Paid withdrawal from land contract management rights cannot be achieved without policy support
Editor's note: Land has always been the lifeblood of farmers. The development of urbanization and non-agricultural industries has provided farmers with new paths for development. To this end, the Party Central Committee made clear arrangements for piloting the paid withdrawal from homesteads, land contract management rights, and farmers' shares in collective assets. As a pilot area for paid withdrawal from land contract management rights, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, took the lead in making an attempt.
In just a few months, the scene in front of the village committee office of Longmen Village, Longmen Town, Shizhong District, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, changed dramatically. The originally fragmented farmland, after consolidation and transformation, became several standardized fish ponds. This land, originally contracted and operated by 52 farming households, totaled 55 mu, and now the contract management rights have returned to the village collective.
The change stems from the implementation of the pilot program for paid withdrawal from rural land contract management rights. At the end of 2014, Shizhong District of Neijiang City was designated as a county-level pilot area in the second batch nationwide for deepening rural reform, undertaking multiple reform tasks including paid withdrawal from rural land contract management rights. Over more than a year, Longmen Village in Longmen Town was the first to break the ice, achieving breakthroughs in withdrawal conditions, models, and standards. A total of 52 farming households withdrew from the contract management rights of 55 mu of land on a long-term basis (until the end of the second round of contracting, namely 2029), and 1 household permanently withdrew from the contract management rights of 5.38 mu of land.
1. The "one withdrawal, three guarantees" policy won over villagers who moved to the city: rather than letting land lie fallow, better to permanently return it to the collective
Chen Lin is among the most successful villagers of Jiulong Village. In the early 1990s, he went to the city to seek his fortune, and step by step put down roots in the city. Today he has purchased multiple properties in the urban area of Chengdu. A few years ago, Chen Lin brought his elderly parents to the city to enjoy a comfortable life, and the family's land in the village was left fallow.
"Land is the lifeblood of farmers. In principle, only villagers who can live well without land are eligible to permanently withdraw from contract rights," He Jian, deputy mayor of Jiulong Town, told reporters. According to this standard, the pilot plan set preconditions for permanent withdrawal, requiring that the withdrawing person has a stable income, a fixed residence, and no longer relies on land for a living.
Although he was no longer "scratching a living" from the fields, when the village first called to discuss the withdrawal of land management rights, Chen Lin's whole family opposed it. "We've been farmers for generations and have deep feelings for the land. We just couldn't bear to let it go," Chen Lin said.
However, after village Party secretary Luo Jiayuan made a special trip to the city to visit him in person, Chen Lin changed his mind. "According to the village's 'one withdrawal, three guarantees' policy, withdrawing from land contract rights does not affect the right to vote, the right to use homestead land, or the right to share in collective asset returns," Chen Lin said. Although reluctant, Secretary Luo was right: rather than letting the land lie fallow, it is better to return it to the collective. We can receive compensation, and the land can also be put to good use.
In November of last year, Chen Lin signed his name on the agreement for paid withdrawal from land contract management rights. From then on, the Chen family returned the 5 mu of contracted land that had been left fallow for years to the collective.
2. 52 households withdrew on a long-term basis to concentrate land for industrial development
After Chen Lin, 52 households from Group 11 of Longmen Village also returned their land contract management rights to the village collective. Unlike the former's permanent withdrawal, their withdrawal period was bounded by the second round of contracting (namely 2029), which is called long-term withdrawal.
Why was a long-term withdrawal attempt made? Luo Jiayuan told reporters it was inspired by the vine pepper planting project introduced to the village. Originally, because a large number of young and strong laborers went out to work, nearly 1,000 mu of Longmen Village's 2,800 mu of farmland was left fallow. The elderly and women who stayed behind still mainly grew traditional crops such as rice and corn, and farming basically did not make money. To change the village's appearance, at the end of 2014, the village's two committees worked hard to introduce an 800-mu vine pepper planting project. Large areas of fallow hillside land were planted with vine pepper, and farmers not only received land transfer fees but could also earn money by working in the fields.
However, in less than two years, conflicts between the business owner and villagers occurred from time to time. "Some villagers were dissatisfied that wage settlement changed from hourly to piecework, and demanded that the owner return the land. The village's two committees also found it very headache-inducing," Luo Jiayuan said. He believes that if villagers return their land contract rights to the collective, there will be no basis for breaking the contract, and the land transfer relationship between the village collective and the business owner will be more stable, which is conducive to introducing business owners to develop industries or developing the collective economy.
After investigation, 55 mu of land with gentle terrain, adjacent to the new village settlement and the village committee, was selected. "Through the withdrawal of contract management rights, this piece of land can be turned from scattered to concentrated, to introduce business owners or develop the village collective economy." However, in the first survey, of the 52 contracting households involved, 10 explicitly opposed it.
"At first, villagers had misunderstandings, thinking that withdrawing from land contract management rights meant returning the land. So even if it was left fallow, they were unwilling to return it to the village collective," Luo Jiayuan said. After understanding the situation, the village organized a special working group to go door to door to explain the policy, telling villagers that withdrawing from land contract management rights not only comes with compensation but also helps the village develop the collective economy.
Gradually, villagers' doubts diminished, and consensus was finally reached. Today, the 55 mu of land returned to the collective has been transformed. After project renovation, the originally scattered and fragmented farmland became standardized fish ponds, and many interested business owners are in contact and negotiation with the village.
3. Full consultation to ensure farmers' rights and interests; the source of compensation funds became the biggest problem
What exactly should the compensation standard for paid withdrawal be? Longmen Village, the first to eat the crab, had no experience to draw on and could only cross the river by feeling for the stones. The village's two committees proposed using the profits from two seasons of major grain production and the existing land transfer price as reference prices. After multiple rounds of consultation, it was finally determined that "permanent withdrawal is calculated at 1,000 yuan per mu per year, with compensation for 30 years; long-term withdrawal is calculated at 850 yuan per mu per year, with compensation for 14 years," paid in a lump sum.
Guo Zeguang, a villager from Group 11, this time returned 3 fen of land and received nearly 4,000 yuan in compensation. "Currently, the land rent for surrounding paddy fields is about 600-700 yuan/mu, and 850 yuan has already taken possible future premiums into account. Although the compensation is not much, only when business owners come to develop industries can our lives improve." Guo Zeguang said that last year the couple worked at the vine pepper base and earned nearly 10,000 yuan together, much better than before. In addition, according to consultation, during the long-term land withdrawal period, beneficial agricultural policies such as national grain subsidies continue to be enjoyed by the withdrawing households.
According to the compensation standard, Longmen Village needs to pay more than 800,000 yuan in compensation funds for the withdrawal of land contract management rights. "The village collective cannot afford to pay. Most of this money comes from the district's special reform funds, paid to Longmen Village in the form of a loan, which must be repaid when the loan matures. If the scale of withdrawal continues to expand, the source of compensation funds is a real problem," said the person in charge of the Urban-Rural Coordination Working Committee of Shizhong District, Neijiang City. He stated that to further advance reform when the collective economy is currently weak, supporting support from financial institutions is also needed.
Considering the real financial pressure, He Jian said that to better advance the pilot work, Longmen Town is considering changing the lump-sum payment to installment payments, or first introducing capable business owners to secure the main source of funds before organizing willing villagers to withdraw from contract management rights.