How can we ensure that agriculture has successors? The path to revitalizing agricultural talent

Xi Jinping emphasizes that in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, we must not neglect the rural sector. China is the world's largest grain producer and consumer, feeding more than 20% of the global population with about 7% of the world's arable land, and the task of ensuring an effective food supply is especially arduous. The Chinese people's rice bowl must be firmly held in our own hands at all times. Our rice bowl should mainly contain Chinese grain; only when a country relies primarily on basic grain self-sufficiency can it grasp the initiative in food security and thereby control the overall situation of economic and social development.

On the one hand, population growth and rising consumption levels will keep China's grain demand on a rigid upward trend. On the other hand, rapid economic growth and deepening industrialization leading to reduced arable land resources and an irreversible trend of water scarcity will pose long-term pressure on China's grain supply. Another phenomenon that cannot be ignored is that large numbers of migrant workers have flocked to the cities, much land has been left barren, and even what is cultivated is mostly farmed by women and the elderly. In the fields one often sees such scenes: women and the elderly sweating as they work, children playing nearby or occasionally helping out. When a "miscellaneous force" composed of women, children and the elderly undertakes agricultural production, a major agricultural country has appeared a "farmer shortage" - this is a very serious problem, and it truly makes one worry: who will farm the land in the future for a country with such a large population?

Due to the lack of sufficient labor, rural land abandonment has become increasingly serious in recent years, affecting agricultural stability and food security. China is a country with a large population, low per capita arable land, and a cultivated area that is decreasing year by year. Affected by factors such as the massive transfer of rural labor, the lagging adjustment of the rural industrial structure, and the low comparative returns of agriculture, the phenomenon of abandoned cultivated land has appeared in many rural areas of China. In recent years, land abandonment has been large in scale and wide in scope, lasted a long time, and continued to increase in area. Surveys have found that in some townships and rural areas, cultivated land abandonment is becoming more and more serious, with 2%-20% of spring-crop land abandoned and as much as 20%-80% of winter-crop land abandoned. Among the abandoned land, most is sloping and barren land or remote, scattered plots with relatively low input-output ratios. Research has found that the increasingly serious abandonment of rural cultivated land in China is mainly due to the following reasons:

The comparative returns of agricultural production are low, and farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain is not high. Farmers generally believe that engaging in agriculture is less profitable than engaging in non-agricultural industries. "If you want to reach moderate prosperity, you must leave your hometown" and "farming at home is not as good as going out to earn money" are a true portrayal of today's countryside. Rising prices of agricultural inputs year by year and surging labor costs have led to high agricultural production costs. Not only are the material costs of seeds, pesticides and chemical fertilizers high, but labor fees also keep rising. Although the state has increased subsidies to grain farmers, these have still been offset by the sharp rise in input prices and labor costs. High agricultural production costs make farmers unwilling to grow grain. A large amount of the main rural labor force has flowed out. Because of ideas such as "farming at home is not as good as going out to earn money," the continued decline in agricultural product prices over many years, and the fact that the new generation of farmers has not mastered farming techniques and is unwilling to endure hardship, the outgoing labor force accounts for 60%-70% of labor resources and consists mainly of primary laborers. Many of those still farming at home are basically women, children and the elderly. In some townships, cultivated land transfer is basically in a disorderly state. Some farmers write an IOU or reach an oral agreement for free transfer, without comprehensive and complete contract terms, without supervision by the village collective as the contracting party, and without any specialized transfer management agency; new conflicts and disputes have already emerged, and this has also led to the abandonment of some cultivated land. In addition, cultivated land that is scattered, fragmented, remote, barren and thin is inconvenient to manage and poor at retaining fertilizer and water, making abandonment easy. Moreover, because rural water conservancy facilities have been damaged or left unrepaired for years, drought-resistance and flood-control capacity is poor, cultivated land cannot be effectively irrigated, and such land is therefore abandoned by farmers.

In particular, "post-80s" migrant workers are unwilling to return to their hometowns, making rural development extremely difficult and triggering local farmers' worries about the prospects for rural development. Even in the busy farming season, able-bodied rural laborers are rarely seen in the fields. For this reason, 15 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering appealed: as older-generation intellectuals, they are very concerned about who will farm the land in the future and who will safeguard our "rice bag" and "vegetable basket." If this problem is not resolved promptly and properly, it will affect China's path of new-type industrialization and the harmonious situation of economic and social development. They said: according to the relevant United Nations agencies, an agricultural labor force aged 45 and above is considered elderly labor. By this standard, questions such as "who will farm the land" and "on whom will agricultural modernization rely" are truly worrisome. Yet one survey shows that among "post-90s" students still in school, even those from rural areas, the vast majority have never considered being a farmer as a future career choice. Most of the post-80s and post-90s who seek work or do business elsewhere are also unwilling to return to the countryside to farm. Even students from rural areas treat studying hard as capital for "jumping out of the farm gate"; if they do not study hard, in the future they will still have to return to the countryside to "repair the earth." Many people regard engaging in agricultural production as something "inferior." For example, at class reunions, classmates from rural areas feel "not on equal footing" and are embarrassed to attend.

And how many people are willing to "take root in the countryside to carry on the revolution"? Treating farmers well is a form of rationality, a rationality needed by the whole society. Respecting farmers, especially new-type farmers, letting them live a dignified life like urban residents and engage in agricultural production with dignity - only this is truly facing up to the "three rural issues." In the words of the academicians of the two academies, this means vigorously developing vocational education oriented toward rural areas and cultivating a group of outstanding professional farmers. Therefore, the worries of the 15 academicians are worries for the country and the people, a sense of responsibility, and a strong sense of mission. They should attract great attention from the whole society. The comparative returns of growing grain are low, the risks are high, and those who remain in the countryside are aging... Behind a bumper year, a worry lingers - tomorrow, who will grow the grain? The proposal jointly signed by 15 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, represented by Shi Changxu, chairman of the council of the senior academicians' fellowship of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to solve the "three rural issues" is particularly noteworthy. They pointed out: "If the problem of the new generation of farmers abandoning agriculture is not studied and solved strategically, a country with a large population will face a situation where no one is willing to farm." How worrying a thing this is!

This is not groundless alarmism. "Guarding against a large population having no one to farm" is an objectively existing real worry. If we do not worry today, when the crisis of truly having no one to farm arrives, let alone worry - we will not even be able to cry in tune. Please remember Marx's words: satisfying the human need for food, clothing, housing and transportation is primary and most urgent.