Quality Over Quantity

By+Li+Guoxiang

The annual Central Rural Work Conference， convened in late December 2017， made it clear that high-quality and green rural development is vital to implement the strategy of rural vitalization. Being the priority in solving issues related to agriculture， rural areas and farmers in 2018， it is also important in building a prosperous countryside of thriving businesses， a pleasant living environment and a community that respects each other.

High-quality rural development will speed up the modernization of agriculture. China is a huge agricultural country and produces the most volume of the majority of agricultural products in the world. Due to high production costs and market prices of agricultural products， China has to rely on itself in terms of food security. Reducing the costs and prices is one of the measures to improve the competitiveness of agricultural products， but not fundamental to rooting out problems relating to agriculture， rural areas and farmers. Upgrading the quality of agricultural products and the efficiency of agriculture production could radically revitalize the rural areas.

Green development is an indispensible part of high-quality rural improvement. The misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides， as well as contaminated soil and water， therefore， would result in the declining quality of agricultural products and increasing risks of food security. To solve the worsening pollution in rural areas， crop straw and animal manure should be well utilized as resources.

The top priority to push forward high-quality rural development is to highlight quality-oriented agriculture instead of a model that is yield-oriented， so as to enable the rural economy to shift gears. For a long time， farmers have focused too much on improving the yield per unit to increase income. Whatever agricultural produce is found to have a lucrative market， it would be grown quickly even at the risk of polluting the environment. More often than not， the result is a relative surplus of produce， low prices and then sluggish sales. In this case， agriculture finds itself in a plight of increased output but stagnant revenue. It has been repeatedly proven that yield-oriented agriculture is not sustainable. In the new era， Chinese people demand safer and greener agricultural products of higher quality. To vitalize the rural areas， there is a need to make agriculture-related businesses a promising option， farming an attractive occupation and the rural area a better place to settle in.

In line with the principles of a market-oriented economy， a mechanism where the price is proportional to the quality should be established. Only by radically reforming the current market mechanism of agricultural products， which focuses on quantity instead of quality， could incentives for high-quality development play their due roles. To this end， attention should be paid to brand building， surmount the problem of information asymmetry in agricultural products markets， and promote standardized agricultural production. The establishment of a modern agricultural industrial system， circular husbandry economy and creation of new industries in rural areas should be accelerated， while attention should also be paid to the promotion of the integrated development of primary， secondary and tertiary industries in the countryside， so that the value of quality agricultural products can be reflected in the industrial chain.

High-quality rural development requires deepening of the supply-side structural reform in agriculture. Through the reform，it is possible to optimize agricultural structure and transform the development mode. It is time to consolidate and improve the basic rural operation system， improve the rural land contract system， develop a moderate scale of farming， and cultivate professional farmers. To help small rural households catch up to the pace of agricultural modernization， contract farming， which allows farmers to grow produce on the basis of agreed quantity and price with buyers， should be introduced.

High-quality rural development calls for a thriving agricultural sector driven by innovation. Currently， farmers， as well as supporting policies and market mechanism are greatly influenced by the mindset of quantity-oriented agricultural production. The focus should be shifted to quality. Only by stepping up technological innovation to support production and distribution of green and high-quality agricultural products could the policy of high-quality rural development bear fruit.