The 32nd session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee held a group deliberation on a report presented by the State Council on accelerating the establishment of a new agricultural operation system and involvement of small household farmers in China's modern agriculture drive on Dec 23, 2021.

In their discussions, members of the NPC Standing Committee generally agreed that the report made a full presentation of the achievements made through agricultural development initiatives, analyzed existing difficulties and problems in a down-to-earth manner, and put forward clear solutions and plans.

Committee member Du Deyin said that since there are many different categories in agriculture, it's important to adopt a hierarchical manner and differentiated approaches in order to propel the modernization of agricultural production and operation and get small household farmers engaged in the modern system.

The country's large rural population and limited per-capita land area means it's impossible for farmers to realize prosperity through farming alone, said Committee member Ma Zhiwu. He called for the promotion of county-centered urbanization in coordination with efforts to turn townships into regional service hubs for farmers, which will underpin the development of a new agricultural operation system as well as that of commercial agricultural service organizations.

To speed up the building of a modern agriculture system, committee member Li Rui called for promoting the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas. He urged more efforts to optimize crop production and animal husbandry, improve the processing sector and support specialized services provision. It's necessary to develop appropriately scaled agribusiness operations of various types, cultivate new types of agribusiness, and help farmers gain more benefits from the integrated development through training, supportive policies and business startup services, according to Li.

Commercial agricultural services have helped address some problems that small household farmers face in the pre-production and production stages, Committee member Chen Xiwen said, adding that there's a development gap in the post-harvest stage. Endeavors should be made to tackle problems such as the lack of infrastructure for storage, processing and transportation. Meanwhile, there should be better coordination between scattered seasonal output and stable large-scale market demands.

Committee member Luo Yi's suggestions focused on investment attraction at the county and township levels. He called for efforts to invite industry-leading enterprises to invest in agribusiness to stimulate agricultural growth and improve the quality and efficiency of the agricultural processing industry.

Committee member Wang Xiankui proposed linking the interests of small-scale farmers with agribusiness operators so they can share risks and benefits side by side. Wang said the hefty profits from the deep processing of agricultural products have not benefited farmers and this problem needs to be solved as a priority.

In addition to rural land transfers, the "trusteeship" program is also a good way to promote appropriately scaled operations, which in turn can reduce production costs, said committee member Liu Zhenwei, stressing that supportive polices are needed in this regard. In his perspective,  future rural land management consists of three types of agreements — land contracts, land transfers, and land operation trusteeships.