How are high-caliber agricultural skilled talents cultivated?
Agricultural skilled talents are an important component of the agricultural and rural talent pool, the backbone force for solving the problem of "who will farm the land and how to farm it," a vital new force driving the adjustment of the agricultural industrial structure, and they play an irreplaceable role in developing modern agriculture and building a new socialist countryside. In recent years, to implement the spirit of the central government on strengthening the development of skilled talent and rural practical talent teams, the Ministry of Agriculture has solidly advanced the strategy of strengthening agriculture through talent, actively explored the establishment of a new working mechanism for agricultural skilled talent featuring diverse training forms, scientific evaluation methods, standardized position management, and complete safeguard measures, and strived to cultivate a large-scale, rationally structured, and high-quality agricultural skilled talent team. By the end of 2013, agricultural skilled talents who obtained national vocational qualification certificates through agricultural vocational skills development reached 4.1 million person-times.
Emphasizing top-level design and vigorously strengthening the cultivation of agricultural skilled talents
(1) Improving institutional planning and standardizing work. On the basis of issuing the Measures for the Administration of Vocational Skills Appraisal in the Agricultural Industry and its supporting management systems for appraisal stations, vocational qualification certificates, appraisal procedures, assessors, and appraisal quality supervision, the 2011-2020 Work Plan for Agricultural Vocational Skills Development was formulated, putting the cultivation of agricultural skilled talents onto the track of institutionalized and standardized management.
(2) Building occupational classification and making scientific arrangements. Research and demonstration were organized for new occupations (job types, positions), and 9 new occupations including agricultural technical instructors and fertilizer formulators were coordinated and promulgated in a timely manner. On the basis of the original 138 agriculture-related occupations, multiple new occupations such as agricultural professional managers were proposed, gradually forming an agricultural occupational classification system that basically covers the entire process of agricultural "planting, breeding, and processing" and the entire field of operation and services.
(3) Adhering to high-end leadership and innovating mechanisms. The pilot "Golden Blue Collar Plan" for cultivating high-skilled agricultural talents was organized and implemented. Tens of thousands of outstanding high-skilled talents stood out, and more than 20 high-skilled agricultural talents received the "National May 1 Labor Medal" and the title of "National Technical Expert." The proportion of high-skilled agricultural talents in the total number of agricultural skilled talents rose from 9.78% 10 years ago to 17.2%. High-skilled talents drove the rapid growth of the entire agricultural skilled talent team, expanded the overall influence of agricultural skilled talents, and gradually established a long-term mechanism for skilled talent cultivation featuring "simultaneous introduction and cultivation, high-end leadership, demonstration and promotion, and typical case-driven development."
Consolidating the foundation and continuously raising the level of agricultural skilled talent cultivation
(1) Consolidating the foundation and adhering to "trinity" systematic development. The pace of building the three major foundational tasks of skilled talent cultivation was accelerated: speeding up the establishment of scientific and standardized national vocational skills standards, exploring the compilation of diverse and easy-to-learn training textbooks, and vigorously developing question banks highly consistent with production practice. By the end of 2013, a total of 118 national vocational standards had been organized for formulation or revision, 75 sets of training textbooks had been compiled, and question banks for 63 occupational appraisals had been developed.
(2) Improving the system and enhancing the capacity for agricultural skilled talent cultivation. An organizational implementation system featuring three-dimensional intersection and horizontal development was initially formed, consisting of comprehensive management by agricultural personnel and labor departments at all levels, business guidance by the Vocational Skills Appraisal Guidance Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and 10 industry guidance stations, and 390 appraisal stations and more than 6,000 work stations nationwide. The Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture attached great importance to agricultural skilled talent cultivation. Starting in 2007, it implemented the appraisal station capacity improvement project in 4 phases, with a total investment of 90.68 million yuan, equipping 265 appraisal stations with more than 8,500 sets of instruments and equipment, effectively improving the practical training level and evaluation and appraisal capacity of training and appraisal institutions.
(3) Expanding the team and improving the effectiveness of agricultural skilled talent cultivation. Various forms such as professional training, seminars and exchanges, on-site observation, and paper selection were adopted to promote and strengthen the building of the workforce, including management personnel, assessors, quality supervisors, and experts, for agricultural skilled talent cultivation. A team of 300 basic development experts, 500 management personnel, 1,300 quality supervisors, and 10,000 assessors was cultivated.
(4) Emphasizing quality and strictly controlling the quality of agricultural skilled talent cultivation. Quality was treated as the lifeline of skilled talent cultivation work, and a long-term mechanism for agricultural skilled talent cultivation was actively built. A quality responsibility statement system was established, a red-and-black list system for appraisal institutions was actively promoted, a quality work notification system was established, the quality supervision system was implemented, the appraisal examination affairs management system was fully launched, and quality management system certification and credit rating for appraisal institutions were gradually advanced. Through a series of solid and effective measures, work quality construction was continuously strengthened and the quality of agricultural skilled talent cultivation work was continuously improved.
Closely aligning with industry and continuously giving play to the role of agricultural skilled talents
At present, major modern agricultural engineering projects are being accelerated, the agricultural industrial structure is being optimized and adjusted, a new agricultural operation system combining intensification, specialization, organization, and socialization has initially taken shape, large numbers of new vocational job types are emerging, and accelerated development of modern agriculture has created an urgent demand for vocational skilled talents. In recent years, agricultural skilled talents such as biogas production workers, soil testing and formula fertilization specialists, and agricultural technical instructors have provided solid talent support for the ecological homeland enrichment project, the soil testing and formula fertilization action, and the science and technology household entry project. In 2013 alone, urgently needed skilled vocational talents for 26 areas of modern agricultural development, including crop plant protectors, animal epidemic prevention workers, freshwater aquatic animal breeding workers, biogas production workers, agricultural product brokers, and agricultural machinery drivers and repairers, accounted for more than 81% of the total skilled talents that year, truly achieving the goal that wherever the central work of agriculture and rural areas advances, agricultural skilled talents are developed, cultivated, and evaluated. According to sample statistics and practical evidence, the proportion of farmers among skilled talents rose from 5% 10 years ago to 39%, the production and operation benefits of workers who underwent training and appraisal were significantly higher than the average level, 92% of certificate holders saw a significant increase in income, and 88% of respondents hoped to obtain a higher-level vocational qualification certificate. A pattern is taking shape in which the implementation of major modern agricultural engineering projects and the cultivation of a new agricultural operation system drive the building of the agricultural skilled talent team, and the building of the agricultural skilled talent team safeguards the implementation of major modern agricultural engineering projects and the cultivation of a new agricultural operation system.
Next, agricultural skilled talent cultivation work will focus on the vocational skills needs of new types of operating entities, consolidate the foundation, and work hard on internal strength. By strengthening the construction of practical training bases, the cultivation and appraisal capacity for agricultural skilled talents will be further enhanced; by building an information-based management service platform for agricultural skilled talents, more scientific decision-making consultation will be provided for the scientific allocation of rural human resources, and more effective services will be provided for the healthy growth, orderly flow, and smooth employment of agricultural skilled talents.