The Three Models of China’s Agricultural Development: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Administrative, Laissez Faire, and Co-op Approaches (中国农业发展三大模式：行政、放任、与合作的利与弊)

Abstract

This article demonstrates how the “old agriculture” of grain production operates today mainly by an administrative model, while the “new agriculture” of high-value-added products (high-end vegetables, fruits, meat-poultry-fish, and eggs-milk) operates mainly by a laissez faire market model. The former serves to protect low-value agricultural products from violent market price swings and international competition to ensure China’s “grain security,” but is prone to a commandist approach that can disregard peasant interests and wishes. The latter has stimulated peasant initiatives through market incentives, but suffers from violent price fluctuations and merchant extractions. A third model, “specialty co-ops,” has thus far been guided by a mistaken model of trying to imitate U.S. co-ops, which are purely economic entities, to the disregard of Chinese village communities. This article urges the adoption of an “East Asian” model of semi-governmental, integrated co-ops based on peasant communities (villages), extending from there up through the governmental hierarchy of townships, counties, provinces, and the central levels. Such co-ops provide “vertical integration” (processing and marketing) services for small-peasant agricultural products, offer technical assistance, organize the purchase and supply of agricultural inputs, extend credit services, engage in community activities, and see to peasant social-political interests, as was done so successfully in Japan-Korea-Taiwan, most especially during the period when their per capita GDP and relative proportions of industry and agriculture stood at levels roughly comparable to China’s today. 本文论证,中国的“旧农业”——谷物生产——今天主要运作于一个行政模式之下,而“新农业”——高值蔬菜、水果、肉-禽-鱼和蛋奶——则主要运作于一个放任的市场模式之下。在国际市场竞争和粮食价格相对低廉的压力下,前者起到保护中国谷物生产和“粮食安全”的作用,但也显示倾向过度依赖指令性手段和无视农民意愿的弱点。后者则成功地凭借市场收益激发了小农的创新性,但经常受到市场价格波动的冲击以及商业资本的榨取。作为第三种模式的“专业合作社”,则主要试图模仿美国的纯经济性合作社模式,无视中国村庄，不符合中国实际。本文提倡,中国应该模仿“东亚”模式的半政府性综合农协,扎根于村庄社区、由此往上延伸到乡-镇、县、省、中央各级政府。它们主要为小农提供“纵向一体化”的产品加工和销售服务、技术咨询与服务、信贷服务、组织农资供销、组织社区活动、并参与国家政治来维护小农利益,一如日-韩-台历史经验中,在其人均gdp以及工农业所占相对比例大致相当于如今中国的那段时期。 (This article is in English.)