Six Periods Converge: How Agriculture Enters the 13th Five-Year Plan - An Interview

2016 is the opening year of the “13th Five-Year Plan”. How can we accurately grasp the development situation of the “13th Five-Year Plan” agricultural and rural economy? What characteristics will the development of agricultural and rural economy present? A reporter interviewed Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu on this matter.

Han Changfu stated that at present, both the internal and external environments of China's agricultural development are undergoing profound changes. On the one hand, the material, technological and equipment foundation for agricultural development is more solid, the supply of major agricultural products is sufficient, and new technologies, new industries and new forms of business are emerging at an accelerated pace, making the opportunities very rare; on the other hand, various new and old contradictions are intertwined and superimposed, and the problems of imbalance, uncoordination and unsustainability remain prominent. It can be said that for the “13th Five-Year Plan” agricultural and rural economic development, the starting point is unprecedentedly high, the challenges are unprecedentedly great, and the tasks are unprecedentedly heavy, which can be summarized as “six periods converging”.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” is the decisive period for building a moderately prosperous rural society in all respects. To build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, the most arduous and heaviest tasks are in rural areas, and the biggest shortcoming is the rural poor population. At present, farmers' incomes are still not high and are uneven. By the end of 2014, there were still more than 70 million rural people in the country who had not yet been lifted out of poverty, mainly concentrated in remote rural areas with fragile ecology, weak infrastructure and lagging public services, which are the hardest bones to crack in poverty alleviation.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” is the key period for consolidating the good situation of agriculture and rural areas. The good situation of “twelve consecutive increases” and “twelve consecutive rapid growths” has not come easily. With the slightest relaxation, the high point may become an inflection point. At present, the agricultural foundation remains weak, and problems such as small operating scale and insufficient scientific and technological support are prominent. Various supporting factors for agricultural development have already been stretched tight. There is an urgent need to build consensus and not allow the good situation of agriculture and rural areas to reverse.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” is the transition period for the mode of agricultural development. China's agricultural development has achieved tremendous accomplishments, but it has also paid a great price. Agriculture has reached a new stage where there is an urgent need to accelerate the transformation of the development mode. During the “13th Five-Year Plan” period, agriculture can only take the path of sustainable development, and major adjustments must be made in development thinking, technical systems, policy support, resource allocation and other aspects. We must vigorously advance supply-side structural reform, optimize product structure and industrial structure, and improve the quality and efficiency of the agricultural supply system. This is undoubtedly a revolution, which will inevitably involve pains, require determination, and require tackling hard problems.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” is the uphill period for enhancing agricultural competitiveness. In recent years, China's agricultural product output has continued to grow. The total output of bulk agricultural products such as grain, cotton, oil, fruit, vegetables and fish all ranks first in the world, and per capita possession exceeds the world average. However, the problems that China's agriculture is large but not strong, abundant but not excellent, and weak in competitiveness have already emerged. China's agriculture is at a disadvantage in competition with developed countries, and there is an urgent need to strengthen the sense of urgency and crisis, persistently improve the quality and efficiency of agricultural products, and continuously enhance agricultural competitiveness.

The “13th Five-Year Plan” is the tough period for comprehensively deepening rural reform. At present, rural reform has already entered a tough period and deep-water zone. The tasks of improving the new type of agricultural operating system and the agricultural support and protection system are arduous; in particular, reform matters such as contracted land, homestead land, rural collective construction land and the collective property rights system involve adjustments to the interests of multiple parties and can easily trigger rural social contradictions and conflicts. But these are hurdles that cannot be bypassed, and there is an urgent need to tackle difficulties and overcome obstacles.

In addition, the “13th Five-Year Plan” is also the deepening period for advancing urban-rural integration. There is an urgent need to further improve the institutional mechanisms for integrated urban-rural development, accelerate the removal of barriers created by the urban-rural dual structure, and build a new type of worker-peasant and urban-rural relationship.

“To sum it up in one point, China has already entered a critical period of accelerating the transformation from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture.” Han Changfu said that if we successfully seize opportunities and effectively respond to challenges, agriculture can smoothly transform and upgrade, and strengthen the foundation for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects; if the response is ineffective, agricultural and rural development may become even more lagging, which will inevitably hold back the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Therefore, we must strengthen our awareness of hardships and responsibilities, and come up with effective measures and practical actions to deal with complex situations.

Han Changfu believes that for agricultural and rural economic work during the “13th Five-Year Plan”, we must firmly establish the five major development concepts, focus on the goal of achieving obvious progress in agricultural modernization, adhere to the main line of accelerating the transformation of the agricultural development mode, highlight the center of promoting sustained and relatively rapid increases in farmers' incomes, and strive to achieve “six comprehensive improvements”.

Comprehensively improve the level of supply security for grain and other important agricultural products. Adhere to storing grain in the land and storing grain in technology, and promote on a large scale the construction of farmland water conservancy, land consolidation, transformation of low- and medium-yield farmland, and high-standard farmland. Comprehensively improve the level of guidance for moderate-scale operations in multiple forms. Guide the development of moderate-scale operations in multiple forms, cultivate new types of agricultural operating entities, improve the agricultural socialized service system, and raise the level of agricultural intensification and organization. Comprehensively improve the level of agricultural technology and equipment. Strive to complete a new round of variety upgrading for major crops by 2020, with the contribution rate of agricultural scientific and technological progress exceeding 60%, and the comprehensive mechanization level of crop cultivation, sowing and harvesting reaching 68% or more.

Comprehensively improve the level of agricultural production and operation efficiency. We must vigorously advance cost reduction and efficiency improvement in agriculture, implement the agricultural brand strategy, develop high-efficiency and high-quality agricultural products, extend the agricultural industrial chain and value chain, develop the agricultural sharing economy, and improve labor productivity, land output rate and resource utilization rate. Comprehensively improve the level of agricultural product quality and safety. We must persist in grasping both “producing it well” and “managing it well”, with both hands strong. Comprehensively improve the level of sustainable agricultural development. Strive to achieve key breakthroughs by 2020 in the treatment of agricultural non-point source pollution and prominent environmental problems, and initially form a modern agricultural development pattern in which production, life and ecology are coordinated. (Economic Daily reporter Qiao Jinliang)