e-magazine
The Hot Zone
China's newly announced air defense identification zone over the East China Sea aims to shore up national security
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Plowing Ahead
Cover Stories Series 2013> Plowing Ahead
UPDATED: January 14, 2013 NO. 3 JANUARY 17, 2013
Modernizing Agriculture
The Central Rural Work Conference charts a new path for development
By Tang Yuankai
Share

ENHANCED LOGISTICS: Farmers in the Guosheng Vegetable Cooperative in Wenxian County, central China's Henan Province, load vegetables onto a truck for eventual transport to Hong Kong on October 10, 2012 (XU HONGXING)

NATURE'S CANDY: Two young girls reach for strawberries in Xiguanzhuang Village in Beijing's Changping District on February 18, 2012, the first day of the Seventh International Strawberry Symposium (ZHANG LINTAO)

Last March, Minister Han said at a press conference on the sidelines of the Fifth Session of the 11th National People's Congress that China earmarked 1.2 trillion yuan ($19 billion) in 2012 from its central budget to support agriculture, up 18 percent from the previous year. The country had significantly increased subsidies for seeds, machines and other materials.

However, Han also pointed out that the country's investment in agriculture needs to be further increased to solve difficulties in development.

Modernizing management

The recent Central Rural Work Conference also called attention to reform China's agricultural management system, responding to the plans laid down at the 18th CPC National Congress to construct a new system featuring intensive, professional and organized production. A pending CPC Central Committee document is likely to focus on reforming agricultural management system.

Industrialization and urbanization have brought more people from farms to cities. According to statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, among 250 million rural workers, 150 million work away from their homes, mostly as migrant workers in cities. In many villages, women and elderly increasingly constitute a labor force that is becoming more physically weak. The recent Central Rural Work Conference raised questions of both who will do the farming and how it will be done.

Han said, "Farmers' reluctance to farm reflects problems in our policies." A recent report released by the Research Center for Rural Economy said certain rural areas face acute labor shortage and abandoned farmlands. Agriculture is becoming a secondary vocation for many. Fostering a new agricultural labor force and maintaining food safety are top priorities.

Rural Financial Times reported on Liu Congde, a farmer in Huaiyang County in central China's Henan Province, at the end of last year. Liu's story reflected the difficulties facing China's agricultural development. With all his children working in cities, Liu, 72, had to grow turnips. Because turnip prices were very low in 2012, he earned nothing after a year's hard labor.

Zheng Fengtian, a professor from the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Renmin University of China, said that the Central Rural Work Conference was aimed at invigorating rural development. "The current agricultural management system can stimulate enthusiasm for farming to a certain extent, however, more services should be provided to farmers," Zhang added.

Regulating land transfers

The Central Rural Work Conference specified that the farmers' contracted land should be well protected and they should not be forced to transfer the contracted lands.

Land transfers refer to the farmers renting their contracted land to other farmers or companies while reserving their contracting rights. It occurs when a large number of farmers migrate to cities. Farmers in China do not typically own land, and instead lease plots from the state for 30-year terms.

"Land transfers have put farm lands in the hands of a few people or a few companies, raising agricultural productivity and modernizing agriculture. It will certainly exert a huge impact on China's social and economic development," commented Dang Guoying, Director of the Rural Development Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

However, some local governments force the farmers to transfer their land at a low price to companies. And the transferred land is ill-managed, endangering the country's food safety. Meanwhile, the farmers cannot find a new means of making a living after transferring their lands, raising the possibility of social unrest.

Cheng Guoqiang, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said land transfers should be carried out according to law and the farmers' interests should be well protected during the process.

Farmers in Huaxian County, Henan Province, can decide for themselves whether to transfer their lands or not, setting an example for how local governments should conduct land transfers.

Land transfers could prevent lands from being abandoned. For example, before land transfers were carried out in Longgang Village, Xiaogan City of central China's Hubei Province, more than 40 percent of farmland was abandoned. In 2011, Longgang Village jointly established Longgang Land Cooperative with Chunhui Rice Company of Xiaogan. Villagers turned 400 hectares of their contracted land into stock shares of the company, and dramatically increased yields.

   Previous   1   2   3   Next  



 
Top Story
-Protecting Ocean Rights
-Partners in Defense
-Fighting HIV+'s Stigma
-HIV: Privacy VS. Protection
-Setting the Tone
Related Stories
-For the Sake of Sannong
-A Roadmap for Change
-Integrating the Central Plains
-2012 in Retrospect
-Top 10 Economic News Stories in 2012
 
Most Popular
 
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved