Three major problems in the reform of agricultural supply side

At the end of last year, the Central Economic Work Conference put the structural reform of the agricultural supply side as one of the key tasks of continuing to deepen the supply-side structural reform this year. The province timely proposed measures for implementation. Today, when the agricultural product market continues to prosper, why should we carry out structural reforms in the supply side of agriculture?

Three major problems in the reform of agricultural supply side

The first is food security. Food security is an important cornerstone of social development. At present, more and more regions, especially large-scale urban agglomerations such as the “Yangtze River Delta” and “Pearl River Delta”, rely more on market and trade to ensure food security in the process of rapid marketization and urbanization. That is to rely on external food production bases to protect the food security of tens of millions of local residents. However, due to the low interest in food production and the high opportunity cost, many regions, including some “main producing areas”, have no intention of producing food.

The more you produce, the more you can lose. The development of this situation will form a "prisoner's dilemma" for the food crisis. According to the GADS database of South China Normal University, China's long-term and stable export of food security is mainly in Heilongjiang, Jilin and other provinces. Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Anhui and other traditional "main production areas" are facing desertification problems, water problems and The problem of urbanization and enclosure has led to more and more food imports, and the dependence on the international market has gradually increased. Based on this situation, General Secretary Xi said that "Chinese people's rice bowls should be firmly in their hands at all times."

According to statistics, after 2003, China's total grain output has increased for 12 consecutive years. However, imports of soybeans, grains, beef and pork are also growing at the same time. This is a contradiction. If there is a digital distortion, it is very easy to cause a sudden outbreak of the food crisis. Therefore, it is necessary to reform the grain production, circulation and reserve system. The focus should be on reforming the original “main production area and main sales area” system. The “main sales area” should strive to protect and consolidate the potential of grain production in the region.

The second is food safety issues. China's agricultural product market is increasingly prosperous, which is a major achievement in market-oriented reforms. At the same time, however, food safety issues are increasingly exposed, seriously threatening the health of urban and rural residents. This shows that quantity and prosperity are not a substitute for quality safety. At present, small-scale and small-scale “contractors” in various places have undertaken the main tasks of agricultural production in China. Due to market interests, uneven technical levels and asymmetric production information, these “contractors” are easy to produce in an unsafe manner. Cereals, pigs, broilers, eggs, fish, vegetables and other agricultural and sideline products have caused serious shortages of pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics and hormones in food. Large-scale farms and farms, also driven by interests, may also use information asymmetry and adopt various non-security measures to expand the scale, occupy the market, and increase profits.

As a result, there is indeed a non-safe production mechanism on the supply side of agricultural products. The “Community Support Agriculture” (CSA) model in Beijing and other places is emerging under this background. But this approach is obviously difficult to promote. Therefore, how to achieve food safety is a thorny issue facing the structural reform of the agricultural supply side. It is not enough to strengthen supervision, for example, to establish a food traceability system. Under the driving of interests, producers and dealers always have the opportunity to “high a foot high and one foot high” to escape various regulations. The key is to organize scattered farmers on the production side, strengthen standards, and standardize management. At the same time, the interaction and trust between farmers and residents will be established, and the self-discipline of producers will gradually be formed. The agricultural production side has achieved safety and food safety has a solid foundation and guarantee.

The third is the sustainability of agricultural resources. Agricultural resources, including cultivated land, mountains, water surface and species, are important natural foundations for agriculture. Only when agricultural resources are safe can there be food security and food safety. However, in the process of marketization in China, years of predatory development have led to serious problems in agricultural resources and agro-ecological environments. Pesticides, water sources of pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, antibiotics and other serious pollution, as well as industrial wastewater pollution, industrial waste gas pollution, this is a very dangerous trend. Its harm is not only to endanger food security, but also poses a serious threat to the health and survival of urban and rural residents.

At the recent Central Rural Work Conference, Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu said: "The long-term overdraft and over-exploitation of China's agricultural resources, the tighter and tighter resources and environment, the traditional old road of hard work and resources has been difficult to sustain." To this end, the central government put forward a new concept and new direction of “green ecological development”. But how should we implement “green ecological development”? This requires profound institutional reflection, policy reflection, and path innovation in all regions. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the overall planning of rural areas and the “use control” of agricultural land to curb the predatory, disorderly and destructive nature of profit-seeking agriculture. Actively explore the overall development path of the collective economy and cooperatives. On the other hand, it is necessary to help each village collective economic organization in terms of technology and funds, and to unify actions to repair the ecological environment of villages that have been seriously damaged by non-point source pollution.

Norway, Sweden and Finland in Northern Europe have always been countries with high happiness index. The notable signs are not modern high-rise buildings, not modern products such as networks, airplanes and automobiles, but rural fields and mountains that are endless and have excellent ecological environment. , grass, water. As the typical agricultural supply side of these developed countries, they not only provide rich and safe agricultural products such as cheese, beef and fish, but also clean air, water and picturesque rural scenery. This is instructive for the structural reform of the supply side of agriculture across China.