Leisure agriculture development should occupy less arable land and highlight rural characteristics
Leisure agriculture development should work hard on new, special, unique and excellent aspects
On the premise of highlighting farmers' principal role, explore and establish a multi-party participation and mutually beneficial win-win mechanism
Prioritize the development of leisure agriculture types that do not occupy arable land according to local conditions
China's various leisure agriculture operators have exceeded 1.8 million, with operating revenue of 270 billion yuan, and both the number of visitors and operating revenue have maintained an average annual growth rate of more than 15%. According to the national leisure agriculture conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture on October 11, leisure agriculture that whets the appetite, cleans the lungs, is fun, pleases the eye and adds interest is entering a golden period.
In 2013, China's urbanization rate reached 53.7%, and the annual per capita net income of urban residents was close to 27,000 yuan, providing support for leisure agriculture consumption. With the optimized adjustment of national statutory holidays and the gradual implementation of the paid leave system, citizens' demand for agricultural leisure and farming experiences will be activated, becoming a driving force for the rapid development of leisure agriculture.
As a new industrial form, leisure agriculture inevitably has some problems during its rapid development. Yang Shaopin, a member of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Agriculture, said the prominent problems are: first, some places have a single development model and service function, with simple and similar business forms and obvious homogenization; second, in some places, the behavior of operating entities is not standardized enough, the principal role of farmers is overlooked, and projects lack rural “flavor”, while a few projects still have problems of bosses “enclosing land” to build houses and infringing on farmers' interests; third, after some farmers devote themselves to leisure agriculture, the layout is scattered and fragmented, and supporting facilities such as sewage discharge and garbage treatment are not followed up adequately.
Zong Jinyao, director of the Agricultural Products Processing Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that leisure agriculture development should work hard on new, special, unique and excellent aspects, pay attention to tapping rural cultural resources, focus on developing agricultural production, farmers' lives and rural ecology as a whole, and strengthen the creative design of farming landscapes, local culture and leisure agriculture business sites.
The second pass for leisure agriculture development is to correctly handle the relationship between farmers and bosses. Zong Jinyao said it is necessary to broaden the channels and methods for social participation in and support for leisure agriculture development, guide talent, capital, management, land and other factors to flow into leisure agriculture, and promote the upgrading of leisure agriculture; on the premise of highlighting farmers' principal role, actively explore and establish a multi-party participation and mutually beneficial win-win mechanism, so as to both promote leisure agriculture development and maximize farmers' interests, and never let “farmhouse fun” become simply “boss fun”.
“The proportion of farmers as the main operators in the province's leisure agriculture exceeds 80%. Last year, the number of people employed in leisure agriculture in the province reached 125,000, and the per capita income of farmers engaged in leisure agriculture was 50% more than the province's average farmer income.” said Wang Jianyue, chief agronomist of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture. Although some leisure farms in Zhejiang are mainly based on industrial and commercial capital, local governments organically combine policy support for owners with owners hiring local farmers, which has a relatively large driving effect on surrounding farmers.
During interviews, reporters learned that for leisure agriculture development to reach scale, it is necessary to improve infrastructure and related supporting facilities, and these facilities will more or less occupy some land. This has become the third pass that many places must get through in developing leisure agriculture.
“It is necessary to properly handle the relationship between improving facilities and protecting arable land, and occupy as little arable land as possible or none at all.” Zong Jinyao believes that in choosing development models for leisure agriculture, one should not be greedy for large scale, but should prioritize the development of leisure agriculture types that do not occupy arable land according to local conditions, such as using farmers' own homes and homesteads to run farmhouse inns. In terms of development space, leisure agriculture should be guided toward development on barren hills, barren slopes, barren beaches and other land. In terms of land use, efforts should be made in conservation and intensive use, increase output and efficiency per unit area, and strive to both promote industrial development and save land. In addition, if the rural environment is damaged, leisure agriculture will lose its attractiveness.