A few days ago, the "2023 National High-quality Farmer Development Report" organized by the Department of Science, Technology and Education of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the ** Agricultural Radio and Television School was released. The report shows that the average age of high-quality farmers in China is 45 years old, and 60 of them have a high school education or above68%, and 21 have a college degree or above95%, the team structure continues to improve.
The new era calls for new farmers and gives them profound connotations and new requirements. The requirements for new farmers are different from traditional agricultural talents, and new farmers should become compound new talents of modern agricultural producers, processors, operators and guardians, and are committed to serving national strategic needs such as preventing large-scale poverty return, rural revitalization, and beautiful China. It is gratifying that more and more university graduates are becoming new farmers and an important force for rural revitalization. However, from a practical point of view, there is still a shortage of high-quality farmers, and their quality still needs to be improved. To build a new agriculture and a new countryside and implement the rural revitalization strategy, it is necessary to cultivate a new type of farmer team at a broader level. At the same time, the economic format of the rural areas is still imperfect, the industrial structure is still incomplete, and the supporting guarantees are still incomplete, and the motivation for high-quality agricultural talents to take root in the countryside is insufficient, there are not many opportunities, and the remuneration is not high. Therefore, it is necessary to cultivate skills in development and support the growth of new farmers in soft and hard ecology, so that they are willing to return to their hometowns and be willing to stay in the countryside, so that new farmers can truly become "prosperous farmers" on the road to rural revitalization.
Promote the cross-border integration of agricultural talent training, and comprehensively improve the growth skills of new farmers. There is often an educational gap between various disciplines and fields in the cultivation of traditional agricultural talents, and there is a lack of interdisciplinary integration and cross-space application. It is necessary to focus on grasping the characteristics and needs of agricultural students at each stage of training, accurately decompose the tasks at each stage based on the concept of lifelong learning, and carry out the training work in a whole-process, full-stage and progressive manner. In this way, we can break the boundaries of agricultural engineering, science, liberal arts and medicine, break through the teaching limitations of theory and practice, and realize the vertical and horizontal extension of the learning process. Only in this way can we form a cross-border integration of school, enterprise and government innovation and entrepreneurship education chain, cultivate the ability of new farmers to use knowledge to solve practical problems in the agricultural production management process, so that they can understand both theory and practice, master business knowledge and be more proficient in agricultural knowledge, grasp both major policies and market trends, and be more competitive in the rural revitalization scene.
Promote the iterative upgrading of rural industrial ecology, and comprehensively improve the development environment of new farmers. The development of rural industries is an important support for rural revitalization and an important environment for the development of new farmers. It is necessary to combine the local rural industrial status and resource endowment, scientifically plan the industrial layout, optimize and enrich the industrial ecology, promote the application of emerging technologies, and upgrade and build infrastructure. It is necessary to focus on the goal of industrial development, promote the diversified development of the agricultural industry, and guide the transformation of traditional farming agriculture to new agricultural development trends such as the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism, the integration of rural data and reality, the deep processing of agricultural products, and regional brand building. It is necessary to conform to the development trend of the platform economy, strengthen the in-depth application of rural digital brains, increase efforts to promote the application of modern agricultural technologies and equipment such as digital intelligence and mechanization, and further improve the efficiency and quality of agricultural production and reduce production costs. At the same time, it is also necessary to provide more perfect infrastructure construction such as roads, water conservancy, electric power, and communications for the production and life of new farmers, and provide a better economic, industrial and living environment for the development of new farmers.
Promote vocational support for rural revitalization, and comprehensively boost the confidence of new farmers to take root. The confidence of new farmers in development is the driving force and the foundation of their career growth, and more measures must be taken to effectively enhance their career confidence and avoid career confusion and development inertia brought about by sunk costs. On the basis of providing a sound vocational education and a good development environment, it is especially necessary to strengthen the job security and professional identity of new farmers. On the one hand, we should strengthen the construction of public service systems and social security systems such as education, medical care, culture, science and technology, etc., to ensure their basic living needs, so as to enhance their sense of belonging and security. On the other hand, we should strengthen the identification and certification of professional farmers such as new farmers, include them in the local talent directory system, provide strong financial support, and fully enhance their social status and career development prospects, so as to enhance their pride and sense of honor.
Author: Wang Yun is the deputy director and lecturer of the Department of Scientific Research and Local Cooperation of Lishui University