AGFEP樊胜根、张玉梅在China Daily发文谈从国际视野看中国农业强国

近日，中国农业大学全球食物经济与政策研究院（AGFEP）院长樊胜根教授和研究院成员张玉梅教授在China Daily发文谈从国际视野看中国农业强国。

MA XUE JING/FOR CHINA DAILY

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党的二十大对农业农村工作提出了全面推进乡村振兴、加快建设农业强国的战略部署。习近平总书记在今年中央农村工作会议上进一步强调，农业强国是社会主义现代化强国的根基，满足人民美好生活需要、实现高质量发展、夯实国家安全基础，都离不开农业发展。建设农业强国要立足国内，但也要学习借鉴国际发展经验和普遍规律。

文章指出我国农业取得的显著成绩，但与世界农业强国相比，存在一定的差距。包括以下几点：第一，首先，我国农业劳动力比重仍然较高，劳动生产率水平仍远低于世界农业强国。其次，我国农业科技创新取得显著进步，但在原始创新和私人企业研发方面仍存在明显差距。第三，高投入高产出的农业发展面临可持续的挑战。第四，农业产业链融合程度不高。最后，中国跨国农业企业正在发展壮大，但数量和规模都相对较小。

文章建议，实现农业强国，既要借鉴国际经验，又要因地制宜、突出中国特色，并提出了我国实现农业强国的路径。一是强化农业科技支撑，全方位夯实粮食安全根基。加快构建多元化的农业研发投入体系，多举措鼓励私人投资农业研发。创新农业技术推广体系，加强农业科技成果转化和应用。通过“藏粮于地，藏粮于技”，提高土地生产率和劳动生产率。二是改革农业支持政策，实现产量增加、营养提升、环境可持续发展等多重目标。增强对具有营养、健康、可持续性的粮食和食物产业的财政支持，增加对气候变化适应性、绿色农业研发和推广等的公共投资。以大食物观为指导，构建多元化食物供给体系，多途径开发食物来源，推动形成营养导向型食物产业发展和健康导向型食物消费模式。三是加强农业产业链，提高农业从业者收入。加强农产品供应链的基础设施建设，加强电子商务和现代农产品流通体系建设，推动农业产业链升级，增加产业链价值，增强农业产业链的韧性，提高农业从业者收入。四是加快培育壮大跨国企业，提升农业国际影响力。优化农产品贸易布局，实施农产品进口多元化战略，降低农产品贸易风险。培育发展大型国际粮食和农业跨国企业，通过南南合作、技术转移等加强与“一带一路”国家、发展中国家等地区的双边农业合作，增强我国农业国际影响力。

以下是文章全文内容：

Making China an agriculturally strong country is essential for its modernization

This year's Central Rural Work Conference stressed that a strong agricultural sector is the foundation of a strong and modern country, and agricultural development is indispensable to meeting people's needs for a better life, achieving high-quality development and solidifying the foundation of national security. Building an agriculturally strong country should be based on not only domestic, but also international development experience and universal lessons. Analyzing the basic features of agriculturally strong countries and identifying the gaps between China and these countries will help to develop pathways for China to become an agriculturally strong country.

China's agricultural development has made remarkable achievements and the agricultural economy has seen rapid growth for more than 60 years, The capacity for ensuring the country's food supply has improved significantly. Food and Agriculture Organization data shows that China's total agricultural output value accounted for 22.5 percent of the global total, ranking first in the world in 2018.However, China's agricultural development still faces many challenges.

First, China's agricultural labor employment share is still high and labor productivity far lower than that of the world's agricultural powers. In 2021, the number of employed agriculture laborers in China was 170 million, accounting for 23 percent of total labor employment, with agricultural added value of 50,000 yuan ($7,248) per worker. In terms of international comparison, the agricultural added value per worker in China was $5,609 in 2019 (at 2015 constant US$), equivalent to only 5.6 percent of the United States, 5 percent of Canada and 22 percent of the European Union.

Second, China has made remarkable progress in agricultural science and technology, but there are still significant gaps. The contribution rate of China's agricultural S&T progress in agricultural growth was only 61 percent in 2021, compared to more than 80 percent in the OECD countries. In terms of investment in agricultural research, the agricultural research intensity (the ratio of spending on agricultural research to agricultural GDP) is less than 1 percent, much lower than that of the US and Europe at about 2-3 percent. Private investment in agricultural research is seriously insufficient. In developed countries, private sector investment in agricultural research is dominant. As a result, China relies on imports for some key seed provenances and agricultural machinery and equipment.

Third, an agricultural development model with high input and high output faces the challenge of sustainability. China has attached great importance to the green and high-quality development in recent years. The intensity of fertilizer and pesticide application in China has decreased, but is still higher than the international level. In 2019, the fertilizer used per hectare in China was 198 kilograms, much higher than that of the US at 72 kg/ha and Canada at 66 kg/ha.

Fourth, the degree of integration of agricultural supply chains is still low. According to national statistics, in 2021, the contribution of agriculture and related industries to total GDP was 16.05 percent, only 2.1 times of the added value of agriculture in China, which was far lower than the agriculturally strong countries, such as the US, where the added value of agriculture, food and related industries is more than eight times the added value of agriculture.

Finally, while Chinese transnational agribusinesses continue to develop and grow, they are relatively small in number and scale. The scale of China's transnational agricultural companies is smaller, and there are large gaps in terms of agricultural trade, control of the supply chain and core technologies. The global top 170 leading transnational agribusiness companies are mainly located in developed countries in Europe and the US, with 64 in Europe and 61 in North America, of which 56 are headquartered in the US. In 2022, COFCO International's revenue was $48 billion, while Cargill of the US recorded a revenue of $165 billion.

To transform China into an agriculturally strong country, it is critical to draw on international experience, and adapt to local conditions with Chinese characteristics.

First, the support of agricultural S&T should be enhanced to solidify the foundation of food security in all aspects. A diversified agricultural research and development system, or R&D, and extension system should be built, and multiple measures should be taken to encourage the private sector to invest in agricultural R&D to enhance the innovation of agricultural technology and strengthen the transformation and application of agricultural S&T. The country should also improve land productivity and labor productivity through farmland management and the application of modern technologies.

Second, agricultural support policies should be reformed to achieve the multiple goals including productivity improvement, nutrition enhancement, and environmental sustainability. Financial support for nutritious, healthy and sustainable food should be increased, especially for climate adaptation, green agricultural R&D and extension. Guided by the "Big Food "approach, it is important to build a diversified food supply system, exploring new food sources, and promoting the development of a nutrition-oriented food sector and a health-oriented food consumption pattern.

Third, the agriculture supply chain should be extended to improve farmers' incomes. The construction of infrastructure for the agricultural product supply chain should be strengthened, including the construction of e-commerce and a modern agricultural circulation system, and upgrading of agricultural supply chain to enhance the system's resilience, and improve farmers' income.

Fourth, the development of transnational agricultural companies should be hastened and their international influence enhanced. Agricultural trade should be optimized and agricultural imports should be diversified to reduce the trade risks and shocks. The country also should strengthen its bilateral cooperation with developing regions and countries along the Belt and Road routes through South-South cooperation and technology transfer to improve food security in these countries as well as in China.

Fan Shenggen is the dean of the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy and chair professor at China Agricultural University. Zhang Yumei is a professor of the Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy at China Agricultural University. The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

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