Technology Is the Key to Agricultural Growth

“To simultaneously promote industrialization, urbanization and agricultural modernization.” This goal was explicitly written into the 12th Five-year Plan on National Economic and Social Development. It is estimated that China will have essentially completed industrialization by 2020. The nations urbanization rate reached 51.27 percent at the end of 2011, signifying the first time that the population of urban dwellers surpassed that of rural residents. Agricultural modernization shows few concrete achievements, and China still lags far behind developed countries in agricultural production.

Premier Wen Jiabao pointed out at the Central Rural Work Conference at the end of last year that, currently, the biggest imbalance in Chinas development is that between urban and rural areas, and one of its biggest problems is the urban-rural dichotomy in social structure. Both can be partly attributed to the relatively slow growth of agricultural development.

According to National Statistics Bureau data, in 2011 Chinas grain output grew for the eighth consecutive year to hit 571 million tons – up 4.5 percent from 2010. Experts have pointed out, however, that this increase has been achieved mainly by expanding the area of land under cultivation. They warn that continuing along this path is not feasible, as China has limited arable lands, and the countrys urbanization is in full swing.

Without effective agricultural growth, China has become increasing dependant on overseas sources to feed its population. The country has been experiencing an expanding trade deficit in agricultural products for eight consecutive years. In 2011 it rose 47.4 percent to US $34.12 billion. This is an alarming statistic.

Under such circumstances, it has become the consensus that the future of Chinas agriculture sector lies in scientific and technological advances. The development of Chinas agricultural science and technology, however, has been hampered by insufficient government investment and policy support, and scarcity of expertise in agricultural research. During the 2006-2010 period, only 40 percent of technological advances were put into commercial use in China, half that in developed countries. More than 50 percent of the prime stud animals used in the rearing of pigs, chickens and cows as well as over 90 percent of top quality vegetable and flower seeds were imported. China also purchased more than 70 percent of the advanced processing equipment used in agricultural production from abroad.

Chinese agricultural products face many obstacles in the international market, from the traditional anti-dumping, anti-subsidy trade barriers to the current green regulations. As the international community pays growing attention to environmental protection and food safety, governments of different countries implement more stringent rules for imported farm products. To adjust to the new situation, China plans to further develop green produce, and that requires the support of scientific and technological innovation.

We must not, however, neglect that achievements in research alone are not sufficient, and that professional, qualified farmers are crucial to putting new methods into operation. Cultivating more professional farmers is therefore essential in order to achieve agricultural modernization.