Qu Dongyu: Accelerating the Modernization of Small Farmers with Informatization

Small-scale farmers (hereinafter referred to as small farmers) are the basic units and important subjects of agricultural production and management in China. It is not only in line with historical logic, but also an important realistic path to promote the overall modernization of China's agriculture by the modernization of small farmers. From the perspective of international experience, the process of smallholder modernization can be roughly divided into four stages: "primitive smallholder-natural smallholder-commodity smallholder-modern smallholder". my country is currently in the critical transition from "commodity smallholder" to "modern smallholder". period. In this process, the information technology revolution provides an important opportunity to promote the joint operation of small farmers, realize the standardization of small farmers' production, product characteristics and marketing branding. Accelerating the modernization of small farmers with informatization and achieving leapfrog development is a strategic choice for my country to expand and strengthen advantageous characteristic industries and deepen agricultural supply-side structural reforms.

Realizing the modernization of small farmers is a major task for China in a long period of time.

More people and less land is the basic national condition of our country, and the promotion of agricultural modernization must always be based on this basic national condition.

After the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, there are three main types of agricultural production and operation organizations in my country: one is scattered small-scale farmers. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, as of the end of 2016, there were nearly 0.26 billion farmers with an operating scale of less than 50 acres in my country, accounting for about 97% of the total number of farmers. The cultivated land area under operation accounted for about 82% of the total cultivated land area in the country, and the average cultivated land area per household was 5. About mu. Second, moderate scale business households. As of the end of 2016, there were about 3.5 million new agricultural entities with an operating scale of more than 50 acres, with a total operating area of about 0.35 billion acres, and an average operating scale of 100 acres. However, compared with the farms with an average scale of 100-200 hectares in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the operation scale of new agricultural entities in China is relatively small. Three is the land reclamation and corps enterprises. At present, my country's agricultural reclamation enterprises operate more than 9300 million mu of arable land, accounting for 4.6 percent of the country's total arable land. It can be seen that the scale of China's agricultural production and operation organizations is still small, and small farmers are still the main ones.

According to preliminary calculations, the average annual growth rate of my country's rural land circulation area in the past 10 years is about 3%. In the next 30 years, considering the trend of accelerating land circulation and the absorption of rural labor force by new urbanization, the average annual growth rate of rural land circulation area in China is expected to reach 3%-4%. According to this estimate, by 2020, there will still be about 0.22 billion small farmers with an operating scale of less than 50 mu, accounting for about 80% of the country's total arable land; by 2030, there will be 0.17 billion households, accounting for about 70% of the arable land; by 2050, there will still be about 0.1 billion households, accounting for about 50% of the arable land. Therefore, for a long time, small farmers will still be the main organizational form of agricultural production and management in China, and the modernization of small farmers will be the key field and major issue of agricultural modernization in China.

Can not copy the experience and model of foreign countries to promote the modernization of small farmers.

In today's world, agricultural modernization in most countries started from small farmers. However, due to the different resource endowments, historical cultures, political systems, and development levels of various countries, the development models are different. There are four typical types: One is to "eliminate small farmers". The most famous is the British "enclosure movement". This movement forced a large number of farmers to abandon their land and enter the factory, and agricultural production went directly to the stage of large-scale farm management. The second is to form cooperatives. The Dutch approach is more typical. The Netherlands began to promote agricultural cooperatives in the 1870 s, promoting the transformation of "commodity small farmers" to "modern small farmers. Agricultural cooperatives are equivalent to the "consortia" of small farmers, which are completely owned, controlled and benefited by their members. At present, about 50% of the Netherlands' concentrated feed, 60% of chemical fertilizers, 70% of vegetables, 80% of milk and more than 95% of flowers and potatoes are provided or produced by agricultural cooperatives. Third, the establishment of agricultural associations or agricultural associations. Typical representatives are Japan and South Korea. They were industrialized in the 1970 s and 1990 s respectively, but small farmers with a business scale of about 2 hectares still account for a large proportion. In order to help the development of small farmers, Japan established an agricultural association organization with government-civilian cooperation and close political and economic integration in 1900, and established a complete system from cities, towns and villages, prefectures and counties to the central government to provide farmers with production, technology, etc. service. Founded in 1961, the South Korea Agricultural Association is similar in nature and function to Japan. Fourth, comprehensive assistance to small farmers. India has made some explorations in this regard. About 80% of India's population lives in rural areas, which is a typical small-scale peasant society. In order to help small farmers realize agricultural modernization, India began to promote the second "green revolution" in 2004, giving full play to its advantages as a computer software country, vigorously promoting the application of computer network technology in rural areas, and providing farmers with technical and market information services. At the same time, the Indian government also actively supports the development of agricultural credit cooperatives, agricultural product processing cooperatives, and agricultural product sales cooperatives, and through policies such as small farm assistance, characteristic industry credit, and investment subsidies to enhance the development capacity of small farmers.

The practices of these countries have certain inspiration and reference significance, but they are obviously not completely suitable for China's national conditions and cannot be copied. At present, China is in a critical period of transformation from "commodity small farmers" to "modern small farmers". Of course, we can't take the road of "eliminating small farmers" in Britain, and it is not advisable to establish agricultural associations like Japan and South Korea. The experience of the Netherlands can be used for reference, but it is different from the level of agricultural development in China. India's approach has merits, but its smallholder development model is essentially a mixture of "primitive smallholders" and "commodity smallholders", which is far from my country's basic national conditions. Therefore, the modernization of small-scale farmers in China must be based on the world situation, national conditions and agricultural conditions, and walk out of a development path with Chinese characteristics.

Promoting the Modernization of Small Farmers by Informatization Concords with Historical Logic and Practical Needs

To promote agricultural modernization and urbanization in a large agricultural country with a long history, it is necessary to "let residents see the mountains, see the water, and remember homesickness". In our country, small farmers are not only the basic unit of agricultural economy, but also carry the local complex of the Chinese nation; small farmers are not only the foundation of our society, but also carry important economic, social, cultural and ecological functions.

Since the founding of New China, China has actively explored and promoted agricultural modernization based on small farmers. One is the establishment of people's communes. The people's commune system has realized the concentration of land, labor and other resources, but due to the rigid mechanism, it restricts the enthusiasm of farmers in production and management, restricts the development of productivity, and cannot promote the transformation of "primitive small farmers" and "natural small farmers" to modern agriculture. Second, the implementation of agricultural moderate scale management. After the reform and opening up, China's rural areas implemented the household contract responsibility system, small farmers once again become the main body of agricultural economy, agricultural productivity has been greatly improved, and the market awareness of agricultural subjects has been continuously enhanced. Especially with the emergence of moderate-scale business entities such as farmer cooperatives, large grain growers, and family farms, my country has basically realized the transformation from "natural small farmers" to "commercial small farmers. However, due to the lack of a stable interest linkage mechanism between small farmers, small farmers and cooperatives and social service organizations, the degree of standardization and specialization of small-scale farmers' production is low, and their ability to cope with market-oriented and international competition is weak. Third, large-scale investment in industrial and commercial capital. In recent years, the speed of industrial and commercial capital entering the agricultural field has accelerated, which has brought advanced business concepts and business models, and improved the level of agricultural industrialization. However, industrial and commercial capital often requires large-scale concentration of land, so it is only suitable for small farmers can not do or do not do well in areas, such as agricultural products processing and circulation and agricultural social services, and should not be used as a substitute for small farmers.

Practice shows that the modernization of small farmers in our country must focus on respecting the dominant position of small farmers, starting from improving the self-development ability of small farmers, based on the characteristics of region, climate, and national culture, and make a fuss on advantageous and characteristic industries. We should promote the joint operation of small farmers, focus on the standardization of production, the characteristics of products, and the branding of marketing, so that small farmers can integrate into the establishment and development of "one county, one product", "one township, one product" and "one village, one product", participate in domestic and international market competition, and share the dividend of industrial development.

At present, the deep integration of informatization and agricultural modernization provides a major strategic opportunity for the transformation of my country's agriculture from "commodity small farmers" to "modern small farmers. In terms of production, through the development of Internet cloud farms, scattered small farmers can be united, rationally arrange production plans, optimize the allocation of production factors, and improve the standardization and technological level of small-scale farmers' production. In terms of operation, we should develop rural e-commerce, organize small farmers to meet the needs of diversified markets, and promote characteristic agricultural products and handmade products to the whole country or even go abroad through the Internet. It can also innovate the online marketing mode of leisure agriculture, develop creative agriculture, experience agriculture, folk tourism and other sharing economy, and create geographical brands of various formats. In terms of services, through the construction and operation of information entering villages and households, it provides small farmers with timely agricultural policies, agricultural technology extension, market prices and other information services, and helps small farmers use mobile terminals to enhance their ability to develop production, live conveniently, increase income and become rich, and integrate into the agricultural industry chain.

Informatization provides strategic opportunities for the modernization of small farmers with Chinese characteristics

The practice at home and abroad shows that the process of agricultural informatization includes three steps: first, connecting people to realize the joint and cooperation of producers; then connecting commerce to realize the effective docking of production and market; finally connecting industries to realize the integration and development of 1. 2. and three industries. Relying on informatization to promote the modernization of small farmers, the government should strengthen the construction of rural informatization and logistics infrastructure, do a good job in the online and offline planning of small farmers' modernization, and enhance the ability of small farmers to apply information technology.

Access to the Internet to build a joint foundation for small farmers. We will speed up the construction of an information superhighway covering all rural areas, and actively encourage and strengthen the construction of rural network infrastructure. We will promote the construction of "cloud", "network" and "end" as a whole, and take the lead in breaking through the bottleneck constraints of "network" and "end. We will promote the in-depth implementation of the "Broadband China" strategy in rural areas, so that small farmers can access the Internet anytime and anywhere, so as to realize the online gathering of advantageous and characteristic agricultural products of the same region and variety, and the online combination of producers, so as to lead offline decentralized and standardized production with online scale effect.

Even the big market, to promote the production and operation of small farmers into the Internet era. Accelerate the construction of a global agricultural data survey and analysis system, and increase the implementation of information into villages and households. We will develop a key agricultural product information service platform for small farmers, and develop agricultural e-commerce in which the downward movement of agricultural materials and the upward movement of agricultural products are simultaneously promoted. Establish and improve the joint disciplinary mechanism for dishonesty in the field of rural e-commerce. Through the Internet to achieve the precise docking of small farmers' production and large market demand, so that the production and operation activities of small farmers into the Internet era.

Integrate into the industrial chain and improve the ability of small farmers to share industrial value-added. Accelerate the construction of an Internet industry platform that can effectively gather small-scale farmers' production resources and distribute and open docking. Encourage all localities to develop Internet characteristic industrial platforms based on their own advantages that can promote the alliance and cooperation of small farmers, and create a modern agricultural sharing economic platform based on small farmers. Encourage new agricultural business entities and leading agricultural industrialization enterprises to connect with the Internet industry platform, connect small farmers through the Internet, promote the cooperation of the whole industry chain, provide information technology services, promote the sharing of land transfer transaction information, realize the three-dimensional industrial profit sharing, and gather scattered small farmers into a "big aircraft carrier" to go to sea in groups ".

Develop new technologies to encourage small farmers to become customizers of new applications. Based on small farmers, establish a digital production system for the entire process of the agricultural industry chain, accelerate the research and development and promotion of agricultural intelligent equipment suitable for small farmers, make full use of modern information technology to improve resource utilization and labor productivity, and build a high-quality and safe agricultural product supply chain. Standardize the development of a socialized service platform for the entire agricultural industry chain with intensive online elements and accurate offline services, and standardize the development of agricultural Internet finance and agricultural crowdfunding, so that farmers can enjoy advanced customized, professional, and socialized services without leaving their homes.

Cultivate new farmers and let small farmers become the main force in the construction of modern agriculture. Local governments at all levels are encouraged to provide training on the basics and application of the Internet to small farmers by purchasing services. Encourage small farmers with Internet thinking to adapt to local conditions, focus on the development of leisure agriculture, deep processing of agricultural products, and rural service industries to return to their hometowns to start businesses, and accelerate the cultivation of a large number of new professional farmers in the Internet era who love agriculture, understand technology, and are good at management. Intensify publicity and tell the story of small farmers using the Internet to start businesses and innovate.

(The author is a member of the Party Group and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture)