Problems in the Confirmation of Rights to Rural Contracted Land Need to Be Addressed
Carrying out the registration and certification of rural land contractual management rights not only plays a foundational role in protecting farmers' land rights and interests, promoting land transfer, and developing large-scale operations, but is also of great significance for improving the basic rural operating system, accelerating the construction of a new type of agricultural operating system, and promoting the development of modern agriculture. Fengyang County is one of the 20 counties (districts) in Anhui Province piloting the registration and certification of rural land contractual management rights. As of October 20, 2014, of the county's 223 administrative villages (rural communities), 162 administrative villages (rural communities) had completed field surveying and mapping, with a completion rate of 72.65%.
Existing Problems
From the research team's investigation in Fengyang County, the problems in the registration and certification of rural land contractual management rights can be roughly summarized in the following aspects.
Problems left over from history. During the second round of farmland contracting, farmland still carried the burden of agricultural taxes and fees, so some farmers who went out to work or do business gave up their contracted land. Now that policies are better, they have raised contracting demands again. During the second round of contracting, in order to facilitate allocation, some villages graded cultivated land as good, medium, and poor; one mu of good land counted as one mu, while two to three mu of poor land counted as one mu. Although the acreage recorded in the contracts was equal, in reality per capita acreage varied. Households with less land have demanded a redistribution of contracted land.
Ownership disputes. First, some collective barren hills and wasteland reclaimed by farmers have not gone through contracting procedures. Second, during the second round of contracting, collective orchards, fish ponds, and lake surfaces were not confirmed to households, but were contracted out in specialized ways; after the contract period expired, they could not be recovered for various reasons. Third, field ridges, ditches, roads, and other areas originally not included in the contracting scope have in recent years been leveled into cultivated land through land consolidation, and the ownership of the increased area is unclear. Fourth, some farmers privately transferred or exchanged contracted land without changing the contracting relationship, planting hidden risks for disputes.
Mismatch between land and certificates. Some rural land has undergone repeated adjustments and changes, or was leveled and transformed after transfer, resulting in multiple problems such as mismatch in acreage, mismatch in contracting subjects, and mismatch between certificates and contracts.
Illegal changes in land use. Where contracted land has been changed by oneself or transferred to others for use as homestead land for housing or for other non-agricultural purposes without lawful review and approval by the land and resources department, issuing confirmation registration and certification would legalize illegal land use, while not issuing it may trigger conflicts.
Main Practices of the Pilot Work
In response to the relatively numerous and prominent ownership disputes in the above confirmation work, Fengyang County clearly required that under the guidance of county and township working groups, village "two committees" or village deliberative groups directly participate, and relevant farmer households resolve them through consultation. For problems such as those left over from history, four policy bottom lines were strictly adhered to: First, based on the second round of contracting, it is strictly forbidden to use the opportunity to adjust land, that is, when people are added, land is not added, and when people are reduced, land is not reduced. The original land contracting relationships and the start and end years of contracts shall not be changed. Second, it is strictly forbidden to take the area exceeding the original contracted land after actual measurement into ownership by the village collective economic organization, strictly forbidden to register village and group collective land under individuals' names through backroom operations, and strictly forbidden to transfer the area exceeding the original after actual measurement to other farmer households, that is, no refund for excess and no compensation for shortage; when contracts do not match actual measurement, actual measurement shall prevail. Third, farmers' contractual management right certificates shall be based on the area measured this time, but the excess portion shall not be linked to various rural subsidies. Fourth, maintain stability and do not push forcibly; confirm rights for one household once it is ready, and confirm rights for one village once it is ready, with difficult problems handled later.
Countermeasures and Suggestions
In response to the problems and specific practices in Fengyang County's handling of the registration and certification of contracted land confirmation, the research team believes that strictly adhering to the policy bottom lines provided assurance for maintaining temporary rural stability and completing confirmation work on time, but in the long run, many issues of concern to farmers cannot be well resolved, which will inevitably leave difficulties for the next step of rural reform and development, and some problems become harder to solve the longer they are dragged out. Therefore, efforts should be made to properly handle the following pairs of relationships.
The relationship between adhering to policy bottom lines and taking into account farmers' wishes. From the research findings, there are three groups with relatively strong demands for land adjustment: first, those who did not receive contracted land during the second round of contracting for various reasons; second, people born after the second round of contracting; third, married-out women (or live-in sons-in-law) who did not receive land at either end. If the four policy bottom lines are followed, these three groups still cannot obtain land in this confirmation. However, the research team believes that whether to adjust contracted land in a timely and appropriate manner should be decided by farmers through democratic consultation, not by the government. The general principle is major stability with minor adjustments, that is, maintaining the basic stability of existing land contracting relationships, and for those with relatively prominent contradictions and very strong farmer demands, allowing appropriate minor adjustments according to the wishes of the majority of farmers. However, minor adjustments must be conducive to stability, must not be too large or too frequent, must not involve large-scale adjustment, and must not disrupt and redistribute.
The relationship between specific confirmation methods and long-term rural development. Registration and certification are intended both to protect farmers' rights and interests and to invigorate management rights and promote land transfer and large-scale operations. Whether confirming rights with land or confirming rights without land, respecting farmers' wishes and safeguarding farmers' land contractual management rights must be the fundamental premise. Whether confirmation involves land should be based on reality, explained clearly to farmers, and consensus should be formed. Confirming with land, as a traditional method, conforms to farmers' habits of thinking and is easily accepted, and is conducive to maintaining the stability of contractual management rights, but is not conducive to land transfer and large-scale, specialized operations. Therefore, this year's No. 1 Central Document proposed that it is possible to confirm rights with land, or to confirm rights with shares without land. This is a far-sighted policy. It is suggested that counties (cities, districts) with relatively better economic development should take a long-term view, enhance foresight in their work, and adopt the method of confirming rights without land to reserve space for future development.
The relationship between relying on laws and regulations and relying on the masses. In the confirmation of rights to rural contracted land, relevant laws, regulations, and policies on rural land contractual management should be strictly implemented, based on existing land contracts and land contractual management right certificates, and in accordance with statutory content, procedures, and relevant technical requirements, improvements should be made on the basis of stabilizing the second round of land contracting, supplying whatever is lacking and supplementing whatever is needed. Where there is major dispute over contracted area and the majority of the masses demand actual measurement, the measured area shall be registered according to facts after public announcement. Where the second round of contracting was incomplete, rights were not implemented, and management work was not standardized, corrections shall be made in accordance with law. Where disputes and conflicts exist, they shall first be resolved in accordance with law, and then confirmation registration and certification shall be carried out. Where previously issued land contractual management right certificates differ significantly from the contents recorded in improved land contracts and registers, they shall be changed.
The relationship between the quality of confirmation work and the time limit for the work. The confirmation of rights to rural contracted land should be organized and implemented using scientific methods. Area should be based on the second round of contracting, based on land contracting ledgers, contracts, and already issued rural land contractual management right certificates, and at the same time calibrated through actual measurement. There are many methods of actual measurement. Taking into account factors such as technology and cost, it is necessary both to make full use of existing results and materials from the Second National Land Survey to reduce labor and cost as much as possible, and to strictly follow technical regulations to ensure work quality, do a good job in collecting various information and data for confirmation and certification, issue standard certificates uniformly, establish and improve registration systems for land contractual management including registration, transfer, exchange, change, and mortgage, improve archives management, and connect confirmation registration and certification information for contracted land with the real estate registration information platform to promote information interoperability and sharing.
The relationship between unified leadership and classified guidance. The central government has already made clear provisions and requirements regarding the registration and certification of rural contracted land confirmation. All localities should, on the basis of pilot work, conscientiously summarize experience and steadily advance the full rollout of confirmation work in a solid manner. On the one hand, all localities should establish leading groups for confirmation work, issue guiding work opinions and work plans, and guide confirmation work in a unified way. On the other hand, all localities should be required, according to local economic, social, and natural conditions, to issue targeted work guidelines, policy measures, and methods, formulate an overall work process, clarify specific work steps, and advance steadily in a scientific and orderly manner from easy to difficult. In actual work, all localities should first select pilot points for demonstration according to local conditions. Contracted land that has already been transferred or is being transferred, or places where contracting relationships are clear and confirmation registration work is relatively easy, may take the lead in demonstration. Advance demonstration and full promotion may be carried out in overlapping sequence, so as to demonstrate, learn, and advance at the same time.
The relationship between confirmation registration and certification and related supporting and follow-up work. The land and resources department should, in conjunction with this registration and certification work for rural land contractual management rights, plan as a whole related work such as confirmation of rural collective land rights and certification of farmers' homestead land use rights, and establish a rural collective property rights system with clear ownership, complete powers and functions, smooth transfer, and strict protection. The agriculture department should coordinate with relevant departments to formulate policies and measures permitting the transfer, shareholding, and mortgage of rural land contractual management rights, thereby promoting the flow of rural production factors. At the same time, in pilot townships, towns, and villages, it should further define collective property rights, explore pilot work on rural community-type shareholding cooperative systems, better promote the preservation and appreciation of collective assets, increase farmers' asset-based income, and safeguard farmers' property rights.