How far is leisure agriculture from becoming a pillar industry?
For the agricultural industry, which has a large workforce but is weak, if leisure agriculture can develop into an emerging pillar industry in the agricultural sector, it will undoubtedly excite the industry greatly, and there are indeed demand opportunities at present!
The national level has already seen this. This year's Central Document No. 1 strongly supports leisure agriculture, and in September the relevant ministries and commissions jointly issued specific guiding opinions on vigorously developing leisure agriculture.
So how far is leisure agriculture from becoming a pillar industry? Can leisure agriculture rise abruptly and develop into an emerging pillar industry?
Judging from the numbers alone, this goal is not far away. The preliminary standard in the official guiding opinions is that by 2020, the number of visitors received will reach 3.3 billion, and operating revenue will exceed 700 billion yuan.
What concept do 3.3 billion visitors plus 700 billion yuan represent?
In 2013, these two figures were 900 million visitors plus 270 billion yuan; in 2015, the two figures were 2.2 billion visitors plus 440 billion yuan. In recent years, the average growth rate of both indicators for leisure agriculture has been as high as more than 15%, and this growth is still accelerating, becoming faster and faster as time goes on. At this growth rate, reaching 3.3 billion visitors plus 700 billion yuan four years later is not surprising.
So beyond the numbers, when can leisure agriculture truly become strong and become a pillar industry capable of sustainable development?
"Agriculturalist Internal Reference" believes that the key depends on the degree of entry of social capital. This process may not be so fast.
Why does Xiaocan emphasize the role of capital so much? Two reasons.
First, leisure agriculture aiming at the scale and magnitude of a pillar industry needs the power of capital.
Second, leisure agriculture at the magnitude of a pillar industry needs capital's vision and organizational operating capabilities.
At present, the types of leisure agriculture familiar to the market are mainly concentrated in small household modes such as farmhouse entertainment, farmhouse courtyards, family farms, picking gardens, and fishing ponds. To expand into a pillar industry, the types of product supply must inevitably be enriched and upgraded.
In fields such as leisure vacations, tourism and sightseeing, health and elderly care, creative agriculture, farming experience, and traditional rural handicrafts, the product lines that can be developed are unusually rich: leisure farms, rural hotels, specialty homestays, self-driving car and RV campsites, specialty outdoor sports bases, photography bases, specialty towns, and even agricultural theme parks and agricultural carnivals under exploration, and so on, are all among the expected offerings.
These rich and varied new leisure agriculture product lines, if they are to achieve scale and grade, cannot do without money for investment. This is the most basic role of capital.
At the same time, these cutting-edge leisure agriculture categories, if they are to meet the consumer needs of urban residents and attract urban residents to consume, will inevitably require capital's vision, broad perspective, and organizational operating capabilities. This is already far beyond what the ability and vision of small household operations such as farmhouse entertainment can reach.
In addition, if leisure agriculture is to develop vigorously and make things convenient for and attractive to tourists, it will inevitably place higher demands on the existing rural infrastructure, including transportation, parking lots, broadband, water supply, restrooms, garbage and sewage treatment, and even exhibition, display, and performance venues. All of these require investment for improvement. Even if the government has some supporting investment, there usually must first be a project before supporting investment can be directed with clear purpose.