Problems and Countermeasures of Taihu Port Farm in Jingzhou City after Function Reform of Running the Society

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1. School of Economics and Management, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China; 2. Yangtze River Economic Zone Development Research Institute, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China; 3. Hubei Rural Development Research Center, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434023, China

Abstract Deepening function reform of running the society of state-owned farm is an important strategic plan made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and is also "hard bone" bitten by fully implementing the strategy of rural revitalization and promoting the modernization of agriculture and countryside. In this paper, the problems of Taihu Port Farm in Jingzhou City after function reform of running the society are systematically and comprehensively analyzed via field research, and corresponding countermeasures are proposed. The research could provide beneficial reference and experience reference for deepening function reform of running the society of current state-owned farm.

Key words Function reform of running the society of state-owned farm, Agricultural modernization, Rural revitalization, Taihu Port Farm

1 Introduction

With continuous deepening of market-oriented economy in China, state-owned farm has always been a major focus of market-oriented reform in the field of agriculture. State-owned farms occupy a large amount of resources to "run the society", which increases operating burden and financial pressure on state-owned farms, and restricts agricultural modernization and economic development of state-owned farms to a certain degree[1]. To properly solve this problem, the General Office of the State Council issued theOpinionsoftheStateCounciloftheCPCCentralCommitteeonfurtherPromotingtheReformandDevelopmentofAgriculturalReclamationin November of 2015, and deployed the second round of state-owned farm reform, in which one of major contents was deepening reforms of agricultural reclamation management system and management mechanism[2]. It has become an urgent need for China’s agricultural development to complete function reform of running the society of state-owned farm as soon as possible. To impel social function reform of running the society of state-owned farm in Jingzhou City, Jingzhou Municipal Government carefully implemented the deployment and requirements of the Central Committee in the past 3 years. Under unified arrangement and guidance of Hubei Provincial Government, various measures for function reform of running the society of state-owned farm were continuously implemented, and its goal has been basically achieved. Therefore, it has become key points for the development and reform of state-owned farm in the next step to impel enterpriseization of farm management and localization of social functions, promote agricultural modernization of state-owned farm, and fully implement the strategy of vitalizing the rural areas after the completion of function reform of running the society.

2 Basic situation for function reform of running the society of Taihu Port Farm

Taihu Port Farm is one of the two existing state-owned farms in Jingzhou District, with 62.7 km2of land area, 2 800 ha of arable land area, and 35 000 of total population. In April of 2012, Central China Agricultural High-tech Zone which was one of predecessors of High-tech District in Jingzhou City was established by taking Taihu Port Farm as the core, which opened the way for the rapid development of Taihu Port Farm, so far it has begun to take shape. As main body of state-owned farm reform in Jingzhou City, the functions of social management and public service of Taihu Port Farm have been completely stripped in the current round of function reform process of running the society, and it was incorporated into the unified management of Jingzhou District Government, which set an example for the function reform of running the society. Under big background of collectivization and enterpriseization of state-owned farm, how Taihu Port Farm to depend on technology and industry advantages of High-tech District in Jingzhou City, and select path of future development. This issue not only is the key to the transformation and development of Taihu Port Farm, but also has reference value and significance for other state-owned farm reform subjects.

3 The problems of Taihu Port Farm after function reform of running the society

3.1 The potential of enterpriseization management needing to be discoveredAfter function reform of running the society of Taihu Port Farm, there are still some problems in the internal enterpriseization management of the farm.

3.1.1Undefined development planning of Taihu Port Farm. Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery of the farm have comprehensive development, and trade, industry, construction and transportation operate integratedly. In the development process, characteristic industry is not prominent, and natural aquatic resources and other resources are not fully utilized. For example, as important crayfish breeding base in Jingzhou City, Taihu Port Farm possesses 333.33 ha of demonstration field of crayfish and rice continuous cropping, and forms large-scale crayfish industry, which plays an important role in driving economic growth and increasing farmers’ income. But the industry lacks long-term strategic planning, and the idea of increasing production and value is not clear enough.

3.1.2Insufficient development of the industry chain. Crayfish is not only delicious, but its shell is also rich in chitin. Chitin is widely used and has very high economic value. But due to technology implementation not in place, most of the local shrimp shells are discarded. It not only consumes large amount of shrimp shell resources but also pollutes environment. Therefore, the problems of processing technology and industrial chain extension also constrain the comprehensive income of crayfish.

3.2 Imperfect internal management of farmSince function reform of running the society, Taihu Port Farm actively cultivates the main body of new agricultural management, develops agricultural management forms such as joint stock system and company system, and continuously improves farm management level and market competitiveness. But there are still some problems in the development process of farm, and imprefect internal management system of farm is a major obstacle to the current farm development. Imprefect internal management system of farm is mainly embodied in the following three aspects.

3.2.1Insufficient functional departments. Enterpriseization management of Taihu Port Farm has just begun, and departmental structure belongs to the initial form. On the one hand, the construction of management institution of Taihu Port Farm lags, which does not correspond with modern enterprise management framework. The standardization system for the quality, safety and hygiene of agricultural products in farm and the means of detection are not perfect, and farmers’ consciousness of standardization is not strong. On the other hand, there are overlapping division of labor and overlapping responsibilities among departments in farm. When relevant departments deal with enterprise-related matters, cost of enterprise production and operation is indirectly improved due to unclear function division and mutual prevarication.

3.2.2Lacking effective performance appraisal. There are defects in performance appraisal method of Taihu Port Farm enterpriseization. At present, appraisal methods used by Taihu Port Farm are not reasonable enough, and the work done by employees is not well linked to the rewards and punishments they deserve. Some people with achievements and skills do not receive corresponding incentives and development space, and their work enthusiasm has been undermined. Additionally, the way of assessment only involves the assessment and evaluation of superiors, and neglects indexes from other aspects, making assessment results difficult to fully reflect its real performance.

3.2.3Insufficient talent reserve and training. Enterpriseization reform of Taihu Port Farm is in its infancy, and the existing cadres team lacks the experience engaging in large-scale economic construction and investment attraction, and there lacks high-level and professional talents. Meanwhile, the shortage of enterprise type of management talents in farm has led to the lack of successive development of farm. It lacks perfect talent reserve system, which causes insufficient new forces for the transformation and development of farm, and makes the enterpriseization process of farm lack effective guarantee.

3.3 Low agricultural modernization degree

3.3.1Serious aging of labor force in farm. Young and middle-aged labor force in farm is the main body to study, apply and popularize advanced agricultural science and technology and improve agricultural production mode. Since most of the young and middle-aged people in the farm work in the city, and farmers over 40 years old are left behind in the farm, it causes serious aging phenomenon of labor force in the farm. They are slow to accept new products and technological achievements, and most of them are unwilling to change the traditional inherent mode of production. It not only affects promotion and use of new agricultural products and advanced agricultural science and technology, but also obstructs the advancement of agricultural modernization, causing that agricultural product yield per unit area continues not to increase.

3.3.2Low mechanization degree in farm. Agricultural mechanization is means and carrier of modern agricultural technology application, which could greatly improve labour productivity, and also play an irreplaceable role in improving grain yield per unit area and crop quality. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, agricultural mechanization in China has gone through an extraordinary road, and great achievements have been made in agricultural mechanization. Meanwhile, mechanization of Taihu Port Farm has also been improved both in quality and quantity. But total level of agricultural mechanization is still not high, and the existing machinery mostly has high energy consumption, heavy pollution, and low performance. There lacks supporting technical talents and related knowledge, and structural contradictions stand out. Structural surplus and insufficient effective supply of agricultural products co-exist, and development in all sectors is unbalanced, such as high mechanization level in farming link and low mechanization level in harvesting link; high mechanization level in grain crops and low mechanization level in cash crops.

3.3.3Material conditions and infrastructure construction of agricultural production still lagging behind. Water infrastructure of the farm is aging, and the phenomenon of disrepair is serious. Machine wells, large wells and water-saving irrigation facilities are obviously aging and incompatible, causing insufficient effluent or water resources waste. Besides, a lot of chemical fertilizer is used in agricultural production activity to improve crop yield per unit area, which causes excessive nitrogen and phosphorus contents in soil, and insufficient potassium content. Long-term vicious circle induces reduction of soil organic matter and fertility.

4 Development countermeasures of Taihu Port Farm after function reform of running the society

4.1 Countermeasures of enterpriseization management of Taihu Port Farm

4.1.1Creating core industry of farm, and forming modern agricultural industry chain of core industry driving upstream and downstream development. Taihu Port Farm could rely on local rich aquatic resources to develop crayfish industry. It should enhance creation and promotion of crayfish brand, and cultivate a batch of leading enterprises with strong market competitiveness. On the one hand, it could support leading enterprises to upgrade and strengthen by technical guidance. Led by government and industry association, and cooperated with colleges, universities and scientific research institutions, it could develop deep processing of shrimp shell and head, and enhance export earning capacity. On the other hand, crayfish fry raising technology should be innovated by tackling key technical problems. It should plan crayfish fry breeding base, enhance cooperation with fisheries science institute, and ensure supply of improved fry. It makes production layout of crayfish gradually transform from dispersion and disorder to modern production area based on comparative advantage. Meanwhile, it drives common development of crayfish-related industries.

4.1.2Extending industry chain, and improving added value of product. On the one hand, it should vigorously develop deep processing. The development of crayfish industry should strictly follow market rule according to requirements of marketization and industrialization, and crayfish industry chain should be extended and expanded continuously. Besides crayfish meat could be processed, its waste also could be developed. Little of the crayfish is really edible, and it could create very high value by sufficiently using residual waste. On the other hand, it could create high-quality brand of crayfish by depending on technological innovation. It could register trademark, create and protect unique brand effect of crayfish in the farm, actively work hard on expanding marketing space, and commit to enhancing the added value of products. Additionally, it should continuously invest limited funds and talents in brand products, and do brand effect of a series of products well.

4.2 Countermeasures of management system reform of Taihu Port Farm

4.2.1Selecting reasonable and effective management method. It should accelerate to impel the process of enterpriseization and modernization in Taihu Port Farm, and select reasonable and effective management method. Taihu Port Farm should select modern enterprise management system by taking modernized enterprise as the template, actively cultivate new agricultural management subject, and innovate institutional mechanism of agricultural profit, thereby accelerating agricultural modernization of Taihu Port Farm and construction of new agricultural management system. Meanwhile, it should impel the reform of corporate system, and perfect corporate governance structure[3]. According to requirements of modern enterprise system, it should adhere to the development direction of "marketization of production and management, and corporatization of enterprise organization", and start the reform of corporate system. Under the premise of keeping the state-owned share capital unchanged, modern agricultural enterprise is established by change of equity rights, mutual investment, jointing strong and strong, and optimizing business model.

4.2.2Establishing and perfecting the talent training system of modern management. According to requirements of modern enterprise system, Taihu Port Farm should break the existing employment mechanism, and take mixed system. In principle, all on-the-job personnel compete for posts and choose the best ones for employment. Meanwhile, it should connect with talent cultivation in colleges and universities, cultivate practical technical talents, encourage the cultivated persons to work in the main body of new-type agricultural management, and make them be the main force of agricultural management in the future.

4.2.3Establishing reasonable mechanism of punishment and reward. It should establish scientific, reasonable, systemic and effective management system of performance appraisal, evaluation and rational use of assessment results, and further perfect pay allocation assessment system of classified management[4]. First, the setting of assessment indicators should pay attention to scientificality. According to the rules of enterprise development, economic operation and performance assessment, the strategic and immediate objectives of farm development should be better reflected in the performance appraisal and distribution system, to make scientific, reasonable, specific and operable assessment indicators. Second, it should pay attention to pertinence in assessment methods. The combination manner of qualitative and quantitative assessment should be used to reasonably evaluate contributions made by employees of enterprises. Qualitative assessment is mainly a comprehensive assessment, while quantitative assessment is mainly to assess business performance. Meanwhile, it should perfect assessment system, form flexible employment mechanism, and stimulate the enthusiasm of all staff. Finally, it should promote the reform of salary system and annual salary system, and establish the distribution mechanism of paying by post and performance, and employees of enterprises and social service personnel shall be paid equally for equal work.

4.3 Countermeasures for promoting agricultural modernization by Taihu Port Farm

4.3.1Training new professional farmers. Cultivation of new professional farmers must develop professional education in farm, and professional education must follow practicality. Different courses should be set according to the features of Taihu Port Farm, to guide farmers planting different agricultural crops and local characteristic crops, and improve economic benefit. Government’s guidance should be enhanced, and government should regularly introduce modern agricultural research talents to investigate and train in rural areas, and promote application of advanced agricultural science and technology. Additionally, it should vigorously cultivate farm leader, organize and implement training project of practical technical talents in new farm, and focus on training skilled farmers, science and technology leaders, farm brokers and leaders of professional cooperative organizations. It should accelerate to improve farmers’ quality and entrepreneurship ability, and promote employment by entrepreneurship, thereby enriching people through entrepreneurship and strengthening agriculture through innovation.

4.3.2Promoting the level of agricultural mechanization. Agricultural mechanization represents advanced agricultural productivity and is component of modern agriculture, and the improvement of agricultural mechanization level will inevitably promote the development of agricultural modernization. To further impel the development of agricultural mechanization in Taihu Port Farm, following measures should be taken. First, constructing high-standard farmland, intensifying land leveling, removing ridges, plowing in succession, solving land fragmentation, constructing farm infrastructure such as machine farming road, production road and farm machinery downhill ramp to facilitate operation of farm machinery, and improving mechanization level and production efficiency. Second, improving ability of scientific and technological innovation of agricultural machinery, enhancing communication between agricultural machinery technicians and farmers, and making agricultural machinery research units and agricultural machinery manufacturing enterprises design and produce high-quality and low-price agricultural machinery products truely suitable for different regions, agricultural production conditions and land types of Taihu Port Farm via field research. Third, innovating socialization service mechanism of agricultural machinery, actively developing agricultural machinery cooperatives and other business service organizations, improving organized level of machinery operation in farm, leading moderate-scale management development in various forms, and improving structural contradictions of agricultural machinery products.

4.3.3Strengthening the construction of agricultural infrastructure. Agriculture is the foundation of national economy, while agricultural infrastructure construction is the foundation of agriculture. Therefore, agricultural infrastructure construction should be enhanced from below aspects: (i) It should pay close attention to the construction of small-scale farmland and water conservancy. Firstly, government should establish good incentive mechanism of system, make corresponding regulations and policies, mobilize the enthusiasm of farmers, and attract them to participate in the construction of water conservancy facilities. (ii) It should widely encourage and absorb social funds for levee maintenance, maintenance of bridges, culverts and goles, dredging of rivers, reinforcement of dangerous sections, and repair of flood-damaged works, strengthen the daily maintenance of the project, promote management by maintenance, and ensure that the project can bring benefits into play. (iii) It should pay close attention to cultivated land protection and quality construction. It should continue to increase input, and strengthen efforts to transform medium- and low-yield fields. Implementation pace of fertile soil project should be accelerated, and scale of soil testing and formula fertilization should be enlarged. It should support farmers to return straw to the field, plant green fertilizer and increase application of organic fertilizer. Dryland agricultural demonstration project should be accelerated to implement, and a batch of dryland water-saving demonstration zones should be constructed.