Accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model to achieve sustainable agricultural development

Whether it is ensuring food security under the new normal, or consolidating the foundational position of agriculture and turning the “grain bag” into a “money bag”; whether it is responding to challenges in the international market and enhancing agricultural competitiveness, or breaking through resource and environmental constraints and achieving sustainable development, there is an even more urgent need to seek ideas and answers by transforming the agricultural development model.

When deploying next year's work, the Central Economic Work Conference clearly stated that we must unswervingly accelerate the transformation of the agricultural development model, and move as quickly as possible toward intensive development that gives equal weight to quantity, quality and efficiency, focuses on improving competitiveness, focuses on agricultural technological innovation, and focuses on sustainability, taking the path of modern agricultural development featuring high output, safe products, resource conservation and environmental friendliness. These major requirements are grounded in the long term and focus on the overall situation, grasp the key to building modern agriculture, and point out the direction for advancing agricultural modernization.

⟦NL> This year, China's grain production enjoyed an “eleventh consecutive increase”, and the agricultural and rural economy continued to maintain good development momentum, which not only promoted a marked improvement in rural livelihoods, but also laid a solid foundation for keeping economic performance generally stable. Looking further, consecutive years of bumper grain harvests also mean that the traditional agricultural scene of “plowing with oxen and harrowing with horses” and farmers “facing the yellow earth with their backs to the sky” has undergone fundamental change, demonstrating new progress in agricultural scientific and technological advancement, a steady increase in the degree of agricultural organization, and the obvious results of a series of central policies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers. Of course, on the whole, China's agricultural development model is still relatively extensive, and problems such as the shortage of agricultural resources and prominent conflicts between ecology and the environment have become increasingly evident. In some places, agricultural development has come at the heavy cost of intensified soil and water pollution and other resource and environmental damage, and transforming the agricultural development model remains urgent.

At present, China's economy has moved from high-speed growth into the new normal of medium-to-high-speed growth. Whether it is ensuring food security under the new normal and keeping the rice bowl firmly in our own hands, or consolidating the foundational position of agriculture and turning the “grain bag” into a “money bag”; whether it is responding to challenges in the international market and enhancing agricultural competitiveness, or breaking through resource and environmental constraints and achieving sustainable development, there is an even more urgent need to seek ideas and answers by transforming the agricultural development model. We must shift from extensive management that mainly pursues output growth and competes on resources and consumption toward intensive development that gives equal weight to quantity, quality and efficiency, focuses on improving competitiveness, and focuses on sustainability.

Transforming the agricultural development model involves many aspects. It includes promoting the transformation of agricultural product supply from a focus on quantity growth to equal emphasis on aggregate balance, structural optimization and quality safety, and promoting the transformation of agricultural development from mainly relying on resource consumption to being resource-conserving and environmentally friendly. It also includes promoting the transformation of agricultural production conditions from mainly “depending on heaven for food” to improving the level of material and technical equipment, and promoting the transformation of agricultural laborers from traditional farmers to high-quality professional farmers. To achieve these goals, we must put the new arrangements and new spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference into practice, intensify efforts in deepening various rural reforms, improving policies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers, improving the price formation mechanism for agricultural products, improving agricultural subsidy methods, strengthening financial services, doing a good job in the confirmation, registration and certification of land contractual management rights, and improving vocational training policies, and seek new breakthroughs in transforming the agricultural development model.

Whether a moderately prosperous society is achieved or not depends mainly on our fellow rural residents. At the present stage, China's agricultural and rural development has shown a rare good situation that has not been seen for many years, and accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model faces a rare opportunity. Only by proactively adapting to the new normal, constantly making new efforts, accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development model, and vigorously adjusting and optimizing the agricultural structure can we resolve the contradictions and difficulties facing agricultural development, enhance the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the agricultural industry, and provide strong support for promoting stable and healthy economic development.