How can farmers' scientific literacy be solidly improved?
According to media reports, on June 22, the China Association for Science and Technology held a teleconference on the implementation of the National Action Plan for Scientific Literacy. Survey data released at the meeting showed that in 2015, the proportion of Chinese citizens with basic scientific literacy reached 6.20%, but the proportion of farmers with basic scientific literacy was only 1.7%, indicating that there is still a large gap between farmers' current scientific literacy and the practical needs of building a new socialist countryside.
Scientific literacy is an important component of the quality of the nation and a decisive factor in scientific and technological strength and overall national strength. As the main body in building a new socialist countryside, farmers' level of scientific literacy greatly affects the process of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and building an innovative country. Since the State Council promulgated and implemented the Outline of the National Action Plan for Scientific Literacy in 2006, especially during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, all localities and departments, focusing on the overall development of the Party and the country, have worked together and solidly advanced action to improve scientific literacy for all, not only exceeding the expected target for citizens' scientific literacy during the "12th Five-Year Plan" period, but also markedly improving farmers' scientific literacy, which played an important role in building a new socialist countryside. However, compared with developed countries, the level of farmers' scientific literacy in China is still relatively low. In some areas, unscientific concepts and behaviors are widespread, and the level of scientific production is low; information on external scientific development is disconnected, and feudal superstition still exists, even prevailing in some areas; there are problems such as neglect of rural environmental pollution, serious waste of resources, and weak awareness of ecological and environmental protection. The low level of farmers' scientific literacy has become one of the bottlenecks constraining China's economic development and social progress.
The low scientific literacy of farmers in China is objectively constrained by factors such as the large number, wide distribution, poor foundation, and strong mobility of the farmer population. Subjectively, there are also problems such as inadequate science popularization, an unsound mechanism for science popularization work, outdated methods, a lack of talent, insufficient investment, a lack of legal safeguards for farmers' education and training, especially the cultivation of new-type professional farmers, and the supply of science popularization education and products for farmers not meeting demand.
Without improvement in farmers' scientific literacy, it is difficult for the scientific literacy of the entire region's population to undergo qualitative change. At present, work should focus on the theme of "saving energy and resources, protecting the ecological environment, ensuring safety and health, and promoting innovation and creativity," keep an eye on the prominent problems affecting and constraining the improvement of farmers' scientific literacy, and make great efforts to shore up weak links. Carry out extensive and diverse rural science popularization activities, vigorously popularize scientific and technological knowledge and concepts such as green development, safety and health, farmland protection, and disaster prevention and mitigation, and help farmers develop a scientific, healthy, and civilized mode of production and life; strengthen the building of the rural scientific and technological talent team, carry out agricultural science and technology education and training, cultivate all kinds of new-type professional farmers and rural practical talents in an all-round and multi-level manner, and give play to the exemplary and leading role of rural science popularization leaders; increase investment, strengthen the basic construction of rural science popularization informatization, and improve the level of rural science popularization public service construction; strengthen targeted science popularization assistance to weak areas, implement targeted poverty alleviation through science popularization, and rapidly enhance the ability of these areas to carry out science popularization services; establish and improve a joint construction mechanism for rural scientific literacy development, integrate resources from all sides, and create a situation of broad alliance and broad collaboration.
The main body in building a new socialist countryside is farmers. In the final analysis, the issues concerning agriculture, rural areas, and farmers are issues of farmers and of people. The significance and value of science and technology for farmers' own development and the building of a new countryside are immeasurable. Only by continuously cultivating batch after batch of new-type farmers with high scientific literacy and transforming the huge human resources in rural areas into the advantage of human capital can we inject internal and lasting momentum into the building of a new countryside.