Conditions and Paths of Transformation of Agricultural Producing Methods in China

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1. School of Economics, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China; 2. Hubei Rural Development Research Center, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China

1 Introduction

Since the twenty-first Century, due to the continuous growth of population and economy and the increasing demand for quantity and quality of agricultural products, China’s agriculture needs to transform from the traditional small peasant economy to modern agriculture. The research and analysis of the forming basis, constraint conditions and the possibility of change of the agricultural operation mode in China provide a powerful basis for the scientific development of agriculture in China. The transformation of agricultural producing methods mode is a hot issue in the new century in China. As early as 2006, Dong Yazhen[1]put forward the existing land contract management system in China, and we need to start exploring the future direction of transformation. Luo Biliang[2]thought that the main frame of the new agricultural producing methods in the future should be "collective ownership, household contract, property rights subdivision, usage control and division of labor". According to the research results of Yin Ruiyao[3], farmers are more rational in agricultural production. And they may produce according to labor opportunity cost and natural farming conditions, ultimately leading to a sharp reduction in grain production.

The current focus is on the study of the mode of transformation, and there are few articles focusing on the constraints of the transformation and the possibility of transformation. Based on this, we firstly analyze the factors restricting agricultural development in China, then analyze the transformation of agricultural producing methods from the resources and the possibility of economic political and cultural basis of change, and finally put forward three development paths including the large-scale land operation, the development of cooperatives and production processes.

2 Analysis of formation, development foundation and constraint condition of traditional agriculture

2.1Formationanddevelopmentoftraditionalagriculture

Western traditional agriculture originated from the period of slavery, while our country’s traditional agriculture took place at the beginning of the establishment of feudal society. In the middle of Spring and Autumn Period, China began to use iron. In the Western Han Dynasty, China began to popularize wheat, and continued production with summer sowing crops, so that China’s traditional small-scale farming economy began to gradually form. After thousands of years of development, China’s traditional agriculture has gradually shifted from extensive operation to intensive cultivation, gradually shifting from grazing to combining grazing and captivity. Therefore, modern traditional agriculture has some characteristics such as intensive cultivation, single agricultural structure, small scale agriculture, and poor ability to resist natural disasters.

2.2Developmentfoundationoftraditionalagriculture

2.2.1The low level of productivity is the basis for the existence of traditional agriculture. In the thousands of years of feudal system in our country, China’s agricultural production tools still do not have qualitative changes in terms of production tools. These tools can only be suitable for small-scale production of individuals, and can not achieve the scale of production. From the perspective of the labor force, our country has been attached to the landlord economy system and lacked a certain degree of freedom for thousands of years. Under such constraints, China has been able to develop self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy for thousands of years.

2.2.2Dispersion of land and means of production is the basis for the existence of traditional agriculture. Traditional agriculture has existed on a small scale since its birth. Under the constraints of our country’s traditional feudal system, most of the land is in the hands of the feudal and aristocratic classes. However, in the actual farming, farmers are engaged in decentralized farming. After the reform and opening up, China implemented the household contract responsibility system, and the use of land was contracted to farmers in households. Under a series of institutional conditions, China’s land management will inevitably have great dispersion. At the same time, under the traditional culture of our country, there has always been the concept of separation and production, and this splitting behavior will also lead to the continuous dispersion of land and means of production.

2.3Constraintsoftraditionalagriculturaldevelopment

2.3.1Inherent resource endowment. Resource endowment is the basis for deciding the development. In the process of agricultural development in our country, the amount of cultivated land and the number of laborers are a prerequisite for deciding the development of agriculture. China has always been in a state of many people and less land, and China’s population will not decrease in a short period of time over the next few decades. At the same time, with the continuous advancement of urbanization, the continuous accumulation of urban population will lead to the continuous expansion of urban land area, making the area of arable land continue to decrease, thus the contradiction between land insufficiency and overpopulation will persist for a long time. Moreover, China is still a country with relatively scarce water resources. The amount of arable land and the quantity of water resources are the basis for agricultural production. The scarcity of these intrinsic resources will make agricultural production more fragmented, leading to high production costs and low agricultural labor productivity. As a result, agricultural products in China have lost their competitiveness in the international market, thereby affecting agricultural development and farmers’ income increase.

2.3.2Political economic and cultural constraints. The political and cultural development of a country determines the form and direction of agricultural production. The family-based contracting system is based on rural households and has obvious labor enthusiasm. This obvious labor incentive is a basic condition for maintaining agricultural production. At the same time, our country has always had the habit of inheriting and splitting production, it will make agricultural production more and more dispersed, the number of rural households will increase, and the small-scale peasant economy will be further stabilized. In the politically stable modern times, this cultural practice often leads to the accumulation of a large number of laborers in the countryside, further strengthening the small-scale peasant economy.

3 Possibility of transforming China’s agricultural constraints

3.1PossibilityofchangesinresourceendowmentsIn recent years, the average cultivated area of farmers in China has not changed significantly. Under the existing minimum standard of 120 million mu of arable land, if the scale of rural households in China is to reach the average per capita arable land area of 1.6 ha in Asia, the number of rural households in China should be reduced by nearly 70%. Such a huge reduction in the number of rural households is impossible to accomplish in the short term. On the one hand, the development of urbanization in China cannot be so rapid. It is impossible for China’s existing urban scale and urban infrastructure to accommodate the influx of so many people. On the other hand, if there is a large-scale transformation in agricultural development, it will inevitably lead to the existence of a large number of surplus laborers. How do these laborers be placed and how to deal with their pension problems? These problems must be solved in advance, otherwise the agricultural transformation will not be completed.

3.2PossibilityofchangesineconomicbaseandpoliticalculturebaseFirst of all, from the perspective of family management and labor incentives, under the existing production environment and social environment, family management is the best mode of choice currently. Only if the family is the unit, can we better play the role of labor incentives. Secondly, from the point of view of the employment significance of family management for agriculture, the survival of a large number of rural population in China currently depends on the small-scale farming operation of the family. If the existing mode of operation is changed so that a large amount of land is operated in the hands of a few people, then the problem of employment of surplus rural labor has become the current primary problem. Thirdly, judging from the current problems of mechanization and employment quality, China has not yet reached the full range of mechanized technical requirements. At the same time, the employed workers are also difficult to master the key technologies of modern agricultural production. In the end, the habits of family separation and analysis that have been inherited for thousands of years in China cannot be changed within a short time.

4 Agricultural producing method transformation paths

Through the above analysis of agricultural transformation, it can be concluded that China’s agricultural transformation is limited by resource endowments and social conditions, so it is basically impossible to rapidly transform in a short period of time. Therefore, the direction of development of China’s agriculture in the future is still based on family management, supplemented by multiple mixed development model. The specific multi-development model can be achieved through the following three paths.

4.1LargescalelandoperationWith the accelerating land circulation, land scale is also an important way to transform the mode of agricultural producing methods in China. In the process of carrying out the land scale operation, the two principles of "according to local conditions" and "according to species and measures" should be implemented. China’s geomorphological characteristics are diverse. Therefore, different local scale standards are also different. In the western hilly areas, a dozen hectares are also considered to be scale operations. In the plain area, it is necessary to do concentrated production, regulated production, and ultimately strive to advance the entire process of mechanized production as far as possible. In the future, the large-scale development should be gradual, and it should not be done in one-size-fits-all manner. The conditions of scale in different regions and different crops should also be different.

4.2Farmers’cooperativesandorganizationsFarmers’ cooperatives and organizations are one of the key areas for China’s future agricultural development. The number of farmers’ cooperatives in China has increased from 30 000 to 1 790 000 at the end of 2016 in the past 10 years, and the growth rate has been rapid. However, there are many empty shell cooperatives in China’s peasant cooperatives. Farmers are seriously involved in the participation. The phenomenon of "passive participation" is more serious. In this kind of farmer cooperatives, the income of the core members is generally more obvious, while the farmers who are normally involved in cooperatives do not have obvious benefits. Therefore, when developing cooperatives in the future, we must scientifically recognize the inadequacies of existing cooperatives, conduct adequate practical survey, find out the non-standardization of cooperatives, and propose reform plans. On the other hand, it is possible to adjust measures to local conditions, not to adopt unified standards for cooperatives, and to abolish the evaluation index system for the development of cooperatives.

4.3LargescaleagriculturalsectoroperationOutsourcing of production processes originated in industrial production, and the production steps are gradually decomposed and contracted to other enterprises or organizations. This is actually a kind of division of labor, which can increase production efficiency and reduce production costs. Another way to implement agricultural transformation can be achieved through outsourcing of agricultural production links. Outsourcing through operation can also realize the modernization of agriculture without touching the property rights of land. At the same time, job outsourcing will make it possible to specialize in any link. The service can thus increase production efficiency, reduce production costs, and achieve economies of scale. Agricultural outsourcing can also diversify agricultural risks and reduce agricultural risks.

5 Conclusions

By analyzing the constraints and possibilities of China’s agricultural producing methods, at present, whether it is from the perspective of resource endowments or changes in social conditions, China’s agricultural business can not be transformed quickly. The major problem in the transformation of agricultural production methods is the employment and resettlement of the population. The solution to the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers is outside the rural areas. Only by the development of urban infrastructure and the supply of public goods, as well as the provision of more jobs, while reducing the cultural differences between urban and rural areas, will the rural population be enabled to migrate as far as possible to the cities. Judging from the current situation, in a short period of time, we should persist on family management as the mainstay and develop multi-hybrid agricultural development model, such as small-scale farmers, major growing households, cooperatives and a small number of enterprises. The transformation of agricultural production methods will be gradually realized by the large scale land operation, the professional cooperation of farmers, and the scale large production processes.

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