us take fewer detours. To achieve this, we must put more effort, and real effort, into the cultivation of agricultural colleges, rural vocational education, agricultural skills training and other aspects, and precisely invest limited funds and human and material resources in the successors of agriculture and the future “new farmers.”
In guiding the “second generation of farmers” to shoulder the burden of “new farmers,” the attraction of benefits is the greatest driving force. Many members of the “second generation of farmers” choose to return home to take over, precisely because their parents' generation laid the foundation, so that they can already take on the joy of harvest and embrace a reward more attractive than that of other occupations; while the fundamental reason why members of the “second generation of farmers” jump out of the “farm gate” one after another and agriculture falls into “elderly agriculture” is that farm work is hard, tiring and unprofitable. At present, China's modern agriculture is stepping up its efforts, and the advancement of appropriately scaled land management and the mechanization and informatization of agriculture has brought enormous changes to traditional agriculture and also given “new farmers” a larger space for benefits, which is bound to attract more “new farmers” to grow. For this reason, we must continue to break through the institutional and mechanism obstacles restricting the growth of agricultural efficiency, and explore long-term solutions in infrastructure construction, agricultural insurance, rural finance and other aspects that urgently need to be addressed for agricultural development.
Modern agriculture is in the ascendant, and most members of the “second generation of farmers” will carry their dreams away from the countryside and into the cities and towns, and there will certainly also be many outstanding members of the “second generation of farmers” who inherit their fathers' work and further expand it, becoming the future “helmsmen” of modern agriculture.