Agriculture is the foundation of a country and a strong country. In the new era, our Party attaches great importance to the work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers. On the basis of the work since the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, we have solved the problem of feeding more than 1.4 billion people with limited resources, and all farmers have got rid of absolute poverty and entered a well-off society in an all-round way. The great achievements in the work concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers are universally recognized. At present, China’s agriculture has entered a stage of high-quality development. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Developing new-quality productive forces is an inherent requirement and an important focus to promote high-quality development". It is of great significance to accelerate agricultural modernization to promote the high-quality development of agriculture and the continuous progress of agricultural productivity with the development of new quality productivity as the important focus.
The workers, materials and objects in agriculture are undergoing profound changes.
Agricultural modernization is a dynamic evolution process, which is essentially the continuous development and improvement of agricultural productivity. With the new round of scientific and technological revolution and the in-depth development of industrial transformation, profound changes are taking place in the laborers, labor materials and labor objects in China’s agricultural field.
In terms of workers, with the deep integration of information technology and biotechnology with agricultural production, agricultural workers who can skillfully use "new farm tools" such as mobile phones and smart devices are becoming the most active and dynamic factors to promote agricultural modernization. They are increasingly using intelligent agricultural equipment, changing the traditional agricultural labor pattern and promoting the transformation of agricultural production from labor-intensive to technology-intensive.
In terms of labor materials, the rapid development of new agricultural labor tools, such as drones, agricultural machinery and modern facility agriculture, has promoted more intelligent agricultural production management, making agricultural labor materials no longer limited to traditional farm tools and simple biological materials; Biological feed, biological fertilizer, agricultural vaccine and degradable agricultural film are gradually replacing traditional feed, chemical fertilizer, pesticide and agricultural film, which can reduce the negative impact of agricultural production on the ecological environment and improve the quality and competitiveness of agricultural products.
In the aspect of labor object, conventional animal and plant varieties are improved and cultivated through biological breeding technology, and the source of crop species is constantly jumping in the direction of high yield, high quality and stress tolerance; Relying on intelligent equipment to carry out agricultural production, the constraints of natural resources such as land are decreasing, expanding agricultural production space and technical boundaries, and giving birth to new labor objects.
The leap of new laborers, new labor materials, new labor objects and their optimized combinations can not only greatly increase crop yield per unit area and agricultural total factor productivity, but also give birth to new industries, new models and new kinetic energy for agricultural development, providing strong impetus and support for high-quality agricultural development.
The foundation and conditions for developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality agricultural development have been continuously improved.
At present, the foundation and conditions for developing new quality productive forces and promoting high-quality agricultural development in China are constantly improving.
The digital village strategy was implemented in depth. China has deeply grasped the application of information technology in the economic and social development of agriculture and rural areas and the general trend of improving farmers’ modern information skills, vigorously implemented the digital village strategy, accelerated the deep integration of modern information technologies such as the Internet of Things, geographic information and intelligent equipment with rural production and life, deepened the innovative application of big data in agriculture and rural areas, and established a new spatial and intelligent rural statistical information system. In this process, we insist on urban-rural integration, innovate the system and mechanism of urban-rural information integration development, guide urban network, information, technology and talents to flow to the countryside, and promote the rational allocation of urban and rural elements. At present, China’s rural information infrastructure has been accelerated, modern agriculture with online and offline integration has been accelerated, and the rural information service system has been accelerated.
Artificial intelligence technology is widely used. Artificial intelligence is a strategic technology that leads this round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and it has a "head geese" effect with strong spillover drive. Accelerating the application of artificial intelligence in agricultural production and management can promote the automation and intelligence of the whole agricultural production process and expand the space and possibility of development. In practice, artificial intelligence technology has been widely used in the field of agricultural production in China, and the quality detection and control of agricultural products are more accurate and efficient, which greatly improves the efficiency of agricultural production and the quality of agricultural products. In particular, the application of intelligent agricultural robots can not only accurately identify crop diseases and pests and take corresponding control measures in time, but also accurately fertilize and weed, and significantly optimize the agricultural production process.
The market demand is more diverse. With China’s economic and social development and the improvement of the income level of urban and rural residents, the consumption of agricultural products is characterized by personalization and diversification, especially the food needs of ordinary people are more diverse. Firmly grasping this development trend, China has continuously deepened the structural reform of agricultural supply side, established and practiced the concept of big food, built a diversified food supply system, optimized the structure of agricultural products, made great efforts to promote agricultural quality and efficiency, and developed food resources in all directions and in multiple ways. This has also promoted the continuous improvement of China’s agricultural quality and efficiency, and broadened the field of agricultural production space in all directions.
Focusing on improving total factor productivity and accelerating the high-quality development of agriculture
Facing the future, it is necessary to further deepen the structural reform of agricultural supply side, focus on improving the total factor productivity of agricultural production, and continuously improve the quality, efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production. At present, we can focus on the following aspects.
First, strengthen scientific and technological innovation around the formation of a modern agricultural production structure and regional layout that meets the market demand and matches the carrying capacity of resources and environment, increase key core technology research of seed sources, speed up the selection and promotion of independent fine varieties that are urgently needed for production, promote the expansion of biological breeding industrialization, and fundamentally ensure national food security. Second, accelerate the popularization and application of green and applicable technologies in agricultural production, accelerate the development of agricultural circular economy, promote the application of new fertilizers, promote green manure planting and diversification of straw returning to fields, reduce the amount of chemical fertilizers, and realize a virtuous circle of agricultural production, rural construction and rural life ecology. The third is to focus on the advanced industrial base and the modernization of the industrial chain, promote the postponement of the first production, the connection of the second production and the third production, fill in the shortcomings of the industrial chain, forge the long board of the industrial chain, promote the promotion of the whole link, the value-added of the whole chain and the integration of the whole industry, and enhance the value of the entire agricultural industrial chain. Fourth, focusing on improving the quality of science and technology, vocational skills and management ability, we will intensify the implementation of various rural talent training plans and accelerate the training of leading agricultural science and technology talents and innovative teams. Fifth, closely focus on the changes in market demand, take increasing farmers’ income and ensuring effective supply as the main goal, and promote a better combination of effective markets and promising governments.
To develop new quality productive forces and promote high-quality agricultural development, we must adhere to the party’s rural policy, and the first thing is to adhere to the basic rural management system. We should adhere to the collective ownership of rural land by farmers, the basic position of family management, and the stability of land in contract relationship. At the same time, based on the characteristics of national conditions and agricultural conditions, the characteristics of agricultural industry and rural areas, we should adhere to the principle of "establishing first, then breaking, and implementing classified policies", step by step and for a long time.
(The author is Dean of China Rural Revitalization Research Institute of Hunan Normal University)
People’s Daily (May 31, 2024, 09 edition)