China's agriculture is on the way out of the "plight of small farmers"

Small Peasant Agriculture in China since the Sui and Tang dynasties

Small farmers refer to individual farmers who rely entirely or mainly on their own labor to engage in agricultural operations that are less than their capacity. Small-scale agriculture refers to small-scale agriculture operated by small-scale farmers. According to the History of China's Land system written by economists Zhao Gang and Chen Zhongyi, the land relationship between the Qin and Han dynasties was not tense, and the management scale of farmers was 50-60 mu. Due to the limitation of agricultural technology, farmers were unable to cultivate more land, and the scale of agricultural management matched with the management capacity of farmers, which was at a reasonable level. According to the author's definition, farmers at that time were not small farmers. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, China's population growth exceeded the rate of increase in arable land, and with the improvement of agricultural tools, fertilization and other agricultural technology, the relationship between people and land became tense, and the situation of more people and less land became more and more obvious. In the Tang Dynasty, the land equalization system was implemented, with an upper limit of 65 mu per household, regardless of whether it was fallow or not, and the operation scale of farmers often failed to reach this upper limit. In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the average cultivated land per household was 40 mu. In the Southern Song Dynasty, with the increase of population, the per capita cultivated land decreased rapidly, and the vast majority of farmers' cultivated area was less than 25 mu. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the cultivated land per household decreased gradually. By 1936, the average cultivated land per household was only 18.4 mu, and the per capita cultivated land of farmers was 3.6 mu. It can be said that since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Chinese farmers were called small-scale farmers, and small-scale peasant agriculture began to form.

After the founding of New China, with the growth of population and the progress of agricultural technology, the relationship between human and land has become more tense, and the operation scale of small farmers has become smaller. At present, the average arable land per household in China is only 7.5 mu, which is equivalent to 1x40 in the European Union, 400 in the United States, and less than that in Japan and South Korea. Therefore, Chinese agriculture is a typical small-scale peasant agriculture which is lower than the reasonable level of human-land relationship. In addition, the land is fragmented, with 7-8 pieces of land per household, and each piece of land is only about 1 mu on average. Many farmers in Guangxi and other places have more than 10 or 20 pieces of land, most of which are only a few points in area, and the land management is especially highly small-scale scattered.

According to this, the author's point of view is that since the Tang, Song, Yuan and Qing dynasties, the operation scale of farmers has gradually dropped to a more and more unreasonable low level in economy, and the ability of farmers to cultivate is much larger than his actual farming scale. the surplus agricultural labor force has gradually increased, farmers have become typical small-scale farmers, agriculture has become a typical small-scale agriculture.

"the plight of small farmers"

China has always supported the largest population in the world through intensive farming of small-scale farmers. However, it is undeniable that China has a large population and little land, the contradiction between people and land is prominent, and the scale of agricultural operation is too small, resulting in an unreasonable economy. The agriculture of small farmers with less than 10 mu per household is lower than the reasonable scale of agricultural operation, resulting in a large number of labor surplus, low efficiency of agricultural production, and an increase in agricultural production costs per unit area, such as farming, harvest, fertilization, medication and so on. Small-scale agriculture is not conducive to the use of advanced agricultural machinery and equipment, restricts the improvement of agricultural production efficiency, and reduces the income space of agricultural production. Take grain farmers as an example, the single-season income of one mu of land is about 200 yuan, according to 7.5 mu per household, the income is less than 2,000 yuan. If labor costs are market-denominated, then engaging in agriculture is self-employment, and agricultural income is wage income. The author believes that small-scale peasant agriculture in China has fallen into the "low-level development dilemma of small farmers", or "small-scale agriculture" for short, that is, small-scale agriculture belongs to "small-profit agriculture" (or even "unprofitable agriculture"). And the total income is also low if the operation scale is small, and the low income in turn limits the agricultural input capacity and reduces the investment enthusiasm, which leads to the slow application of agricultural technology, extensive land management and even abandonment. Small-scale farmers' agricultural output is low, efficiency is low, income is low, input is low, low-level circulation, it is difficult to move towards modernization.

In modern society, the commercialization of agricultural products has become increasingly obvious. The agricultural products produced by small farmers have to be sold on the market in addition to meeting their own needs. Small farmers' agriculture will inevitably be affected by domestic and international agricultural products markets. Especially in the wave of agricultural globalization, it is difficult for small farmers to "take care of themselves" as in traditional agriculture, and their production, demand, price and benefits are deeply affected by world agriculture. In recent years, domestic grain prices have continued to be higher than those in the international market, and the plight of small-scale farmers and small-scale farmers has been strengthened by the pressure of the international market. The plight of small farmers has hindered the progress of China's modern agriculture like a boulder.

From small Farmer to Family Farm: the way out of "Peasant Dilemma"

The important difference between small farmers and family farms lies in the scale of operation. If the operation scale of farmers is less than their labor and management capacity, they are small farmers; if they are larger than their labor and management capacity, they are family farms. The small scale of operation is not only the main characteristic of small farmers, but also the main reason for the plight of small farmers. Once the operation scale of farmers reaches a reasonable level that matches their labor force and management capacity, small farmers will move towards family farms, agricultural management will improve, and agricultural income will increase and be equal to non-agricultural employment income. Taking grain production as an example, the survey and calculation data of the Ministry of Agriculture show that according to the current production conditions, the sown area of 100,120 mu is the scale standard to distinguish small farmers from family farms. According to the research of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the scale of agricultural operation with no less than 170 mu of cash crops and no less than 300 mu of food crops can be internationally competitive. For a period of time in China, family farms and small farmers will be the main body of agricultural management, but the family farms run by professional farmers above moderate scale is the carrier for Chinese agriculture to get out of the "small peasant dilemma" and the direction of the transformation of small peasant agriculture.

At present, China has gradually possessed the economic and social conditions of moderate scale operation, and appropriate scale operation of land will become inevitable. The prerequisite for large-scale operation of land is the transfer of surplus agricultural labor to the secondary and tertiary industries to achieve full employment in non-agricultural industries. Countries around the world generally transfer 60% of the agricultural labor force to non-agricultural industries steadily as a starting condition for large-scale operation of agriculture. Most developed countries rely on the gradual concentration of land to achieve large-scale agricultural operation, and then achieve agricultural modernization. With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, the declining proportion of rural labor force engaged in agriculture will become more and more obvious. In 2012, the total number of migrant workers in China exceeded 260 million, of which more than 160 million were migrant workers. About 150 million of the new generation of migrant workers basically do not know how to farm and will not rely on agriculture for a living in the future. In the long run, they have the possibility of breaking away from agriculture and land. In the developed eastern coastal areas and the suburbs of some large and medium-sized cities, as well as some central and western regions where a large number of agricultural labor force go out to work, they already have the conditions for appropriate scale operation of land. By the end of 2013, the transfer area of contracted cultivated land in China had reached 340 million mu, accounting for 26% of the total contracted cultivated land in China. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, by the end of 2012, there were 877000 family farms in 30 provinces, autonomous regions and cities across the country (excluding Xizang), accounting for less than 1% of the total number of farmers, with an area of 176 million mu of cultivated land and an average operating scale of 200mu, accounting for 13.4% of the contracted arable land in the country.

Formulating the development strategy of family farm and cultivating family farm is an important way to promote the development of modern agriculture. In recent years, Jiangxi Province, Jiangsu Province, Hunan Province, Suzhou and other areas have issued special financial subsidy policies to promote appropriate scale operation. At the central level, special guidance documents for promoting moderate scale operation can be drawn up on the basis of local experience. Local governments are encouraged to support appropriate scale operation of agriculture and the development of family farms on the premise of adhering to the basic rural management system and protecting farmers' land rights and interests. The subsidy support policy for family farms and small farmers (ordinary farmers) should be based on equal treatment, but there should be a tilting policy for small farmers to grow into family farms. It is suggested that national agricultural subsidies and agricultural development projects should set up special support to agricultural scale operators. The departments of central finance, agriculture and comprehensive agricultural development may, on the basis of existing policies, formulate and introduce subsidies and projects specifically to support large-scale operation of agriculture and family farms. Through policy support, we can break the "predicament of low-level development of small farmers" and guide the appropriate scale operation of agriculture so as to create basic conditions for the realization of agricultural modernization. It needs to be emphasized that small farmers moving towards family farms is a gradual process. We cannot force or induce farmers to transfer land simply for the sake of pursuing the scale of agricultural operation. We cannot simply piece together family farms in the form of large piles and large families.