Analysis on Development Pathway of Farmer Organization under the Background of Rural Revitalization

College of Kangyang Industry, Sichuan University of Arts and Science, Dazhou 635000, China

1 Introduction

The problem of farmer organization is always a concern point in the academic and political circles. After the reform and opening up, household contract responsibility system plays an indelible positive role in the primary stage of rural economy entering into market economy, greatly stimulates the production enthusiasm of farmers, and basically solves the problem of food and clothing for farmers. But with the development of social economy, the agricultural business model of a family is too single and scattered, which could not adapt to the requirements of scale, industrialization, science and technology, and marketization of modern economy, and the situation needs of China’s agriculture in line with international market. For this, the academia and the government study farmer organization, and various opinions of farmer organization are formed, such as "the key of deepening rural reform is not land transfer but developing cooperative organization for farmers", " farmers lack the employment opportunities to transfer into the city in a long time, and it must develop rural cooperative organization based on current urban-rural dual structure to solve the problems of maintaining rural stability and improving farmers’ life", "agricultural organization is the one of the scattered small agricultural organization realizing its interest, and the rational choice of reducing competition risk under marketization situation". At present, a consensus in educational circle is that it could not depend on the scattered farmers to change poverty in rural areas but the organized farmers. Especially under current background of rural revitalization, benign development of farmer organization becomes the problem that has to be discussed.

2 Sufficiently excavate common interest and enlarge the development link of farmer organization

Rural organization is always main force of impelling farmer organization, and the administration could impel organization management in rural area. But village committee, town government and county government form a "community of interest" before agricultural tax is not canceled. Main work of village committee is "urging food and levying", causing that farmers’ loads are serious, and farmers’ interests are damaged severely. There is antagonistic relation between villagers and rural organization, and rural organization does not sufficiently play the role of organization in farmers. After agricultural tax is canceled, rural finance reduces, and current mainstream opinions are streamlining government institutions, lightening farmer’s load and easing financial difficulties. Therefore, the requirements of streamlining institution, merging village and group, and canceling group leader of village are proposed. At present, the power of rural organization is weakened in each area, rural organization gradually withdraws from rural society, and the influence of rural organization also gradually weakens. Therefore, the possibility of organizing farmers by directly depending on rural organization is not big. Meanwhile, with the transformation of Chinese society, traditional folk organization in China’s countryside taking family, household and clan as the link has become crumbling, which only undertakes some formality tasks related to the family, but could not undertake the task of organizing farmer development.

Traditional farmer organization manner could not play the role of organizing farmers, and it needs a new link to organize traditional household farmers, which is common interest target. Since the reform and opening-up, market economy has went deep into every corner of Chinese society. Market economy makes that farmers only carry out market exchange, and it does not need excessive cooperation among farmers, which causes the atomization condition of farmers, and the atomized farmers are difficult to realize cooperation. Meanwhile, a fundamental change has taken place in the ideology of the peasants, and farmers have not been traditional one. Their consumption appetence has been stimulated by urbanization model, and there is a very strong desire to enrich their families. In addition, current farmers have been very rational and become real economical men. Rational economical man always seeks maximization of personal income, and selects the investment strategy with the maximum interest. Therefore, if the scattered farmers could see the interest brought by organization or the predicted benefit, the scattered farmers could have strong power to join in farmer organization.

Current farmers are also conscious of high risk of market after withstood by the baptism of market competition. Due to the uncertainty of market and natural disaster, the risk competition must greatly influence the interests of the farmers, and farmers also accumulate certain experience and lesson from the competition. When the scattered farmers encounter the difficulty in realizing benefit, they have consciously appealed to for a group and hope to realize benefit by the power of the group. They recognize that only joining up and constituting a collaborating interest community, it could defense the incursion of market storm and reduce operation risk[1]. When the scattered farmers could obtain the interest via organization operation which could not be obtained by individual activity, internal driving force of farmer organization could be generated. At the aspect of fighting political interests, the scattered farmers could not give out their own sound, and they have to rely on the appearance of "Baoqingtian", which only comes out by accident. After the scattered individual becomes the collective, the function of joining in the politics will enhance, and the organized farmers have greater power. Farmer organization could express the wishes and suggestions of farmers in a centralized and complete manner, join in the drafting of standard documents for local governments at all levels, and represent farmers to safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests. With the acceleration of law process in China, the democratic consciousness of Chinese farmers is also increasing, and they seek more political interests. Common interest target has become fundamental element for the existence and development of farmer organization. But there lacks common interest which could obviously induce cooperation in the practice, which is the root cause for that current farmer organization could not be quickly established and develop. There is another possibility that cooperation could bring long-term interest, but it could not be seen by the majority of farmers or they dare not try because that farmers dare not input a certain cost to take a risk. Due to weakness of farmer, economic basis of farmer is too weak, and they could not stand up again when fall once. Therefore, it is difficult to establish farmer organization into the community crossing consanguinity and geopolitical position, and the road of farmer organization will be complicated and complex.

3 Play the advantage of farmer elite and enhance the centripetal force of farmer organization

Relative to the "common people", "elite" possesses more social influence, namely grasping more resources. The resources are diverse, containing wealth, authority, knowledge, experience, and relation. Once these resources are applied to the exercise of power, they could transform into power resource, and the man possessing these resources has charisma and leadership. Farmer organization is not an administrative organization, and the leader is not appointed by higher government organ. In the village of the acquaintance society, the leader is inevitably the peasant himself, and a rural elite possessing various resources is the pillar of a farmer organization. Due to the limitations of view and resource, each scattered farmer especially needs management and guide for farmer organization, and it only be the situation of "a heap of loose sand" said by Sun Yat-sen without the lead of elite.

Rural elites have nimble mind and various ways, and they are the "leaders" and "backbones" of farmers getting rich. The development of professional farmer organization needs the organization and driving of rural elite. A series of cases all display the huge power of rural elite in rural development, such as Shi Laihe in Liuzhuang, Xinxiang of Henan and Zhengbing in Yongji of Shanxi, and the development of Huaxi, Zhulin and Liuzhuang proves that "local elite" is the key of farmer organization. Therefore, the establishment and development of a farmer organization must have peasant elite. But the appearance of elite is not so easy, and the man must be able and charismatic, and be able to serve the people wholeheartedly. Farmer elite must possess three basic conditions. First, farmer elite should have greater social influence, namely grasping more social capitals, such as politic, power, and relation. Only grasping more resources, could the scattered farmers unite around farmer elite to seek some interests, forming an informal group in sociology. Such informal group is the miniature of farmer organization, and farmer organization has the development possibility. Second, farmer elite should have management ability and personal charisma. Only possessing management knowledge and ability, could farmers be organized. Only possessing personal charisma, could legal traditional authority be generated, and the man possessing the authority could be supported and trusted by farmers in farmer organization process. Third, farmer elite should have the the dedication spirit of servicing for the group and driving prosperity. At present, some intellectuals and volunteers rich in humanistic concern have been put into the work of the farmer organization, but they could not merge in farmer population and hope to change the village by their ideas. The elite of farmer organization should not only understand farmers and village and truely represent farmers’ interests, but also have the spirit of dedicating to the whole peasant organization. After all, it needs inputting much cost to establish a farmer organization, and the scattered farmers who could not see long-term interest are not willing to invest at first, which requires elites firstly inputting cost.

But rural elite required by farmer organization becomes fewer and fewer in China’s village. On the one hand, the elite in the village who has knowledge and ability and understands the outside world goes to the city via the channels of going to school and joining the army, all the rest are ordinary "people". Therefore fundamentally speaking, the village cultivates senior specialized talents for the city and the talents leaving the village and agriculture, but not the one "based on the village and servicing for the village"[2]. Especially under the condition of more people, less land and surplus rural labor in current China village, political and academic circles mainly support accelerating the development process of urbanization, quickly improving the proportion of urban population in total population of the country. Current rural poverty problem could be solved by rapid urbanization approach. Therefore, rural people, property and matter massively flow into the city, and rural subject with flow ability is generally rural elite because that only the population with rich resources could be able to transfer to the city, while the development of rural organization just needs such elite.

4 Promote villagers’ quality and cultivate modern farmers

Many scholars concern the problem that what the relation between villagers, villager and village is in rural village, in which "potato" theory by Marx has representational significance. The theory thinks that each farmer accumulating in the same village has very similar production and living conditions, they exchange with land, and there is little horizontal economic tie. Fei Xiaotong thinks that China’s rural society is an acquaintance society and the one with closeness difference and a lot of taboos and precautions. Cao Jinqing thinks that the cause for cooperative organization of farmer not be established is China farmers are good at separation but not cooperation in the tradition. They are separated until the family and are not good at joining in various forms of cooperation based on equal consultation. It is because that farmers in China’s traditional village do not have the consciousness of "community", farmers mainly exchange with land, and the target of grain self-sufficiency could be reached by engaging in agricultural production. When some things could not be solved by single family, a non market property of material and labor exchange network maintaining by human relationship and reciprocity could be used[3]. It could be thought that traditional rural village in China has formed a kind of traditional idea of "not good at cooperation". Small farmer consciousness is deeply rooted, with weak cooperation sense, lacking management ability and condition of modern enterprise, and it does not adapt to the development and requirement of cooperative economic organization.

After long-term precipitation, this kind of social, cultural, or psychological factors forms a kind of thinking set and value orientation, further forming obstinate cultural customs, habits, and ideology. Conservative and backward ideas often lead people’s behavior manner. Although it is not direct cause hindering farmer organization, it affects farmer’s behavior from deep layer and is often fundamental[4]. But what is worth mentioning is that tradition is only a set of habits and behavior manner handed down from generation to generation, and traditional must adapt to the changed actual social environment, but time and persistence of the adaption process decides the complexity of folk cooperation.

In the era of Mao Zedong, the scattered farmers are combined by the administrative force. Cao Jinqing says that "the whole rural collectivization movement sets up a solid sack on each ‘potato’, making them become a ‘community’". Although the farmers in new China experience the baptism of the collectivization movement, cooperation consciousness and ability are still in low level, they still lack the spirit and ability of cooperation and could not establish economic association surpassing family and other primary social relation[3]. Therefore in the society that traditional idea still plays an important role, it is not easy to establish an organization which organizes the scattered farmers to enter market and defend market risk by the way of democracy. To establish a farmer organization adapting to the demands of contemporary society, it must have modern farmer, and modern farmer is basic condition of farmer organization. Without the modern farmers, any condition forming organization loses the carrier of playing function. Therefore, it must change traditional small farmer idea and the backward concept of "good at separation but not cooperation" formed by traditional village. As long as each "potato" becomes "magnet block tending to cooperate, it has the basis of farmer organization. Specific measures are enhancing ideological understanding, improving farmer’s quality, and valuing multifaceted and multi-level training and education of farmer. For example, it should teach farmers scientific culture knowledge, agricultural production technology, new technology, and new operation idea, cultivate farmer’s market concept and consciousness, and enhance their ability of joining in market competition. It should carry out local culture construction, cultivate farmer’s spirit of cooperation and mutual assistance, change farmer’s closed and isolated traditional consciousness, enhance farmer’s interest consciousness, providing the support of ideological basis and cultural consensus for the cooperation of farmer behavior[5].

5 Increase government support and provide strong backing for farmer organization development

The "fragmentation" of the peasant individual needs the organized way to realize right’s guarantee, and farmer could maintain himself interest via organization process. Because that farmer organization process is still at the primary stage, government’s support provides extrinsic impetus for the establishment and development of farmer organization, and government’s support power should be taken as the strong backing of farmer organization existence and development.

Seen from farmer’s own level, farmer organization is a folk organization composed of individual. Due to the history and reality, the weak self built power of rural society, light cooperation consciousness of rural society, and traditional idea of "official standard", the conservative thought that the organization without government support is not legal is formed. Under the situation, folk organization in complete meaning could not form absolute authority for villagers, while farmer cooperation organization under government support could form identity sense in general significance. Seen from farmer organization level, farmer organization development in China is still at exploratory stage. Farmer organization should not only face the challenge of traditional organization manner but also conduct market competition with enterprise organizations and many other socialized service organizations since establishment. In current rural village, farmer organization could not sufficiently play the positive role, which needs government support from multiple aspects. Seen from national policy layer, the policies and laws related to farmer organization are not perfect, which has a great distance from the development demand of farmer organization in tax incentives, financing, and market development. At present, farmer needs cooperation and farmer organization, but lacks spontaneous cooperation ability and organizational environment, which needs government playing active role, perfecting farmer organization environment, impelling farmer cooperation, supporting the establishment and development of farmer organization.

Government support power is the backing of rural organization. First, it should establish, perfect and regulate law system of farmer organization, give legal status of farmer organization, and reduce administrative examination and approval procedures, thereby standardizing and supporting it under legal framework, and creating good system space for farmer organization. Second, government support should be shown in favoured policy, and it should provide the discount in finance and taxation for the development of farmer cooperation organization. Finally, it should increase supporting strength and provide high-quality service. The essence of supporting farmer cooperative organization is supporting farmer, which is the most basic embodiment of government function. Government not only is the representative of people interest but also has rich interpersonal network, information resources, wide vision field and human capital, which could make up the shortages of farmer organization to a certain degree and promote healthy development of farmer organization.

What is worth paying attention to is that independence and sociality of farmer organization are the main points of the problem as the folk organization of integrating farmer interest, service, professionalism, sociality. At present, the boundary of the administrative power of the grass-roots level is unknown, and institutional constraints are not clear, which is difficult to avoid the self expansibility of local administrative organizations. When giving policy support, government could enhance the control and management on farmer organization, and even contain farmer organization in administrative system, intervene internal affairs of farmer cooperation organization, view economic activity of farmer organization as the source of their own extra budgetary income, occupy and flatly regulate the assets of cooperative, take the old ways of the government arrangement and integration of government administration with enterprise. It could make that the the administrative and quasi administrative phenomenon of existing farmer organization becomes very serious. Many farmer organizations are all attached to the name of the government, some organizations are even established under the driving of government coercive measures, and organization’s leader is occupied by government official[6]. The situation seriously interferes the independence of the peasant organization and fundamentally changes the property of farmer organization, and it could not develop into true farmer organization which is favorable for changing rural social governance structure. Therefore, the principle of related government aiming at farmer organization should be indirect control and guide but not direct intervention.

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