The construction of digital villages helps the modernization of agriculture and rural areas

In recent years, with the rapid development and wide application of information technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data, and blockchain in all walks of life, the grand blueprint of digital China has been slowly unfolding. In the wave of digitalization, the construction of digital villages, as an important part of the construction of digital China, is a necessary condition for realizing rural revitalization and accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. The Central Economic Work Conference clearly stated that the focus should be on improving the level of rural industry development, rural construction and rural governance, strengthening the two-wheel drive of science and technology and reform, strengthening measures to increase farmers' income, and concentrating on doing a good job of doing a number of practical things that can be felt by the masses, so as to build livable, workable and beautiful villages. This points out the direction and path for promoting the modernization of agriculture and rural areas with the construction of digital villages.

Agricultural power is the foundation of a modern socialist country, and agricultural and rural modernization is an important part of Chinese modernization, including the modernization of "things" and "people". The construction of digital villages breaks through the problem from the composition of agricultural and rural modernization, and takes science and technology and talents as the key to promoting agricultural and rural modernization. On the one hand, it emphasizes that science and technology are the foundation, by strengthening the support of agricultural equipment, improving rural information infrastructure, vigorously developing new forms of agricultural business, accelerating the flow of data elements, and giving full play to the multiplier effect, so as to break the digital barriers between urban and rural areas and smooth the economic cycle of urban and rural areas; This not only promotes the modernization of rural "things", but also promotes the modernization of rural "people", and gives vitality and vitality to the realization of rural revitalization and the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

The construction of digital villages takes scientific and technological innovation as the first driving force to provide technical support for promoting the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. The construction of digital villages gives full play to the positive role of information technology and data elements in farmers' production and life, greatly improves agricultural production efficiency, and enhances the ability of rural digital governance. In terms of agricultural production, the informatization rate of agricultural production in mainland China exceeds 25%, and smart agriculture relies on modern information technology such as digital breeding, intelligent agricultural machinery and equipment, and big data analysis to carry out precise control of the whole process, and steadily transforms to digitalization, standardization and scale, laying a solid foundation for the realization of agricultural modernization. In terms of digital governance, in 2021, the comprehensive online handling rate of six types of agriculture-related government affairs services in the mainland reached 68.2%, and the "Internet+" technology has delivered the convenience of open government affairs, joint consultation of village affairs, and service sharing to thousands of households.

The construction of digital villages takes talents as the first resource and provides intellectual support for promoting the modernization of agriculture and rural areas. Since the launch of the construction of digital villages, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has cultivated many backbone e-commerce talents for rural areas by holding special training courses on agricultural and rural e-commerce for rural practical talent leaders, and batches of young talents have returned to rural areas. From 2012 to the end of 2022, a total of 12.2 million entrepreneurs have returned to their hometowns, and a large number of them are engaged in jobs closely related to digital technology, and the rural digital economy is booming under the guidance of talents. In addition, the improvement of farmers' digital skills is also an indispensable part of the construction of digital villages. In recent years, the mainland has carried out mobile phone application skills training for farmers to improve their ability to obtain information, online marketing, and handle business online, promote them to participate more actively in the construction of digital villages, and enhance the internal driving force for agricultural and rural modernization.

The construction of digital villages has achieved remarkable results and fruitful results, but there is still a certain gap between the digital level of rural areas and urban areas. For example, the application scope of digital technology in the agricultural field is still small, the development of smart agriculture is still in its infancy, and the application and popularization of digital technology in rural grassroots governance are not high, the digital talent gap is still large, and the number of young people in rural labor is small, and so on. In order to solve these problems, accelerate the pace of digital rural construction, realize the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, and continuously promote the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, it is necessary to make efforts in science and technology and talents.

On the one hand, with science and technology as the engine, efforts should be made to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas and consolidate the agricultural and rural foundation for modernization. It is necessary to continue to expand the scope of application of digital technology in rural areas, so as to achieve "the same network and the same speed" in urban and rural areas. On this basis, it is necessary to further strengthen the embedding and application of information technology in the entire agricultural industry chain, accelerate the flow of data elements in various fields of agriculture, use digital technology to empower the whole process of agricultural and rural planting, breeding and animal husbandry, give full play to the scale effect and agglomeration effect, and promote the digitalization of rural industries. Rational allocation of agricultural resources, digital technology as a strategic support to extend the industrial chain, connect the supply chain, and improve the value chain. Explore new models and methods of digital assistance to agriculture, promote the cross-border integration of e-commerce, modern logistics and agriculture and rural handicrafts, promote the standardized development of models such as "e-commerce to help agriculture" and "live streaming goods", cultivate new forms of e-commerce of agricultural products, broaden the sales channels of rural products, comprehensively improve the digital level of rural production and operation, and effectively improve farmers' income. At the same time, the use of digital information technology to create a convenient service platform that integrates medical care, education, pension, entertainment, travel, social security and other contents, breaks down data and information barriers, continuously improves the ability and level of rural governance, and allows the people to have more sense of gain, happiness and security in the development of informatization.

On the other hand, with talents as the guide, more people will be driven to participate in the construction of digital villages and promote the digital development of agriculture and rural areas. It is necessary to increase the teaching and training of farmers' digital knowledge, accelerate the construction of an all-media matrix, disseminate digital information through multiple channels, regularly invite experts and scholars to rural areas to carry out normalized publicity and education, improve farmers' digital literacy and skills, let more farmers carry out economic activities through online platforms, and stimulate farmers' sense of ownership in the construction of digital villages. It is necessary to adhere to the combination of training and introduction, and local governments should formulate corresponding guidance policies to provide a good employment and entrepreneurship environment and financial support for relevant talents, attract more wealthy experts to return to the countryside, and contribute to the construction of digital villages. Improve grassroots employment policies, encourage college graduates to return to their hometowns for employment, closely combine classroom learning and Xi with rural practice, cultivate love for agriculture, practice agricultural skills, give full play to professional skills, explore new scenarios for the application of digital technology, make contributions on the big stage of rural revitalization, and contribute to accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

(The author, Zhang Yugang, is a special researcher at the Beijing Xi Jinping New Era Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, and secretary of the Party Committee of the School of Economics, Minzu University of China Source: Economic Daily)

Editor: Nie Yue

Source: Economic Daily