For a long time, the supply of rural public goods has been seriously insufficient. On the one hand, it will restrict the development of new agricultural business entities, on the other hand, it will also stimulate the supply of public goods by new agricultural business entities. Due to the externalities of public goods, the supply of new public goods plays an important and positive role in promoting agricultural production and improving rural social welfare.
The "public goods" in the report of the development index survey of new agricultural business entities (Phase II) covers the construction of agricultural productive infrastructure, rural living infrastructure, rural poverty alleviation, rural education, health and culture.
The survey found that the current new-type agricultural business entities did play a certain role in the supply of public goods, and they were an important social force in the supply of rural public goods. There are great differences in the supply of public goods among the three types of new agricultural management entities. The leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization have the greatest supply of public goods, followed by farmers’ professional cooperatives and family farms.
The supply of rural public goods is relatively strong.
According to the survey report, among the new agricultural business entities surveyed in 2015, 897 provided public goods to rural areas, accounting for 35.32% of the valid samples. It can be seen that the proportion of new agricultural business entities supplying public goods is still considerable. At the same time, the supply of public goods for new agricultural management entities is also relatively large. According to the survey, in 2015, the average amount of each new agricultural business entity used for the supply of rural public goods was 202,500 yuan, accounting for 2.54% of its sales revenue. Compared with the government’s expenditure on rural public utilities, the supply of public goods by new agricultural management entities is also quite large. According to the amount of new agricultural business entities used for the supply of rural public goods, it can be calculated that the total amount of new agricultural business entities used for the supply of rural public goods in 2015 was 234.4 billion yuan. In 2015, the total financial expenditure on rural public utilities in China was 1,348.91 billion yuan, and the amount of new agricultural business entities used for the supply of public goods accounted for 17.38% of the government’s financial expenditure on rural public utilities. It can be seen that the new agricultural business entities have played a very important role in the supply of rural public goods in China.
Among the three types of new agricultural business entities, the probability of providing rural public goods is in descending order: agricultural industrialization leading enterprises, farmers’ professional cooperatives and family farms. Among the leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization surveyed, 210 provide public goods to local rural areas, accounting for 70.00% of the valid samples; Among the farmers’ professional cooperatives surveyed, 410 have provided public goods to local rural areas, accounting for 40.63% of the valid samples; Among the family farms surveyed, 285 provided public goods to the local countryside, accounting for 22.75% of the valid samples. As far as the degree of supply is concerned, the degree of supply of public goods by leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization is also much higher than that of family farms. In 2015, the average amount of public goods provided by leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization was about 478,000 yuan, and the average amount of public goods provided by family farms was about 0.53 million yuan. It can be seen that the average amount of public goods paid by leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization was close to 90 times that paid by family farms. Further analysis shows that this difference is closely related to the geographical location, human capital level and business scale of the new agricultural management entities. The higher the level of human capital and the larger the scale of operation, the greater the probability that the new agricultural business entities located in the western region will supply public goods.
Vertically, the supply of rural public goods, the main body of new agricultural management, is increasing year by year. Taking family farms as an example, in 2015, the average amount of family farms used to supply rural public goods was 5300 yuan, but in 2016 it increased to 12600 yuan, an increase of 137.74%.
Achieve 13% to 19% rural labor employment.
In 2015, among the new agricultural business entities surveyed, 1,705 provided employment opportunities, accounting for 78% of the valid samples. In addition, each new agricultural business entity employed 37.11 people on average. According to this calculation, the new agricultural management entities have provided 84,963,800 jobs for rural residents. According to China Statistical Yearbook 2015, in 2014, the rural resident population in China was 618.66 million, of which the working population was 454.0964 million. This means that the new agricultural business entities can promote the employment transfer of 19% rural labor force. Excluding temporary jobs, the number of jobs provided by each new agricultural business entity is 25.66, and the total number of jobs provided by new agricultural business entities in China is about 58.76 million, accounting for 13% of the rural labor force.
As far as the number of employment opportunities provided is concerned, family farms mainly provide temporary employment, and the total number of jobs they provide is higher than that of leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization, but the number of long-term jobs is far lower than that of leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization. In addition, the employment opportunities provided by leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization are not only large in quantity but also good in quality. Most leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization have purchased medical insurance and endowment insurance for the rural labor force they employ. Among the leading agricultural industrialization enterprises surveyed, 216 purchased medical insurance and endowment insurance for the rural labor force they employed in 2015, accounting for 75.26% of the valid samples; The average amount of medical insurance and endowment insurance paid by each leading agricultural industrialization enterprise for the rural labor force it employs is about 379,400 yuan.
Generally speaking, the employment-driven ability of new agricultural business entities is closely related to the level of informationization, geographical location, human capital level and business scale. The new agricultural business entities with higher level of informatization, located in the eastern region, higher level of human capital and larger scale of operation are more likely to provide jobs for rural labor.
More than half of the standardized production is implemented.
At present, China’s agricultural products market is threatened by frequent food safety accidents, backward production, management and sales standards of agricultural products and weakened international competitiveness of agricultural products. Promoting agricultural standardization is helpful to ensure the quality and consumption safety of agricultural products, promote the transformation of agricultural scientific and technological achievements and promote industrial management, and is also an important means to raise the standard threshold of China, enhance the international competitiveness of agricultural products and regulate the import and export of agricultural products. As one of the carriers and ways of modern agricultural development in China, new agricultural management entities play an important role in the implementation and promotion of agricultural standardization strategy.
In 2015, among the new agricultural business entities surveyed, there were 1450 new agricultural business entities that implemented standardized production, accounting for 57% of the valid samples. That is to say, at this stage, most new agricultural business entities have implemented standardized production. As far as a single subject is concerned, the scale of standardized production is also considerable. Take planting or forest family farms as an example. In 2015, the average standardized production scale of each family farm was 172 mu, accounting for 60% of the business scale of its main products. From this, it can be considered that the new agricultural management subject is the key force to improve the quality of agricultural products and is of great significance to effectively promote the reform of agricultural supply-side structure.
However, at present, the level of production standards implemented by new agricultural business entities is not very high, mainly based on industry standards and local standards. Take farmers’ professional cooperatives as an example. Among farmers’ professional cooperatives that have implemented standardized production, most of the standards implemented are industry standards and local standards, and the proportion of national standards is relatively small. Take farmers’ professional cooperatives as an example. Among the farmers’ professional cooperatives surveyed, the proportion of implementing industry standards and local standards is 34.24% and 33.88% respectively, which is about 10 percentage points higher than that of implementing national standards. In addition, some farmers’ professional cooperatives implement enterprise standards and their own standards, accounting for 15% and 24% respectively.
The investigation found that the specific measures for farmers’ professional cooperatives to implement standardized production mainly include improving the product standard system, publicizing and training standardized production, standardizing the use of agricultural products inputs, detecting the quality and safety of agricultural products, and establishing agricultural products production records; The specific measures for leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization to implement production standardization mainly include building high-standard raw material bases, strengthening inspection and quarantine, and actively participating in quality control system certification.
Cultivate new agricultural formats
Promoting the integration of rural industries and realizing the mutual penetration and coordinated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries is an important way to accelerate the transformation of agricultural development mode and promote agricultural modernization. Compared with traditional farmers, the new agricultural business entities are more closely linked with the prenatal and postnatal links, so they may play a more important role in promoting the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.
For family farms, this report regards the comprehensive management of primary, secondary and tertiary industries as the integration of tertiary industries; For farmers’ professional cooperatives, this report regards the integration of supply and production, production and marketing, production and supply and marketing as the integration of three industries; For leading enterprises, this report regards "enterprise+farmer", "enterprise+base+farmer" and "enterprise+enterprise+farmer" as the integration of three industries.
In 2015, among the new agricultural business entities surveyed, there were 1285 companies that implemented the integration of three industries, accounting for 49% of the valid samples.
Among them, the integration of production and marketing is the main way for farmers’ professional cooperatives to integrate the three industries. The survey shows that 47% of farmers’ professional cooperatives have integrated production and marketing, which is 5 percentage points higher than that of those who have integrated production, supply and marketing, and 37 percentage points higher than that of those who have integrated supply and marketing. The main way for leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization to integrate the three industries is "enterprise+base+farmers". The survey found that 59% of the leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization implemented the mode of "integration of three industries", which was 35 percentage points higher than that of "enterprise+farmer" and 47 percentage points higher than that of "enterprise+enterprise+farmer".
In the process of promoting the integration of the three industries, many new agricultural formats have been derived from the new agricultural business entities. Taking farmers’ professional cooperatives as an example, among the farmers’ professional cooperatives surveyed, 558 have developed new agricultural formats, accounting for 56% of the effective samples. Therefore, at present, half of farmers’ professional cooperatives are engaged in new agricultural operations. Among farmers’ professional cooperatives engaged in new business operations, ecological agriculture accounts for the highest proportion, accounting for 52%; Followed by circular agriculture, accounting for 24%; The third is seed agriculture, accounting for 23%; Leisure agriculture again, accounting for 21%; Finally, exhibition agriculture, accounting for 8%.
According to the survey results, the median income of leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization, farmers’ professional cooperatives and family farms in 2015 was 3 million yuan, 600,000 yuan and 180,000 yuan respectively. It is further estimated that the agricultural output value created by new agricultural operators in 2015 was about 686.82 billion yuan, while the agricultural output value in China in 2015 was 107057 billion yuan, so the agricultural output value created by new agricultural operators in 2015 has accounted for 6.41% of the national agricultural output value. On the whole, the development level of new agricultural management entities in China is not very high, and there is much room for improvement. But vertically, the income of agricultural-related business of new agricultural management entities has an upward trend. Taking family farms as an example, the median operating income of agricultural-related businesses was 150,000 yuan in 2014, and it increased to 180,000 yuan in 2015, an increase of 20%. (Economic Daily, China Economic Trend Research Institute, New Agricultural Management Subject Research Group)