The International Symposium on agriculture and rural development in the 21st century was held in Beijing

Introduction: At the international seminar on "agriculture and rural development in the 21st century: past experiences and future policies" co sponsored by the Ministry of agriculture and the FAO on September 9, Du Qinglin, Minister of the Ministry of agriculture, and Diouf, director general of the FAO, expressed that they should continue to strengthen cooperation between China and FAO and further promote friendly and cooperative relations between China and FAO 。
In his speech, Du Qinglin reviewed the brilliant achievements of agriculture and rural development since China's reform and opening up: steady development of agricultural production, grain production from 300 million tons up to 350 million tons, 400 million tons, 450 million tons and 500 million tons From 1978 to 2003, more than 20% of the world's major agricultural products grew in China; the progress of agricultural science and technology accelerated significantly, cell engineering The research on high and new technologies such as transgenic technology and biological pesticide has reached or reached the international advanced level, and the coverage rate of major crops' improved varieties has reached more than 95% The "science and technology to household project" implemented this year will further accelerate the popularization and application of agricultural science and technology; the rural economic structure continues to be optimized, and nine major grain varieties advantage industrial belts and three advantages have been preliminarily formed Potential cotton area, two advantageous apple production areas, and animal husbandry and aquaculture are concentrating in advantageous production areas; the income of farmers has achieved a restorative growth, and the per capita net income of Chinese farmers increased by 6.8% in 2004, the highest growth since 1997; the rural poverty alleviation has achieved remarkable results, with the number of rural poor reduced to 26.1 million The "development oriented poverty alleviation" insisted by the Chinese government has strengthened the poor The ability to get rid of poverty and become rich Du Qinglin pointed out that at present, China's agriculture and rural areas have entered a new stage of development, facing not only the major opportunities of "industry supporting agriculture and cities supporting rural areas", but also the severe challenges of resources, market constraints and the imbalance of environment and urban and rural development In the future, China will guide the overall situation of agricultural and rural economic work with the scientific development concept, put the people-oriented concept throughout the agricultural development, and realize, maintain and develop the fundamental interests of the masses of farmers; adhere to the concept of overall planning and coordination, broaden the thinking of agricultural development in the new era, and promote the overall development of agriculture and rural economy; implement the concept of sustainable development, and promote Change of agricultural growth mode, vigorously develop resource-saving and environment-friendly agriculture; set up the concept of scientific and technological progress, strengthen the strategic basis of agricultural development, and constantly improve the scientific and technological content of agricultural development; establish the concept of reform and innovation, remove the institutional obstacles restricting agricultural development, and enhance the power and vitality of agricultural development; draw on the modern industrial concept to plan agricultural development, and improve the development of agriculture Promote traditional agriculture and vigorously promote the construction of modern agriculture In his speech, Diouf, director general of FAO, pointed out that agricultural growth in developing countries plays an important role in enhancing food security and poverty eradication There is enough evidence to show that developing countries need to strengthen agricultural investment in fighting hunger and extreme poverty However, the actual public expenditure for agricultural and rural development in developing countries does not reflect agriculture It plays an important role in the national economy and people's living standards At the same time, science and technology play an important role in agriculture, but the poor farmers' mastery of science and technology is limited He believes that developing countries are facing a series of new challenges brought about by rapid urbanization and globalization as well as lifestyle changes while solving poverty and food security problems At the seminar, MS Swaminathan, a famous Indian genetics expert, and Professor Lin Yifu, director of China Economic Research Center of Peking University delivered keynote speeches entitled "green revolution" and "several strategic thoughts on promoting China's rural development" Government officials from various departments, representatives of international organizations, as well as domestic and foreign academic celebrities, experts and scholars shared the experience of agriculture and rural development in various countries, and conducted in-depth discussions on urbanization and rural areas, globalization and agriculture, environmental challenges and food safety, the frontier of Agricultural Science in the 21st century, poverty alleviation by science and technology, and future agricultural policy choices, It provides useful ideas and reference for China's agriculture and rural development.