China needs to modernize its agriculture

Urbanization takes large numbers of young and middle-aged laborers away from rural areas in China, says an article in 21st Century Business Herald. Excerpts:

Statistics show the bulk of the nation's agricultural manual laborers comprise older people, including women, with 63 percent being more than 50 years old. Laborers aged from 30 to 49 only account for 3.5 percent of the total.

The central government needs to pledge at its annual agricultural work conference to improve agricultural productivity.

Grassroots organizations at village, town and county level should help farmers set up production chains to process their products, and introduce agricultural technology into planting and production.

Improving production efficiency is the best way to fill the void left by departing migrant workers. Many large farms in Northeast China have proved that collective production is a rational choice for China to save more labor resources and make best use of its farmland. However, the legal rights of individual farmers should not be harmed in the process.

The government should allow the market to play a bigger role in this integration process to bridge the gap between China's agricultural production and market demand. This is another step to improving the marketing of Chinese agriculture.

As the world demands more grain, China should develop agriculture into a mainstay industry by increasing the efficiency of production and marketing. Building a modern agricultural system is an indispensable part of the nation's pursuit of development.