Revelation from Japan: China's agricultural development needs both internal and external repair

Revelation from Japan: China's agricultural development needs both internal and external repair

In the decades since the founding of New China, it has solved the problem of food and clothing for more than one billion people. It has to be a miracle. In recent years, with the further strengthening of the main body of agriculture, the pace of agricultural modernization has also surprised many foreign researchers. However, because of the imbalance of China's economy and the complexity of the three rural issues, various problems have arisen in the process of agricultural development. The state has always responded with "foreign work" and has always been palliative. Only by practicing the "internal strength" of 800 million peasants themselves can we achieve true agricultural modernization. It is of great practical significance to accelerate the agricultural modernization of China by fully drawing on the experience of agricultural development in developed countries with similar economic development background.

Similar, only the meaning of reference

Japan has a land area of ​​about 378,000 square kilometers, a population of about 130 million, and only 82.72 million acres of arable land. However, in the 20 years after the war, Japan not only achieved agricultural modernization, but also achieved the world's advanced level of overall agricultural production. More agricultural indicators are ahead of other developed countries and occupy the world. China has many similarities with Japan in terms of the objective conditions of the agricultural economy:

1. Both China and Japan are long-term feudal small-scale peasant economies with decentralized operations;

2. Both are dominated by temperate monsoon climates, and crop varieties are similar;

3. Rice accounts for a large proportion of food crops;

4. Countries with more people and less land, the per capita arable land area in Japan is about 0.7 mu, and the per capita arable land area in China is about 1.5 mu;

5. All mountains and hills occupy most of the country;

6. All began land reforms, vigorously promoted land transfer, and made large-scale and intensive agriculture;

7. Because of the serious loss of agricultural labor, the land is unable to cultivate. Japan is "the old grandfather and grandmother cultivated", and China is "the 3,861 troops to cultivate."

However, the difference is that Japan has achieved agricultural modernization and China is still on the road. Therefore, learning from Japan's experience in realizing agricultural modernization has great reference significance for building agricultural modernization with Chinese characteristics.

Characteristics, the value of research

First, high level of mechanization

The United States can take a large-scale mechanized development path, but Japan can't. The national conditions and land system with a large number of people and land have determined that Japan has to take special measures. When there are many mountains, it is designed to be a small machine suitable for mountainous areas. When there are many paddy fields, we design a full-scale machinery from paddy field preparation, seedling raising, transplanting, harvesting and drying. Small and scattered, the design is a small farmer who farms alone. . All the machinery before and after cultivation is considered by the farmers. Every farmer has the necessary agricultural machinery, such as harvesters, spray fertilizer machines, land creping machines, product cleaning and packaging machines. At the same time, the farmer usually has a workshop dedicated to cleaning, finishing and processing agricultural products. This has led to a higher level of mechanization in agriculture in Japan and easier farming of farmers.

Second, the peasant concurrently

Agricultural 兼营 has become an important feature of Japanese agricultural development. There are three main reasons for the concurrent employment of farmers: First, the increase in agricultural productivity and the spread of mechanization have led to a surplus of rural labor; second, the rapid development of Japanese industry after World War II, the rise of a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, and the strong policy of the Japanese government. Under the guidance of the law, urban industries have entered the countryside one after another, which has also led to a large demand for labor. Industrial high wages have also attracted great peasants, and rural labors have been out of control. Third, the Japanese government has guaranteed farmers' income and agricultural development. Encourage farmers to operate concurrently, so that the income of farmers' families is increasing and surpassing urban families. According to the survey, in the 20 years from 1955 to 1975, the non-agricultural income of Japanese farmers' peasants has more than doubled from the initial 30%, becoming the main part of farmers' income, and the peasant households also accounted for 85% of the farmers. And because of the government's support, the Japanese farmers will also retain land during the process of concurrent business. The peasant's concurrent employment has greatly promoted the employment of rural laborers and narrowed the gap between urban and rural areas. It also created favorable conditions for the agricultural modernization of Japan because of the development of industrial and agricultural overall economy.

Third, product specialization

In 1979, the former governor of Oita Prefecture, Japan, was promoted by the "One Village One Product" campaign. The essence is to develop the leading products and leading industries with distinctive regional characteristics according to the requirements of regionalized layout, specialized production and large-scale operation, and then form industrial clusters, and realize the local transfer of rural labor to promote farmers. Increase income and revitalize the rural economy. Through this model, we will continue to introduce and develop new technologies, gradually explore high value-added processing industries, vigorously promote the vigorous development of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, industry and tourism in various regions, and enhance the self-repairing ability of relatively backward areas. Get rid of poverty and get rich. An area has an industrial characteristic of a region. A farmer has a leading product of a farmer, complementing each other and interdependent, and jointly constructing the overall framework of the Japanese agricultural economy. This has also created a good reputation for the quality of Japanese agricultural products. In the decades of the development of the “one village, one product” movement in Japan, farmers have continued to increase their incomes, and the model has been continuously extended. The significance is not limited to the revitalization of a rural area, but directly related to a region, an industry and even a country. Competitiveness.

Fourth, the promotion of "agricultural association"

In order to overcome the adverse effects of the small scale of the operation of the farmers, the Japanese government promulgated the "Agricultural Synergy Combination Law" in November 1947, and established the national collective economic organization "Japan Agricultural Cooperative Organization" (referred to as the Agricultural Cooperative Association), which gradually formed a rural The “agricultural synergy system” from the government to the local government, which is mainly based on the grassroots agricultural association, the prefecture and county agricultural association and the agricultural association. The Agricultural Association strongly protects the rights and interests of farmers and provides farmers with comprehensive services including supply of production materials, sales, production guidance, warehousing and transportation, finance, insurance, agricultural information and welfare culture, through its institutions and extensive business activities throughout the country. Establishing various forms of economic ties with farmers and playing an important role in all aspects of agricultural development. It is worth mentioning that the agricultural association's technical guidance, promotion and other aspects of the affairs are free of charge. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, at present, there are more than 700 grassroots agricultural associations, and more than 99% of the farmers in the country have joined the agricultural association. More than 70% of the farmers’ production and living materials are obtained from the agricultural association. Funds are also mainly provided by the credit department of the Agricultural Cooperative Association. The initial processing, storage and distribution of agricultural products are also heavily dependent on the Agricultural Cooperatives channel. The Agricultural Cooperative has become a catalyst for the development of agricultural mechanization in Japan, which has greatly promoted the realization of Japan's agricultural modernization. However, with the rapid development of the economy, the large-scale entry of social capital into agriculture has directly impacted the agricultural business's operational business. The rigid agricultural cooperative system has been unable to support the development of Japanese agriculture. The agricultural association reform program, which has been maintained for more than 60 years, has also been adopted a few days ago, and institutional and operational reforms will be fully implemented before 2019. However, in any case, the achievements of the Agricultural Cooperative in promoting the modernization of Japanese agriculture will be indelible.

Revelation, both internal and external

Agricultural modernization is a complex system engineering. Agriculture is the ontology, the peasant is the main body, and the rural area is the carrier. “Three-body commonalization” is the real agricultural modernization. Whether it is the "inner" mode advancement or the "external" supporting support, we should take into account both the internal and external repairs of the "three rural" and go hand in hand.

First, starting from rural education, starting from cultivating farmers

In Japan, the homogenization of education allows children in rural areas to receive good education as well, and China’s investment in rural education is not ideal. Especially in many remote areas, education is basically zero, and many children have no money to go to school, which has become a major obstacle to rural economic and agricultural development. Agricultural modernization is a long-term process. It also requires talents with agricultural knowledge. If rural education cannot keep up, let's talk about others. In addition, it is necessary to vigorously cultivate a large number of new professional farmers and develop modern agriculture. Only a large number of new professional farmers with strong market awareness, management, management and technology can develop another world. Only by cultivating new-type peasants as a long-term and fundamentally important event, through technical training and policy support, a group of young and middle-aged peasants with higher quality will be retained to engage in agriculture, attracting a group of migrant workers to return to their hometowns. Only by developing modern agriculture can we develop and expand the main body of new agricultural operations, continuously enhance the vitality of agricultural and rural development, and promote the process of agricultural modernization.

Second, develop characteristic industries and transform their resource advantages into economic advantages

Japan’s “one village, one product” model effectively promotes the development of characteristic agriculture. However, China's geographical distribution is vast, and the level of agricultural development in various regions is uneven. Therefore, China's agricultural modernization choice is not only a path, but also needs to develop a characteristic agricultural industry according to local conditions. It is necessary to make full use of local special resources, produce characteristic products, provide special services, and shape characteristic resources into leading products or industries, and form distinctive brands to integrate the economic, cultural, service and consumption functions of products into one. The product industry advantage is transformed into economic value, thereby greatly increasing farmers' income and improving the overall strength of the rural economy.

Third, accelerate land transfer and promote moderate scale operation

China's traditionally dispersed agricultural production and management models are increasingly unsuitable for the needs of social and economic development. Leading the orderly transfer of rural land management rights and developing moderately-scale agricultural operations have become the only way to solve the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers and realize agricultural modernization. In recent years, the state has adopted a number of policies to encourage rural land circulation, and has achieved certain results, but it has also encountered certain obstacles. Real implementation still needs support from all sides: first, we must improve the legal policies related to land transfer; second, we must improve the rural social security system; third, we must accelerate the process of land confirmation; and fourth, we must encourage purely market-oriented professional land such as the land network. The development of the circulation trading platform; Fifth, we must effectively implement the land transfer financial security service.

Fourth, promote agricultural mechanization and strengthen agricultural infrastructure construction

An important indicator for measuring the level of agricultural modernization is labor productivity, and agricultural mechanization is the main means to improve agricultural labor productivity. Therefore, in order to realize agricultural modernization, it is necessary to vigorously develop agricultural mechanization and use mechanized and technologically technological products to enhance the modernization level of agricultural production. . China's agricultural machinery industry continues to expand in scale and steadily maintains a rapid development trend. The main aggregate indicators are already in the forefront of the world. The subsidy for agricultural machinery purchase is also an important part of the national “three subsidies” policy for strengthening farmers and benefiting farmers. However, the level of agricultural mechanization has not yet been realized, so the state needs to continue to improve the promotion system of agricultural machinery technology; optimize the structure of agricultural machinery and equipment; upgrade the level of mechanization; further broaden the scope of agricultural machinery operation services; strengthen financial subsidies for farmers to purchase machinery; Agricultural machinery service guarantee system, etc. At the same time, we will continue to promote the construction of infrastructure such as agricultural transportation, water conservancy and electric power, improve the level of rural informatization, improve agricultural production conditions, rural livable environment and farmers' living conditions, and provide a solid foundation for China's agricultural modernization.

(Original title: Japanese Agricultural Revelation: China's agriculture still needs "internal and external repair")