Agricultural R&D needs to be closely related with production and financial input in agricultural science & technology should be ensured to grow more rapidly than regular financial revenues, so as to make breakthroughs in reforming the agricultural science & technology system.
Since China’s agricultural science & technology system reform has been deepened, what problems are confronting the reform? And what counter-measures can be taken? These two questions are concerning the general public. According to Chen Xiwen, director of the office for the Communist Party of China(CPC) Central Committee’s Leading Group on Rural Work, system and input consisted of the most important two aspects for addressing the above-mentioned questions. From the perspective of system, agricultural R&D needed to be closely linked with production; if merely angling for academic titles and publishing works, researches would play a limited role in promoting production, said Chen.
Surely, system does not only refers to R&D, but also for promotion of agricultural science and technology, as agriculture serves as the foundation of the national economy and it strongly supports sustained and stable economic and social development.
In China, capital input in R&D accounts for a small portion in the GDP and less for agricultural R&D. Therefore, this year’s No. 1 Document focuses on establishing a long-term mechanism, pointing out to ensure that financial input in agricultural science and technology should grow much more rapidly than regular financial revenues and to raise the proportion of agricultural R&D in agricultural added value. However, once input is increased, a string of reform and innovation needs to be launched to form an effective incentive and constraint mechanism so that the increased input can be spent wisely.
Moreover, since only with farmers’ application, agricultural technology can yield outcome in the farmland, it is necessary for farmers to have better science & technology quality and to authentically master modern technologies so that agricultural R&D achievements can function well in real production.
How to overcome the last obstacle for agricultural technology promotion
Demo counties for agricultural science & technology promotion system reform and construction will cover all the farming counties (cities, districts and farms) this year.
The No. 1 Document particularly stressed agricultural science & technology promotion, said Tang Renjian, deputy director of the office for the CPC Central Committee’s Leading Group on Rural Work. In the past years, the system for agricultural science & technology promotion had some prominent problems―unsound promotion network, incoherent communication and disperse responsible people. After the Third Plenary Session of the 17th National Congress held in 2008 set out new requirements for root-level agricultural technology promotion, epidemics prevention and control as well as for the quality and safety mechanism of agricultural products, the system for agricultural technology promotion has taken a turn for the better. Through reform and development, the service capability for the agricultural technology promotion system at the grassroots level has become considerably stronger.
The No. 1 Central Document highlighted the capability of the grassroots-level agricultural promotion and it made the on-the-job personnel for agricultural technology promotion have similar salary with those in the grassroots institutions, Tang introduced. Demo counties for agricultural promotion system reform and construction will cover all the farming counties (cities, districts and farms) this year to address the problem that the grass-roots organizations for agricultural technology promotion lack necessary funding; construction projects for agricultural technology promotion organizations will cover all the villages and towns, which will mainly target at improving working conditions, such as office buildings, instruments and equipment as well as transportation means.
In the mean time, the document also emphasizes to transform the system so as to infuse vigor. “The personnel recruitment system will be implemented in an all-round manner featuring strict recruitment requirements and clearlydefined job responsibilities. Thus, unlike in the past, it does not mean that those who are hired will have a secured job,”said Tang, “The effects and conditions for promotion will not be determined by competent departments any more, but assessed together by three parties―competent departments, township governments and farmers.”
How will the rural policies adapt to the new urbanization trend
The key lies in how to address the three prominent problems―who will do the farm work, how will farmers be integrated into the city and how will the villages be governed.
Last year, the Chinese towns and cities had a bigger population than the villages for the first time, and the urban population accounted for 51.27% in the total population, which was an epoch-making milestone for China and which shed lights on the policies for addressing the “three rural issues” (agriculture, farmers and rural areas), said Tang Renjian. The key lies in how to address the three prominent problems―who will do the farm work, how will farmers be integrated into the city and how will the villages be governed.
For addressing the problem that lots of young rural laborers go to the cities and thus leave behind children, women and the old, attention should be paid to the following three aspects: first, the farming operation entities should be cultivated and innovated based on the household contract management; second, it also needs to train professional farmers in order to let the new generation of farmers who master technologies and well understand management go back to the rural areas to engage in the modern operation of agricultural production; third, the social service system for agriculture should be strengthened, and professional, comprehensive and cooperative service agencies are encouraged to develop among companies, governments and non-governmental organizations, which aims at providing one-stop services throughout the process of agricultural production.
“Regarding the problem how to integrate farmers into cities, farmers, in general, need to genuinely receive equal treatment with urban residents,” said Tang. “Population flow should be guided reasonably so that on the one hand urbanization will be pushed forward and on the other hand new countryside will be constructed; eligible farmers should be granted with registered permanent residence in cities; migrant workers and farmers needs to be guided to be employed locally.”
Referring to the problem that how the villages will be governed, Tang said that in general a brisk village selfgovernance system which was fully participated by farmers under the leadership of the Party was to be established based on the domestic status quo and the development trend; new social organizations and intermediary organizations in different forms were encouraged to be set up.