Farmers' specialized Cooperatives accelerate China's Agricultural Modernization

In Beizhuang Village, Nanhe County, Xingtai City, Hebei Province, Li Shouxin, a big grain grower, contracted 3000 mu of land in the village. The establishment of the cooperative not only increased the average grain yield per mu, but also boosted the pockets of the members.

"of these 3000 mu of land, 2000 mu grow field crops such as wheat and corn, and 1000 mu develop ecological agriculture such as vegetables. At present, the yield of wheat per mu is 1100 jin, and the yield of corn per mu has increased from less than 1000 jin to 1300 jin. " Li Shouxin, chairman of the trustworthy planting cooperative, told reporters.

At present, the example of Li Shouxin is not uncommon in China, which steadily guides the transfer of rural land. Zhao Juntai, a "post-90s" college student from Bazhang Village, Xianxian County, Cangzhou City, returned to the village to contract 3100 mu of land after graduating from university, and set up a Juntai family farm in Xianxian County to grow grain on a large scale. Because of his outstanding achievements and representativeness, he was awarded the "National Grain grower" in 2014.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, by the end of June 2014, the transferred area of cultivated land contracted by households in China had reached 380 million mu, accounting for 28.8 percent of the total cultivated land contracted by households, an increase of 20 percentage points over the end of 2008.

Industry experts pointed out that with the development and growth of farmers' professional cooperatives, it will drive surrounding farmers to adjust their industrial structure and improve the efficiency of agricultural production. Cooperatives are a strategic measure for China's development of modern agriculture.

"when solving the problem of food and clothing, farmers cultivate carefully on the small plots of land contracted by themselves. with the development of family agriculture, small-scale operations continue to show limitations, the level of labor productivity is low, and farmers' willingness to engage in agriculture continues to decline." Gao Yingdong, executive director of Hebei Agricultural Industry Association, said that if agricultural production wants to reach a new level, it is necessary to appropriately expand the scale of operation and take the road of agricultural modernization.

Li Tingjun, a 70-year-old man from Beizhuang Village, Nanhe County, transferred his 4 mu of land at the price of 1000 yuan per mu. He said that his son and daughter-in-law had gone out to work, so he and his wife worked in a trustworthy cooperative for 60 yuan a day, which was more cost-effective than farming by himself. "the co-operative not only provides us with land money, but also earns wages."

Liu Guoli, a branch secretary of Bazhang Village in Xianxian County, told reporters that the village is very supportive of the form of cooperatives. Zhao Juntai contracted more than half of the 4900 mu of land in the village. "the cooperative not only organizes the scattered land and peasant households, but also connects the production of agricultural products with the market. Through cooperative enterprises, the cost of direct transactions with decentralized farmers has been reduced, and farmers have also received preferential technical guidance, thus improving the level of agricultural industrialization, which can be said to kill many birds with one stone. "

However, although China's rural land transfer and farmers' professional cooperatives have developed rapidly in recent years, it is still in its infancy on the whole. The problems such as weak overall strength, non-standard management and difficult financing loans are quite common. The phenomenon of infringing upon farmers' legitimate land rights and interests, such as compulsory circulation in the process of development, and one-sided pursuit of the scale and speed of circulation, still exists.

Li Shouxin said that at present, his cooperative has an annual shortage of funds of about 10 million yuan. Apart from relying on its own savings and borrowing from relatives and friends, it is very difficult to borrow money from banks because there is no effective guarantee. I hope that the state will give some preference to large grain growers in its capital policy; under the influence of individual cooperatives suspected of illegal fund-raising, many farmers have doubts about the development direction of cooperatives and hope that the relevant departments will strengthen supervision.

Dang Guoying, director of the Macro View Office of the Institute of Rural Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that promoting rural land transfer in an orderly manner is of great significance to the development of modern agriculture, but farmers' wishes and land rights and interests must be respected in the process of land transfer. the nature of land cannot be changed, and only in this way can land circulation develop healthily.

"in view of some problems in the development of farmers' professional cooperatives, the national or provincial level should establish and improve the supervision and management system, and clarify the registration authorities, business competent departments, business supervision departments and their regulatory responsibilities. In addition, governments at all levels should actively coordinate with financial institutions to establish a cooperative credit rating system and increase financial support for cooperatives." Dang Guoying said.