Favorable conditions and constraints for promoting agricultural modernization in the Pearl River Delta

The achievements made by the Pearl River Delta in the past half century since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, have provided important information for promoting agricultural modernization. material basis. Coupled with the region's natural, geographical, social and other advantages, it has many favorable conditions in accelerating the process of agricultural modernization. Manifested in:

(1) Rich natural resources and superior geographical location. Agricultural production facilities and other basic conditions are relatively good. Under the influence of high temperature and humidity, the production cycle of crops is short, which is suitable for the development of multi-cropping farming system and greater flexibility in seasonal arrangements. It is also suitable for the development of tropical and subtropical breeding industries. The region has a developed commodity economy, dense towns and foreign trade ports, and agriculture has the advantage of opening up and exploring domestic and foreign markets.

(2) The economy is developing rapidly and the collective economy is relatively strong. In 1997, the Pearl River Delta's GDP reached 517.6 billion yuan, accounting for 78-83% of the province's total, and the comprehensive agricultural production capacity increased. In Jiangmen's rural areas, which are at the city's medium level, the city's total agricultural output value increased 7 times between 1997 and 1978; agricultural labor productivity increased 9 times, land productivity increased 6 times, and farmers' per capita annual net income increased 28 times. Due to the insistence on constantly improving the two-tier management system of community cooperative organizations and efforts to support a small number of poor communities, the collective economy has developed well and its economic strength has been greatly enhanced. Among the 717 economic cooperatives in rural Foshan, 77 have an annual net income of 500,000 to 700,000 yuan, and 398 have an annual net income of more than 1 million yuan. Among the 3,540 economic cooperatives, 773 have an annual net income of 100,000 to 300,000 yuan, and 1,013 have an annual net income of more than 300,000 yuan. This is obviously conducive to increasing capital investment and scientific and technological investment in agriculture and improving socialized services in rural areas.

(3) There is great potential for introducing foreign investment and advanced technology. Relying on geographical and human advantages, the Pearl River Delta can become an external window for agriculture, introduce advanced varieties and equipment, attract foreign investment, develop the export of agricultural and sideline products and processed products, increase foreign exchange income, adjust the rural industrial structure, and arrange rural labor force , opening up new ways to get rich, all play an important role. At the same time, we should also see that among the total foreign investment utilized in the Pearl River Delta in recent years, the proportion of foreign investment utilized in agriculture is not commensurate with actual requirements. The scientific and technological content of the introduced projects is low, and there are too few deep processing projects for products. This in turn illustrates its development. The potential is still huge.

(4) "Three Highs" agriculture has driven the development of rural economy. The majority of farmers have achieved wealth through labor and science and technology in the development of "three high" agriculture, and have certain material conditions and mass foundation to increase agricultural input. The great achievements of the "Three Highs" agricultural development have attracted many industrial and commercial enterprises and entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture, providing funds, technology and management experience to promote the development of agricultural modernization, and playing an important role in introducing modern enterprise management systems into agriculture. A number of agricultural infrastructure will be effective, and a number of leading enterprises are being formed, which will accelerate the process of agricultural industrialization, improve the comparative interests of agriculture and increase farmers' income, thus further stimulating the enthusiasm of the farmers.