Analysis on Technology road map of Agricultural Equipment Industry in Chongqing

Chongjing TAN，Jin YE，Shi YANG

1.College of Economics and Management，Southwest University，Chongqing 400716，China；2.College of Engineering and Technology，Southwest University，Chongqing 400716，China

1 Introduction

Technology road map，invented by Motorola in the 1970's，has been applied as an analyzing tool to product technologic planning［1］.Technology road map has been applied on the levels of nation，industry and enterprise in predicting the direction of future market and technological development and making strategic decisions.On industry level，technology road map makes enterprises clearly see their economic-social environments，identify opportunities，improve capabilities，recognize trends of technological development and establish priorities of technology and product developments；it may also make people in a industry integrate resources，form strategic unions，cooperate and commit themselves to developing common key technologies and promoting industrial development.Industrial technology road map is applied maturely in developed countries，and its planning is mainly led by research institutions，industry associations and enterprises.Industrial technology road map was introduced into China lately.The promotion of technology road map planning is mainly led and funded by governments，and participation of enterprises remains at a low level，which affects the practical effect of technology road map.Therefore，this research makes special effort to overcome this defect.400 expert questionnaires have been designed，collected and sorted.5 symposiums have been held，involving nearly 100 peers from governments，industrial associations，colleges，enterprises and research institutions，paying special attention to the participation of enterprises.Besides，this paper includes the agricultural equipment manufacturing industry and agricultural mechanization in the analysis framework of agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing.In contrast to other similar researches in China，this paper is innovative and instructive in terms of scope of research and R＆D projects.

2 A research on the technology road map of agricultural equipment of Chongqing-with planting industry as an example

Given that planting industry has a heavy weight in the agricultural output of Chongqing and is significant for guaranteeing the food security，this paper chooses planting industry as an example to conduct a research on the technology road map of agricultural equipment of Chongqing.The mechanism of technology road maps in other equipment industries such as aquaculture and agricultural products processing industries are similar and therefore will not be elaborated.

2.1 Analysis of market demand

2.1.1 The current situation of the development of agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing.

（i）The Current Situation of the Development of Agricultural Equipment Manufacturing of Chongqing.（a）Rapid development and numerous enterprises.In 2012，the total output of the agricultural machinery industry in Chongqing has risen above 10 billion，and there are more than 200 enterprises of agricultural machinery，including 40 large ones.The production and market of small agricultural machinery of Chongqing are in the lead in China，and Chongqing has become an important manufacturing base of small agricultural machinery.The agricultural machinery manufactured in Chongqing include farm power machineries，whole farmingma-chines， irrigation equipment， agricultural produce processing equipment，agricultural facilities equipment.The products not only satisfy the market demand in Chongqing but also extend to the whole country.（b）Good foundation of machinery manufacturing and complete supporting of agricultural machinery manufacturing.Chongqing as an important industrial base in China is strong in equipment manufacturing and has a developed industry of universal small gasoline engine manufacturing.The machinery manufacturing industry，especially the motorcycle manufacturing industry，is complete and perfect，and has a large team of talents.Due to the overcapacity of motor cycle manufacturing in recent years，some former enterprises of motor cycle and ancillary equipment have successfully transferred to machinery manufacturing industry and has preliminarily developed industry chains of agricultural machinery and ancillary manufacturing，which lays a good foundation for the development of agricultural equipment manufacturing of Chongqing.（c）The thriving of mini-tiller manufacturing and limited variety of other products.The agricultural equipment manufacturing industry is represented by mini-tiller manufacturing.At present，the city has more than 100 mini-tiller manufacturing enterprises，and the annual output remains steadily above 1million，approximately taking 70%of the whole country.The products are exported to Southeast Asian，South America and East Europe；the exports take the first place in China.Chongqing，therefore，is well-known as＂Capital of Mini-tiller in China＂.However，except tiller，other varieties of agricultural machineries are rather limited and manufacturing scale is small.The manufacturing of small planting and fertilizing machinery that hilly areas urgently need is just starting.Onlymore than 10 enterprises have preliminarily researched and developed small grain harvesters，which still suffer the problems of poor reliability and low operation quality.

（ii）The Current Situation of Agricultural Mechanization of Chongqing.In 2012 the total power of agricultural machinery of Chongqing is11.6million kilowatts.The comprehensive mechanization level of cultivating，planting and harvesting is 33.05%.Totally 220.6 thousand items（sets）of subsidized machinery have been promoted the year round.The total area of mechanized cultivating，planting and harvesting arrives at 2.23 million hm2.The total of mechanically harvested crop is 1.85 million t，through which peasants have gained about0.93 billion yuan RMB of cost savings and income［2］.Pilot mechanized production of potatoes has been propelled successfully.Tests of the format and field harvesting performance of small corn harvester prototype have been accomplished.Chongqing has insisted on an organic combination of machinery promotion and technology promotion.Each year above 70 thousand drivers are trained，with priority given to developing new-type agricultural machinery service institutions such as professional cooperatives of agricultural machinery，companies of agricultural machinery service and rental markets of agricultural machinery.Presently，Chongqing has accumulatively constructed 705 professional cooperatives of agricultural machinery，among which 25 ones have been rated as the National Model Cooperatives of Agricultural Machinery.

2.1.2 SWOT analysis on agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing.

（i）Strength.（a）Complete supporting；（b）low price；（c）sufficient laborers；（d）convenient traffic and transportation；（e）convenient after-sale service；（f）official attention to agricultural mechanization.

（ii）Weakness.（a）Numerous small enterprises；（b）low R＆D capability；（c）few famous brands and limited product variety；（d）poor applicability and comfort of agricultural machinery；（e）large area of hills；（f）poor education and physical condition of remaining peasants；（g）small scale of agricultural management and low degree of organization.

（iii）Opportunity.（a）Increased subsidization of machinery purchase by the country；（b）accelerated transfer of rural labor force；（c）peasants'increased income and purchasing power；（d）the rise trend of agricultural product prices；（e）high prices of imported agricultural machinery；（f）official attention to agricultural mechanization in hilly areas.

（iv）Threat.（a）Entry of foreign agricultural machinery enterprises into China；（b）rise of material and labor cost；（c）financing difficulty；（d）RMB appreciation；（e）raised standard of energy-save and emission-abate.

2.1.3 Analysis on elements of market demand.Through questionnaires and expert discussions，the task force summarises the market demand elements of recent，（in 5 years），interim（in 5-10 years）and forward（in 10-15 years）of agricultural equipment in Chongqing.the market demand elements are divided into four aspects including quality of agricultural equipment，objects and procedures of operation，agricultural machinery service，and infrastructure.The first 10 elements of recent market demand（values of importance are given in brackets）are：adaptability（8.3）；reliability（8.1）；rice transplanting and harvesting（8.0）；quality of operation（7.8）；maintenance service（7.75）；agricultural technology training（7.65）；price of machines（7.55）；convenience of maintenance（7.5）；whole farming land（7.5）；convenience of application（7.35）.

2.2 Analysis on industrial targetsOn the basis of the 10 market demand elements above and the first 10 industrial targets obtained through expert judgment，analysis matrix was est ablished.Through a correlation analysis，the top 10 market-driven targets of agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing are identified as follows in order：（correlation assessment values given in brackets）：increase of market share（6.07）；construction of public innovation platform，improvement of innovative ability（5.99）；introduction and digestion and absorption of advanced equipment and technology from other countries（5.97）；optimization of product structure，realization of product diversification（5.74）；construction of industry park of agricultural machinery equipment，and realization of industrial agglomeration（5.71）；improvement of whole quality of the employed in agricultural machinery manufacturing（5.42）；improvement of utilization efficiency of agricul-tural machinery enter prises'capital（5.21）；cultivation of leading enterprises，and development of well-known brands（4.86）；energy conservation（4.82）；improvement of equipment of agricultural machinery manufacturing enterprises（4.80）.

2.3 Analysis on technology barrierOn the basis of the 10 market-correlating industrial targets above and the first 10 technological barriers obtained through expert judgement，analysis matrix was established.Through a correlation analysis，the top 10 technological barriers in the process of achieving the market-driven targets of agricultural equipment industrial in Chongqing are identified as follows in order：（correlation assessment values given in brackets）：public innovation platform for agricultural machinery design research（4.18）；weight reduction and adaptability of rice combine harvester（4.0235）；reliability and durability of rice combine harvester（4.0233）；effective application of innovation methods in agricultural machinery design research（3.95）；weight reduction and adaptability of small cultivator（3.88）；high operational efficiency of rice combine harvester（3.84）；high reliability and convenience of maintenance of small whole farming machine（3.80）；high operation efficiency of small whole farming machine（3.74）；reasonable match of power of rice combine harvester（3.71）；weight reduction and adaptability of potato and sweet potato harvester（3.65）.

2.4 Analysis on R＆D demandBymeansanalysing industrial market demand，industrial targets and technological barriers，and through experts'analysis and discussion，the top technology R＆D items of agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing are established as follows：

Table 1 Top technology R＆D items of agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing（for the planting industry）

3 Recommendations

3.1 Integrating resources，constructing platform and improving innovation abilityWith reference to the technology road map of the agricultural equipment industry in Chongqing，integration of resources，construction of public innovation platform，implementation of innovative research on common key technologies（low vibration small mini-tiller for example）under the leadership of governmental sectors concerned and industrial associations are helpful for achieving innovation of high-efficiency products.Developing new products，however，is faced with unmanageable technological and market risks.For example，harvesting rice，corn and potatoes in hilly areas want applicable machines；in spite of this market demand，the considerable difficulty and risk in developing these machines，and the insufficiency of appropriate technologies，funds and talents，and the shortage of motivation require governments to integrate strengths of industry，university and research institute，and form strategic unions of technological innovation to conduct intensive research on key technologies and carry out joint innovation.By means of establishing public innovation platform of agricultural machinery，sharing science and technology resources，promoting transfer of common key technologies to enterprises，the innovation capabilities of enterprises will be improved and more agricultural machines applicable to agricultural production in hilly areas will be developed，consequently making a batch of core technological achievements with completely independent intellectual property rights.

3.2 Constructing agricultural industry park and promoting clustered development of agricultural equipment industry

Majority of the agricultural machinery enterprises of Chongqing are located in the central urban area within the First Loop Highway and therefore are faced with the fact of the price rise of land and labour in the central urban area，and industrial transformation and update.Governments canmake use of thisopportunity，taking advantage of the relative low price of land and labour among other districts，planning and constructing agricultural machinery parks in the districts，laying down favourable policies to guide and encourage agricultural machinery manufacturing enterprises and related supporting enterprises to settle down in the parks，perfecting industry chain and forming clusters of agricultural machinery industry.Within clusters，agricultural machinery enterprises may learn from each other，sharing resources and technologies to lower costs and strength competitiveness.According the above technology road map of agricultural equipment industry，Chongqing should take a different route，developing its own characteristics，specializing on small and compact agricultural machinery that are applicable to hilly areas，engage itself in an asymmetrical competition with the provinces of Shandong and Jiangsu which are strong in large agricultural machinery manufacturing，striving to construct the largest cluster of developing and manufacturing small and compact agricultural machinery.

3.3 Strengthening finance and taxation support Active efforts need to be made to attract investment of banks and credit guarantee institutions in agricultural machinery enterprises in Chongqing.Priority of fostering and assisting should be given to promising enterprises in growth；and they should be encouraged to raise funds through public financing and issuing corporate bonds.Active efforts should be made to attract from financial institutions financial support of leading enterprises and key projects of technological reform.Agricultural equipment industry directly serves agriculture，country side and peasants.In view of the current situation of agriculture，country side and peasants，the prises of middle and small sized agricultural machines are generally low，and the profits of major of agricultural machinery enterprises are low accordingly.Enterprises running with low profitsare short of sustainable development stamina.Therefore，it is suggested that government，apart from continuing and expanding subsidies on agricultural machinery purchasing，should also introduce a few other finance and taxation policies，and provide special subsidieson agricultural machines that have protective farming function，deep ploughing and deep loosening function.Agricultural machinery manufacturing enterprises that comply with national industrial policies should be given a preferential rate of20%in income tax.

3.4 Strengthening construction of agricultural mechanization infrastructureFurther improvement of the agricultural mechanization level in Chongqing urgently needs to solve problem ofmechanization in the links of sowing and harvesting；However，machines in these links are not only expensive but also impose high requirement on infrastructure（such as tractor road，farmland improvement，farm sheds and maintenance stations）.Therefore，continuous and extensive improvement of agricultural mechanization level in Chongqing requires strengthened infrastructure construction.Advisably，building tractor roads，improving farmland may be included in basic construction of farmland irrigation and comprehensive agricultural development projects，planned together and implemented in tandem.In land planning and using，construction of agricultural machinery sheds and improvement the maintenance condition of agricultural machinery should be given active support.With respect tomaintenance stations，three regional agricultural machinery maintenance centres within the First Loop Highway and Two Flanksmay be set up，and maintenance branches may be setup in villages and towns，whichmay promptly satisfy the need of maintaining agricultural machinery.

3.5 Substantially developing socialized service of agricultural machineryOn the one hand，peasants in hilly areas of Chongqing have lower incomes than those living in plain areas；andmajority of young peasants migrate as workers to other places.Women，children and old people left home are incapable of farming；therefore socialized service of agricultural machinery is urgently needed to solve the problems of land abandoning and extensive management which are threatening food security.On the other hand，agricultural machinery users and cooperatives have the economic intention to provide service of agricultural machinery in order to adequately utilize agricultural machinery and increase business benefits of agricultural machinery.Therefore，new agricultural business entities such as large families and cooperatives of agricultural machinery should be vigorously developed，and they should be given preferences in obtaining subsidies on agricultural machinery purchasing，operating，fuel supplying and replacing of the old with new ones，to increase degree of organization in agricultural machinery services and promote joint use of agricultural machinery.Socialized services of agricultural machinery such as order service，trans-regional operation，operation contract，land trusteeship should be vigorously carried out.These services should be continuously improved to become the best part of agriculture socialized service and important means to guarantee peasants'continued increase of income.

［1］ZENG L，SUN YM.Fundamentals of industry technology road mapping［M］.Guangzhou：South China University of Technology Press，2007：1.（in Chinese）.

［2］Agricultural Information Center of Chongqing.Theworkingmeeting of agricultural mechanization in Chongqing washeld［EB／OL］http：／／www.cqagri.gov.cn／detail.asp 2013-2-28.（in Chinese）.