Strategic Initiatives on Food Security

“To let over 1 billion people have enough food, eat well and eat safely” is the request of the modern society to China’s agriculture. We need to make sure that the farmers in China can get higher education and those are staying in the rural areas receive professional training on farming.

Right now, China is going through a critical time of changing from traditional agriculture into modern agriculture. However, the basic situation of the extensive pattern of agricultural production has not been changed. The water utilization rate of agriculture is only about 50%, far below the 70-80% level of developed countries.

China is the largest consumer of fertilizer and pesticide. However, the utilization rate of fertilizer and pesticide is only 30-35%, 20 percentage points lower than the developed countries in Europe and America. Modern agriculture requires that farmers know how to apply modern agricultural technology and how to operate utilities and equipments of modern agriculture.

Therefore, we should promote the education and training of farmers, so as to increase productivity and yield, & lower production cost. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, as of the end of 2012, there were 877,000 family farms in China, covering 13.4% of the contracted arable land of the country. The income of these family farms amounted to RMB162 billion, with the average income of individual farm at RMB184,700, far higher than the average income of ordinary farming family. These farmers were those who received education and training,

As the primary industry, agriculture deserves better and more education, because it is related to food security, economic security and the promotion of the quality of people and nation.