How to advance large-scale land management tailored to local conditions
According to media reports, in Liangping County, Chongqing, an exploration that may have far-reaching effects is being quietly advanced: a small number of farmers are piloting the return of contracted land, no longer treating land as their "lifeblood" to cling to, but choosing to "wash their feet and leave the fields," departing from the land entirely. In the village groups implementing the "pilot program for withdrawing land contract management rights," the measure is welcomed by farming households that have non-agricultural occupations and non-agricultural income, offering a new way of thinking for deepening rural reform.
Once, land was the lifeblood of farmers. But now more and more farmers are beginning to make a living in other ways, and land has become a "sideline" for supporting their families. On the one hand, many farmers' dependence on land is increasingly weakening; on the other hand, grain, as a basic industry, cannot afford the slightest negligence. How to solve this problem? Intensive management is the inevitable choice - this has been proven by the experience of developed countries. The key to the problem lies in how to properly handle the relationship between farmers and land.
The land-return model that Liangping is "testing the waters" with is a creative effort in this regard. They introduced three models: first, a whole-village-group withdrawal model oriented toward real problems and industrial development; second, a whole-household withdrawal model oriented toward farmers' demand for returning land; and third, a whole-area withdrawal model oriented toward the land-use needs of business operators. Compared with land transfer, the advantage of the three models is that they resolve the worries of those who use concentrated land - once farmers break the contract midway and demand the return of the land, it could cause their huge investment to "go down the drain," affecting sustained and stable operation; on the other hand, they also resolve farmers' concerns that if land users default on rent due to poor management, or even "run away," it would leave "aftereffects" that harm their own interests.
The greater inspiration of the way Liangping is "testing the waters" with land returns lies in not imposing a one-size-fits-all approach, meeting the differentiated "land return" needs of different places and farming households, and finding development methods tailored to local conditions. It does not launch campaigns, fully respects farmers' wishes, and trials are carried out wherever conditions are ripe. It even reviews farmers who apply to return land, ensuring that they will not regret it after returning land due to temporary family difficulties.