Author: Shi Zhile (researcher of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center of Beijing Supreme Leader New Era, lecturer of Marxism College of China Agricultural University)
A strong country must first strengthen agriculture, and a strong agriculture can strengthen the country. For the first time, the Party’s Report to the 20th CPC National Congress clearly put forward "accelerating the construction of an agricultural power". At the recent Central Rural Work Conference, General Secretary of the Supreme Leader emphasized that "to build an agricultural power, we should embody the characteristics of China, base ourselves on China’s national conditions, base ourselves on the resource endowment with a large population and a small amount of land, the historical background of farming civilization, and the requirements of the times of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and go our own way instead of simply copying the model of foreign modern agricultural power", which further pointed out the direction for building an agricultural power with China characteristics.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core has insisted on giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas, made ensuring the effective supply of important agricultural products such as grain as the primary task of agricultural modernization, continuously consolidated and improved the comprehensive agricultural production capacity, and the level of agricultural modernization in China has been steadily improved. In 2022, China’s grain production achieved "19 consecutive bumper harvests", and the grain output was stable at more than 1.3 trillion Jin for eight consecutive years, achieving basic self-sufficiency in grain and absolute safety in rations, providing a solid support for stabilizing the economic market.
However, we should also see that there are still many deep-seated contradictions and problems in China’s agricultural development, which are mainly manifested in the unstable agricultural foundation, weak ability to resist natural risks and market risks, small scale of agricultural operation, low agricultural labor productivity, urgent need to improve quality, efficiency and competitiveness, tight constraints on agricultural resources and environment, and tight balance of grain supply. To solve these contradictions and problems, we need to promote China’s leap from an agricultural power to an agricultural power. To build an agricultural power, we need to learn from the development experience and universal laws of international agricultural power, and we should base ourselves on China’s national conditions, take the road of an agricultural power with China characteristics, and promote the construction of an agricultural power with Chinese modernization.
To build an agricultural power, we should base ourselves on China’s resource endowment with a large population and a small land, and build an agricultural power model with multiple systems, high yield and high efficiency according to local conditions. China is a big agricultural country. The resource endowment conditions of vast territory and abundant resources and small population determine that China’s agricultural development model can neither blindly copy the large-scale model of agricultural powers such as the United States, Canada and Australia, nor simply apply the refined model of agricultural powers such as Israel, Japan and the Netherlands. China is rich in resources and diverse in endowments. In the process of building an agricultural power, it is necessary to combine the advantages of resource endowments in various places with local conditions and take a diversified and differentiated development path. For example, some areas are suitable for large-scale production, which can focus on improving labor productivity; Some areas are suitable for small-scale agriculture, which can focus on improving land productivity; Some areas are suitable for characteristic agricultural production and management, and can focus on improving the efficiency of capital and technology production. At the same time, on the premise of ensuring the total food security, it is necessary to establish a big food concept, build a diversified food supply system that integrates grain, economy, feeding, agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery, and plants and animals simultaneously, so as to achieve a balance between supply and demand of various foods and meet the growing needs of the people for a better life.
To build an agricultural power, we should base ourselves on the historical background of China’s farming civilization, mold and cast souls, and build an agricultural power model that highlights the ideological wisdom and spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation. From agricultural solar terms to agricultural landscape, from rural customs to ecological ethics, the long-standing and profound agricultural civilization, as an important part of China’s excellent traditional culture, provides rich cultural fertile soil and ideological resources for the construction of an agricultural power, and is a valuable asset of China’s agriculture. We should be good at drawing wisdom and strength from the long-standing farming civilization, combining protection, inheritance and development and utilization, and deeply excavating the ideological concepts, humanistic spirit and moral norms contained in excellent traditional farming culture; Combine the outstanding heritage of farming civilization with the elements of modern civilization to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional farming culture; Combine the promotion of excellent farming culture with the promotion of rural revitalization, promote the coordinated development of rural material civilization and spiritual civilization, and make farming civilization glow with new opportunities in the continuous inheritance.
To build an agricultural power, we should base ourselves on the requirements of the times of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and build a green and sustainable agricultural power model scientifically and reasonably. Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that Chinese-style modernization is the modernization in which man and nature coexist harmoniously. This is a transcendence of the modern development road of the west, which is centered on capital, materialistic expansion, pollution first and then governance. Agriculture is an ecological industry, and the countryside is an important part of the ecosystem. To build an agricultural power, we must firmly establish and practice Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets’s concept and constantly polish the ecological background of agricultural development. We should follow the law of distribution and succession of ecosystems and the law of agricultural production, adhere to the principle that forests are suitable for forests, grazing is suitable for grazing, fishing is suitable for fishing, and grain is suitable for grain, adhere to the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, and strengthen the protection of rural ecological environment in an all-round, all-regional and whole-process manner. We should adhere to the concept of green development, properly handle the relationship between agricultural production and ecological environment protection, deepen the reform of compensation system for ecological protection, improve the market mechanism of high quality and good price of agricultural products, strengthen and complete the rural ecological industry chain, turn ecological dividends into industrial benefits and farmers’ income, and take the road of agricultural power with developed production, affluent life and good ecology.
Agriculture is a basic industry related to the national economy and people’s livelihood, and a strategic industry that is safe for the world and stable for the people. To build an agricultural power with China characteristics, we must take root in the land of China, conform to the reality of China, always put agricultural development on the basis of our own strength, solve our own problems with our own agricultural superior resources, firmly control food security in our own hands, and embark on a road to an agricultural power that reflects China’s national conditions, embodies China’s characteristics and highlights China’s wisdom.