Agriculture serves as the foundation of the national economy. Strengthening agricultural technological innovation and accelerating the formation of new productivity in agriculture through technological innovation are of significant importance for constructing a strong agricultural nation, implementing rural revitalization strategies, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature in modern agricultural and rural development.
New productivity relies on the application of cutting-edge and disruptive technologies, with technological innovation serving as the fundamental driving force for agricultural and rural development. Cultivating agricultural new productivity through technological innovation entails promoting innovation in agricultural formats, models, and dynamics.
In terms of the main connotations of agricultural new productivity, accelerating its cultivation involves focusing on four key aspects: tackling new agricultural technologies, nurturing new agricultural formats, constructing new agricultural models, and stimulating new agricultural dynamics. This ensures that new productivity becomes an engine for the growth of agriculture and rural areas.
The ongoing iterations of scientific, technological, and industrial revolutions are accelerating, giving rise to new economic forms and models in agriculture, which in turn drive the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural industry. Therefore, relying on advanced technology to transform agriculture and generate new productivity is imperative. Specifically, the following areas are recommended:
Enhancing Cutting-edge Agricultural Technology: Cutting-edge agricultural technology, characterized by the integration of modern biotechnology, information technology, engineering technology, and humanities and social science technology, represents a "grand agricultural science" featuring interdisciplinary and high-tech integration. Revolutionary technologies such as digital technology and artificial intelligence, once applied comprehensively throughout agriculture, will lead to revolutionary changes in agricultural production methods and management concepts. Undoubtedly, new productivity in fields such as biotechnology and digital technology will be key areas for future breakthroughs in agricultural technology, with a focus on biotechnology and digital technology as priority research directions.
Strengthening Key Technology Development in the Agricultural Supply Chain: This includes focusing on the following technologies:
Cultivating New Agricultural Formats and Models: The development of new productivity in agriculture extends the boundaries of "agriculture" from the primary industry to the secondary and tertiary industries, leading the cultivation and development of emerging industries and formats. The scope of new agricultural formats encompasses not only traditional agriculture, livestock and poultry farming, agricultural product processing, and agricultural services but also extends to new fields such as nutrition and health, ecological civilization, and agricultural culture. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen agricultural technological innovation across the entire industry chain, promote the continuous emergence of new agricultural formats and models, and increase land productivity, labor productivity, resource utilization efficiency, pollution prevention and control, product quality, and farmers' income.
In addition, creating a favorable innovation ecosystem for the formation of agricultural new productivity is crucial. This involves adhering to the "four orientations," fully mobilizing various forces including government, industry, research, education, and application, and building a robust and effective technological innovation system to fundamentally address the problem of the dual nature of technology and industry. It also requires integrating technological innovation resources, focusing on improving the overall efficiency of the innovation system, addressing prominent issues such as fragmented efforts, low levels of duplication, and low conversion rates in agricultural and rural scientific and technological work. Furthermore, it is essential to clarify the basic functional positioning of various agricultural research institutions at all levels, integrate and coordinate various innovative resources at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, establish a comprehensive agricultural technological innovation system characterized by clear levels, collaborative division of labor, and moderate competition, and strengthen the leading position of enterprises in innovation. Improving enterprise innovation capabilities is a key lever for promoting the improvement of agricultural new productivity. Establishing mechanisms for enterprises to regularly participate in major provincial-level scientific and technological innovation decision-making processes, further strengthening policy support for key enterprises' research and development investment, and optimizing the connection and coordination between policies related to scientific and technological innovation and those related to finance, taxation, finance, talent, industry, and intellectual property rights are essential. Deepening cooperation between science and enterprises, promoting joint construction of science-enterprise platforms, joint research on projects, and resource sharing, adhering to market demand orientation, stimulating market investment vitality, and promoting the deep coupling of industrial chains, innovation chains, and financial chains are also important. Moreover, innovative project management mechanisms should be emphasized. While strengthening the construction of the agricultural scientific and technological innovation system, active efforts should be made to connect with national innovation platforms and other advantageous domestic scientific research forces, enrich regional agricultural scientific and technological resources, and form joint forces to address key and difficult technical challenges. Based on industrial needs, solicit demands, optimize management based on project characteristics during organization and implementation, and focus on user feedback and actual effects during evaluation and acceptance.
Advancing the deep integration of new productivity and modern agriculture will facilitate the formation of a new pattern of modern agriculture characterized by intensive, efficient, safe, and sustainable development in China. Encouraging more outstanding talents to participate in agricultural technological innovation and engaging more scientific and technological personnel in the development of new agricultural productivity will make greater contributions to the upgrading and revitalization of industries and the construction of beautiful rural areas. (Author's Affiliation: Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
