Why must grain production be stabilized first in agricultural structural adjustment?

Whenever the grain production situation improves, some people always think that structural adjustment means reducing grain production. This way of thinking fails to unify structural adjustment with food security in terms of the political, social and economic accounts. Without food security, all other security loses its foundation. At no time, no matter how we transform or adjust, can we lower grain production capacity or reduce arable land

The Central Rural Work Conference held a few days ago made clear arrangements for accelerating agricultural modernization, requiring faster transformation of the agricultural development model and deeper advancement of agricultural structural adjustment. This development requirement both accurately grasps the actual state of China's agricultural development against the backdrop of the new normal of economic development and points out the specific path for how agricultural development can adapt to the new normal and accelerate the realization of agricultural modernization.

At present, the actual situation of China's agricultural development is, on the whole, one in which pressure and momentum interact and opportunities and challenges coexist. On the one hand, the agricultural situation is improving year by year, creating conditions for comprehensively deepening reform; on the other hand, the agricultural foundation remains unstable, and the ability to withstand various risks is limited. On the one hand, the total volume and quality of agricultural products are constantly improving; on the other hand, the contradictions between total volume and structure, cost and benefit, and production and the environment are growing. On the one hand, the level of agricultural technical equipment and scientific and technological support has risen markedly; on the other hand, the constraints on agriculture imposed by traditional production methods, small-scale operations and lagging key technologies such as the seed industry are becoming more prominent. The fundamental way out for resolving these contradictions and difficulties lies in promoting agricultural modernization, and the specific path and practical means are to effectively advance the transformation of the agricultural development model and structural adjustment. It can be said that the intensity with which we advance the transformation of the development model and structural adjustment determines whether the pace of modern agriculture is fast or slow; the path by which we advance the transformation of the development model and structural adjustment determines what kind of road agricultural development takes and what kind of fruit it bears.

How should the development model be transformed and the structure adjusted? Against the background of consecutive years of grain output increases, the first question encountered in structural adjustment is whether grain production still needs to be pursued so tightly. The lessons of history tell us that whenever the grain production situation improves, some people always think that structural adjustment means reducing grain production. In the late 1980s and the late 1990s, China experienced two rounds of structural adjustment. At those times, grain production had respectively increased for 4 consecutive years in the mid-1980s and enjoyed consecutive bumper harvests from the mid-1990s to 1998. After both of these consecutive increases, we proposed structural adjustment, but because the adjustment thinking and practical operations were not in place, both adjustments caused grain production to decline, and in the end structural adjustment had to stop, falling into "empty adjustment."

The lessons of history are worth pondering. That kind of thinking that simply reduces grain production fails to unify structural adjustment with food security in terms of the political, social and economic accounts. On the one hand, food security bears on national security and social stability and is the first priority of modern agricultural development. For a country with such a large population as ours, without food security, all other security loses its foundation. At no time, no matter how we transform or adjust, can we lower grain production capacity or reduce arable land. On the other hand, even calculating only the economic account, by transforming the development model and adjusting the structure so that grain production costs fall and output rises, while quality and varieties continuously improve and production and processing better adapt to market demand, grain itself can also become a "big income earner."

Of course, ensuring grain production capacity against the background of accelerating agricultural modernization, and stabilizing grain production under the requirements of transforming the development model and adjusting the structure, absolutely do not mean continuing simply extensive production that heavily consumes water and soil resources and causes severe environmental impact through excessive application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Rather, on the premise of improving the capacity for sustainable grain development, we must stabilize output and raise production capacity. We must not only keep the overall grain sown area stable, but also work hard to improve arable land quality and strengthen scientific and technological support, so as to place equal emphasis on quantity and quality and store grain in the land and in technology. At the same time, in accordance with the national grain strategy requirement of basic self-sufficiency in grains and absolute security of staple food, we should shift agricultural production from safeguarding everything and all categories in the past to safeguarding key points and staple food, thereby providing broader space for structural adjustment.

Therefore, increased grain output is not a reason to reduce grain production, but rather creates conditions and lays the foundation for transforming the development model and adjusting the structure; and the solid advancement of transforming the development model and adjusting the structure, in turn, promotes the accelerated development of modern agriculture, further enhances agricultural production technology, quality and potential, and makes the agricultural industrial layout, regional layout and product structure more scientific and reasonable.