How to accelerate innovation in agricultural operation systems and mechanisms
Innovating rural operation systems and mechanisms and advancing appropriately scaled agricultural operations are inherent requirements of the new round of rural reform. “In this process, first, policies must be improved; second, actors must be strengthened.” Ren Yongchang, a deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture, believes that on the one hand, the land transfer mechanism should be improved, farmers should be encouraged to transfer land contracted management rights in various forms so that they concentrate toward new types of agricultural operation entities, and farmers should be supported in self-operation or entrusted operation to participate in modern agricultural development; on the other hand, support should be increased to cultivate new types of agricultural operation entities, providing a better external environment for their development in terms of finance, banking, land use, taxation and other aspects. “For example, expand the scope of agricultural insurance, support qualified new types of agricultural operation entities in undertaking agriculture-related projects, encourage all localities to integrate agriculture-related funds so they flow first to scaled operation entities, allow places where conditions permit to give awards and subsidies for transferred land, and give priority to providing financing guarantees for new types of agricultural operation entities, so as to further invigorate land management rights.”
In 2014, a number of rural reform items in Sichuan Province led by the Department of Agriculture were fully completed, and a series of high-value documents were issued, including the Special Reform Plan on Accelerating the Construction of a New Agricultural Operation System, the Special Plan on Shareholding Reform of Rural Collective Assets in Sichuan Province, and the Opinions on Further Guiding the Standardized and Orderly Transfer of Rural Land Management Rights to Develop Appropriately Scaled Agricultural Operations. 160 counties carried out confirmation, registration and certification of land contracted management rights, the country's first pilot of guaranteed loans backed by rural land transfer income was launched, 43,790 villages completed the sorting out of collective assets, and 12 counties launched pilots for government purchase of agricultural socialized services. Starting in 2015, cities and counties set aside a certain proportion of annual construction land quotas for new types of agricultural operation entities to build supporting auxiliary facilities, with taxes and fees reduced or exempted according to regulations, and completed confirmation, registration and certification of more than 75% of rural land contracted management rights within the year, while improving the measures for access and supervision of industrial and commercial enterprises transferring farmers' contracted land. By 2020, the area of transferred land will reach 1/3 of the province's cultivated land area, and the area under appropriately scaled operations will account for more than 50% of the transferred area.
“So-called appropriate scale has two measurement indicators: first, the operated area is equivalent to 10~15 times the local average contracted land area per household; second, the income after implementing scaled operations is equivalent to the income from engaging in secondary and tertiary industries.” Ren Yongchang said that for Sichuan, the standard for appropriate scale is that each farmer household operates an area of about 100 mu, “land transfer is an important method, but not the only method. It is necessary both to guide management rights to transfer to farmers' cooperatives, family farms, large growers and breeding households, and agricultural enterprises, and to support farmer households in developing appropriately scaled operations through land share cooperation, land trusteeship, contract farming and other methods. Various types of operation entities have their own advantages in different fields and different links of agriculture, and development should be diversified and integrated.”
Like the rest of the country, Sichuan has entered a new economic normal characterized by medium-to-high speed, optimized structure, new momentum and multiple challenges. How should the agricultural sector adapt to the new normal, lead the new normal, and advance modern agricultural development? Ren Yongchang believes that the most urgent task for Sichuan agriculture at present is to transform the development mode and adjust the structure. “This is an old topic, and also a new subject. Sichuan is rich in agricultural resources and has a large agricultural aggregate, and has the foundation to build a strong agricultural province.” Ren Yongchang said that at the same time, there is huge potential in equipment and facility construction, cultivation of new types of agricultural operation entities, deep processing of agricultural products, and agricultural brand building, “this year, the work of delimiting permanent basic farmland will be carried out comprehensively, continued implementation of the grain production capacity improvement project will be carried out, construction of grain production functional areas and demonstration areas will be accelerated, and work on modern agriculture demonstration areas, key counties and bases will be done well, with support given to cultivating advantageous industrial belts and concentrated development zones and to promoting the transformation and upgrading of deep processing of agricultural products. By 2020, appropriately scaled grain operations in the province are to reach more than 10 million mu, and new types of agricultural operation entities such as large growers and breeding households, farmers' cooperatives, family farms and agricultural enterprises are to achieve average annual growth of about 20%, further broadening channels to drive increases in farmers' income.”