Unswervingly speed up the transformation of agricultural development mode-- an interview with the Ministry of Agriculture

Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the opinions on speeding up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development. It is understood that this is the first important document for systematic deployment at the national level to transform the mode of agricultural development. In order to have a better understanding of the spirit of the document, the reporter interviewed Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture.

Reporter: under the background of the "11 consecutive increases" of grain production in our country, the bumper harvest of summer grain this year, and the accelerated development of modern agriculture, why does the state issue the "opinions on speeding up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development"? How is this work strategically deployed?

Han Changfu: in recent years, the construction of modern agriculture in China has been accelerated, and great achievements have been made in agricultural development, but various risks, challenges and structural contradictions are also accumulating, and the two "tight hoops" of ecological environment and resource conditions are getting tighter and tighter. The double squeeze of agricultural production cost "floor" and agricultural product price "ceiling" is getting heavier and heavier, and the people's demand for diversification, quality and safety of agricultural products is getting higher and higher. There is more and more pressure on agriculture to ensure supply, income, safety and ecology. In the face of the new situation, there is an urgent need to accelerate the transformation of the mode of agricultural development.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to this. At the end of 2014, the Central Economic work Conference, the Central Rural work Conference and this year's Central document No. 1 all put forward clear requirements for speeding up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: it is necessary to unswervingly speed up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development, paying equal attention to quantity and quality, improving competitiveness, agricultural technological innovation, and sustainable and intensive development as soon as possible. General Manager Li Keqiang pointed out that breaking the two "hoops" of ecological environment and resource conditions can only accelerate agricultural modernization and promote the transformation of the mode of agricultural development.

The formulation and promulgation of the "opinions on speeding up the Transformation of the Mode of Agricultural Development" is an important measure to implement the decision-making and deployment of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and this is the first important document for systematic deployment and transformation of the mode of agricultural development at the national level. According to the requirements of the opinion, at present and for a period of time in the future, speeding up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development should focus on the development of various forms of moderate scale operation, focusing on the construction of modern agricultural management system, production system and industrial system. Efforts should be made to change the mode of agricultural operation, production, resource utilization and management, and promote agricultural development from quantity growth to equal emphasis on quantity and quality benefits. From relying mainly on the input of material elements to relying on scientific and technological innovation and improving the quality of workers, and from extensive management dependent on resource consumption to sustainable development, take the road of modern agricultural development with high output efficiency, product safety, resource saving and environment-friendly.

Changing the mode of agricultural development is a systematic project and long-term strategy. We must persist in taking the enhancement of grain production capacity as the primary premise, the improvement of quality and efficiency as the main direction of attack, and the promotion of sustainable development as the important content. we should take the promotion of reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, respect for the dominant position of farmers as the basic follow, and strive to make positive progress in changing the mode of agricultural development by 2020. The endogenous vitality of agriculture has been further stimulated, the integrated production capacity of agriculture has been steadily improved, the level of utilization of agricultural resources and ecological environment protection has been continuously improved, and farmers' income has continued to increase, providing important support for building a well-off society in an all-round way. By 2030, the transformation of the mode of agricultural development has achieved remarkable results, agricultural quality and efficiency have been significantly improved, and competitiveness has been significantly enhanced.

Reporter: as economic development has entered a new normal, some new changes have taken place in the current grain supply and demand situation. Are there any new adjustments and changes in the way food security is realized in the "opinions"?

Han Changfu: changing the mode of agricultural development never means relaxing grain production and must not weaken the comprehensive production capacity of agriculture. The "opinion" proposes to persist in taking the enhancement of grain production capacity as the primary prerequisite. Make sure that the rice bowl is firmly in your hands at all times and lay a solid foundation for changing the mode of agricultural development. At the same time, the "opinions" have made corresponding adjustments in the idea of ensuring national food security, mainly to promote the transformation of grain production from paying attention to annual production to steadily increasing grain production capacity, and to achieve "stable output", "storing grain in the land" and "storing grain in technology". This is also to ensure the country's food security for a long time and better. "stable output" means to concentrate efforts and do everything possible to preserve the most basic and important grains and food rations, and on this basis, give overall consideration to the production of important agricultural products such as cotton, oil and sugar, and "vegetable baskets." To "hide grain on the ground" is to speed up the construction of high-standard farmland. We will take the construction of high-standard farmland as the platform, integrate the paid fees for the use of new construction land, funds for comprehensive agricultural development, and funds for the development of modern agricultural production, make overall use and concentrate efforts on construction, and build 800 million mu of high-standard farmland by 2020. There are plans to promote the transformation of medium-and low-yield fields and improve agricultural production conditions. In connection with the delineation of permanent basic farmland, we will explore the establishment of functional areas for grain production, giving priority to establishing a number of high-quality and efficient grain production bases in major rice and wheat producing areas such as the Northeast, Huang-Huai-Hai and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. "storing grain in technology" is to take the connotative development road of relying on scientific and technological progress and improving the level of per unit yield. We will vigorously carry out activities to create high grain production, popularize the green production model, strengthen independent innovation in agricultural science and technology, vigorously develop the modern seed industry, promote the mechanization of the whole process of major crop production, and speed up the development of agricultural informationization. insert the wings of science and technology into grain production.

Reporter: the "opinion" points out that to speed up the transformation of the mode of agricultural development, we should focus on the development of appropriate scale operation of various forms of agriculture. How can the scale operation of land adapt to the new requirements of changing the mode of agricultural development?

Han Changfu: how the large-scale operation of land meets the new requirements of changing the mode of agricultural development, which is clearly expounded in the "opinion", that is, on the basis of steadily carrying out the registration and certification of the right to contracted management of rural land, various localities should take measures such as financial awards to support the development of appropriate scale operations in various forms of agriculture, and guide farmers to transfer contracted land by means of subcontracting, leasing, exchange, transfer, and shareholding in accordance with the law. Where there are conditions, on the premise of adhering to the use of agricultural land and resolutely preventing "non-agriculturalization", we can uniformly reorganize cultivated land according to the wishes of farmers, reduce the ridge of farmland as far as possible, expand the area of cultivated land, and improve the level of mechanized operation.

Specifically, efforts should be made in the following three areas:

The first is to encourage innovative forms of land transfer. We will speed up the development of various forms of land management rights transfer market, improve county, township and village three-level services and management networks, and set up a good platform and services for land transfer. The contracted farmers are encouraged to transfer the contracted land by means of subcontracting, leasing, exchange, transfer and shareholding in accordance with the law. Encourage places with conditions to formulate support policies to guide farmers to transfer contracted land for a long time and promote their transfer of employment. We will encourage the development of various forms of appropriate scale operation and build a new agricultural management system that combines intensification, specialization, organization and socialization.

The second is to reasonably determine the scale of land management. The scale of land management is not the bigger the better. There should be an appropriate scope, which should be reasonably determined in accordance with local conditions. It is estimated that at the present stage, if the income from farming on the scale of land management is equivalent to the income of workers in the local secondary and tertiary industries, and if the scale of land operation is equivalent to 10-15 times the area of land contracted by local households, key support should be given.

Third, improve the socialized service system of agriculture. We will improve the level of scale by establishing and improving the socialized service system of agriculture. Agricultural scale operation can be in many forms, not only through land circulation to form land scale operation, but also through the development of association and cooperation among farmers and agricultural socialization services to improve the level of organization and scale. We will encourage the development of a trusteeship service model that does not change the contracted relationship between farmers and ensure that there are people in the land, and encourage large grain growers, agricultural machinery farmers and agricultural machinery cooperatives to carry out full-process trusteeship or major production links, so as to achieve unified farming and large-scale production. The "opinion" also clearly pointed out that measures such as financial support and credit support should be taken to speed up the cultivation of agricultural business service organizations, carry out pilot projects for the government to purchase agricultural public welfare services, and actively promote cooperative, trusteeship, order-based and other forms of service.

To develop various forms of large-scale agricultural operation, we should take measures in accordance with local conditions, proceed step by step, and earnestly achieve the "three nots", that is, not to engage in the Great Leap forward, not to engage in coercive orders, not to engage in administrative blind command, to prevent "non-grain" and to prohibit "non-agriculturalization."

Reporter: at present, there is a saying that "agricultural non-point source pollution is the largest source of pollution in China", and there is also a saying that "agricultural non-point source pollution accounts for more than half of the country's pollution emissions." How to effectively solve this problem by changing the mode of agricultural development?