Can the Songjiang model save the farming industry?

(Ecns.cn) -- China's farming industry is threatened by a labor exodus as more people migrate from rural areas to major cities, China Newsweek reports.

In response, Shanghai's Songjiang district has attempted since 2007 to improve family farms by sharing the knowledge of experienced and creative farmers. The model has seen some success, but also faces problems.

Agricultural know-how

Altogether 162 families in Maogang town of Songjiang rent plots of land ranging from 80 mu (about 5.33 hectares) to more than 200 mu. One of the plots belongs to Zhang Xiaodi and his wife. Now 49, Zhang worked as a carpenter and a driver before finally settling on farming.

Chen Jiming, vice-director of Huangqiao village, praises Zhang for his brilliant mind for farm work. His innovations, such as sowing rice before June 10 to produce higher yields, have benefitted many local farmers, says Chen.

Such ideas have aroused enthusiasm and created flexibility, which has improved efficiency. In Songjiang, 80 percent of cropland is operated by family farms, which have increased the average output of one mu by 38 kilograms from a decade ago, according to the district agricultural bureau.

Decent income

Larger scale family operations allow manpower to reach full potential and ensure decent incomes for farmers. Family farms should guarantee twice the incomes people earn in cities, otherwise no one will want to do it, the bureau says.

The net income of Zhang's family last year amounted to 200,000 yuan (about US$32,174), 80 percent of which came from rice production. That's higher than the average salary earned by local civil servants, according Chen Jiming.

In 2012, the average per capita income on family farms that produce grain and raise pigs reached 50,000 yuan, while other rural resident earned no more than 18,000 yuan. The gap is even larger when preferential policies for family farms such as subsidies are included.

Critical standards

Songjiang district began confining land contracts to rural residents with local household registrations in the latter half of 2007, after discovering that migrant residents felt little obligation to conserve the soil. With short-term leases, migrants mostly sought output through predatory farming, over-plowing and overuse of fertilizer.

Songjiang prohibits family farms from employing labor outside the family. Zhang says he was hesitant at first, as two people can't handle all the work during a busy season, but his doubts were cleared after regulations allowing temporary employment were introduced.

Songjiang has also established strict standards for husbandry on family farms. If standards are not met, subsidies are reduced, and inspections are frequent.

Who will plough?

An aging and uneducated population in rural areas clouds the future of family farms. Altogether 61 percent of 1,173 farm-owners in Songjiang are more than 50 years old, and 93 percent didn't go to high school, according to a survey last year.

This clearly indicates that the younger generation has drifted far from agriculture. "The young people born after the reform and opening-up don't know how to farm," says Zhang.

Nevertheless, the agricultural bureau requires family farm-owners to retire at 60, and encourages their children to take over. But according to Li Chunfeng, a younger farm-owner, young men often refuse because of the hard work and poor environment.

Modernization of moderately large-scale farms is another issue. "The family farm won't last long if young people can't operate agricultural machines," says Zhang.

Future of the model

China's central and local governments have contributed a great deal to support family farms. In 2001, more than 26 million yuan was allocated in Songjiang, including 14 percent from the central government, 40 percent from Shanghai municipality and the rest from the district.

Zhang Xiaodi's son-in-law, who earns a 3000-yuan monthly salary, intends to take over Zhang's farm, but is concerned about whether the subsidies will continue. The temptation to run a family farm will be lost if the preferential policies are stopped, he says.

Moreover, like other farm-owners, Zhang only has a five-year lease on the land.

More land is needed to develop family farms in order to get more rural residents to leave cities, and to separate the ownership and management of land, according Songjiang's agriculture bureau.