How to Transform Agricultural Development Under Hard Constraints? Deputies and Committee Members Seek Breakthroughs
Currently, China's economy has entered a new normal of improving quality and efficiency. While agricultural development has achieved a series of encouraging results such as “eleven consecutive years of growth” in grain output, it also faces new challenges including the “ceiling” on agricultural product prices, rising “floor” of production costs, and strengthening “hard constraints” on the ecological environment. Relying on reform and innovation to accelerate the transformation of agricultural development methods has become the consensus of deputies and committee members.
Finding Solutions Under Difficulties
⟦NL> “The reason we say that accelerating the transformation of agricultural development methods must be placed in a very important position this year is that it is based on the requirements and goals of building modern agriculture, and is also directly related to the prominent problems currently facing agriculture and rural areas,” pointed out Chen Xiwen, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and deputy head of the Central Rural Work Leading Group.
He believes that there are currently three most prominent problems: First, the production cost of agriculture is constantly rising; second, the prices of major bulk agricultural products are now higher than the international market, which constitutes great pressure; third, for a long time, with a large population and little land, people have had to pursue grain output in order to have enough to eat, which has put too much pressure on agricultural resources and caused problems for the rural environment. He stated that only by solving these three problems can rural agriculture be maintained and developed, so the agricultural development method must be transformed.
“Although grain has achieved ‘eleven consecutive years of growth,’ it must be noted that China's grain production methods are still relatively extensive. Under the increasingly severe dual constraints of arable land and water resources, this situation urgently needs to change,” said Xia Tao, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who has long paid attention to issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers. Compared with developed countries, China's grain production is still at an extensive production stage of relying on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and flood irrigation to increase output. “Agricultural development must shift from an extensive development mode that focuses on output to a new stage of intensive development that pays more attention to efficiency.”
Liu Xin, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said: “Data shows that currently, China's average chemical fertilizer use per mu is 21.2 kg, which is 4.1 times the world average. Such an extensive development mode directly leads to the decline of soil fertility. At present, degraded arable land in China has accounted for more than 40% of the total arable land area. The black soil layer in Northeast China is thinning, soil in the South is acidifying, and the plough layer of the North China Plain is not only becoming shallower but also showing a trend of salinization, seriously affecting arable land output.”
Chen Daheng, deputy to the National People's Congress, believes that if the development mode is not transformed and appropriately scaled operations are not expanded, it will be very difficult to reduce agricultural production costs, improve production efficiency, and enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products.
The Key Lies in Technological and Institutional Innovation
Zhang Xiaoshan, deputy to the National People's Congress, believes that to maintain a sustainable production mode in agriculture, it is necessary to organically combine technological innovation and institutional innovation. In agricultural operations, an incentive and constraint mechanism should be established for the effective use and conservation of water resources, land resources and other material and technological inputs. Only by giving full play to the initiative of agricultural production and operation entities, so that users of agricultural resources also become the greatest beneficiaries of the conservation and utilization of agricultural resources, can sustainable agricultural development have a solid institutional foundation.
Committee member Xia Tao believes that it is necessary to continuously strengthen the construction of an agricultural achievement transformation system, promote agricultural scientific and technological innovation, and use innovation to drive the transformation of agricultural development methods. “Transforming the agricultural development mode means paying more attention to efficiency and enhancing the competitiveness of agricultural products.” Zhao Han, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, stated that the competitiveness of China's agricultural products is not strong. Food security is not only about quantity security, but also includes quality security and economic security. He suggested reducing the cost of agricultural products through concentrated contiguous areas and scaled operations, and also relying on technological innovation to change production models to reduce costs, improve competitiveness, and fundamentally increase the efficiency of agricultural production.
Deng Xiuxin, deputy to the National People's Congress, believes: “China's agricultural development can no longer be achieved by increasing land area and increasing factor inputs, but must rely on science and technology, on connotation. It must change from growth driven by factor inputs to growth driven by scientific and technological input.
“Special subsidy support should be given to agricultural development models that rely on scientific and technological progress, increase per-unit yield, and pursue resource-saving and environment-friendly development.” Li Shiqiang, deputy to the National People's Congress, believes that it is necessary to further give play to the leading, supporting and driving role of science and technology in modern agriculture and agricultural environmental governance. National policies benefiting farmers should focus on supporting key links such as the promotion of high-quality improved seeds, new fertilizers and pesticides, mechanization of production operations, and agricultural science and technology extension.
Wang Gang, deputy to the National People's Congress, stated that agricultural scientific and technological innovation is highly open, and the gap between China's agricultural technology and that of advanced countries and regions is not large. The biggest gap lies in management. It is necessary to establish a complete agricultural industry service system, improve industrial service support, and strengthen education and guidance for farmers.