Li: China Will Move to Modernize Farms
China Daily, November 7, 2013 Adjust font size:
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Premier Li Keqiang talks to farmers in the cab of an agricultural vehicle in Fuyuan, Heilongjiang Province, on Tuesday. A rare flood hit the county in August, threatening the harvest. [Xinhua] |
Premier Li Keqiang said China will make a new effort in agricultural modernization by promoting large-scale planting based on joint-stock ownership of land and better services to the farmers.
Li made the remarks during a trip to Heilongjiang Province, China's largest crop producer, from Monday to Wednesday.
Rural reform is approaching a new turning point in the second-largest economy in the world, the Chinese premier said. It will feature innovation in the management system of farming and economies of scale based on farmers' consent, their various ways of cooperation and the provision of modern farm services.
As a continuation of the rural reform started in 1978 to dismantle the regimented collective commune system, the new change will inevitably involve a reform of the present system of land administration, Li said.
Experts said the new rural reform will likely tackle the disadvantages of household-based small-plot farming that have been in practice for the last 30-some years and which may have discouraged the use of advanced technology and transfer of land rights among farmers.
A breakthrough in the rural land administration system is also expected to be part of the overall reform agenda at the upcoming Third Plenum.
"Reform must respect the creative initiative from the grassroots, because you are the one who knows the land best," Li told farmers as he visited local families. "We support exploring attempts, made to fit local conditions, to hew out a feasible path toward modern agriculture."
In addition, supporting systems such as a strong logistics network and lower threshold for cooperatives to purchase and store agricultural products for profits are needed.
