What is the “Agriculture 4.0” era? Agricultural transformation under ecological civilization is the only choice

Even though we have entered the digital economy era with one foot, agricultural production remains the foundation of industry, and the fluctuations in agricultural production caused by climate change are still reflected in the industrial economic cycle. Before realizing agricultural production mainly based on soilless cultivation and artificial lighting technology, how to develop agriculture remains the core issue of human survival and development.

Agriculture heavily relies on climate, and Agriculture 1.0 was the earliest form of agriculture in prehistory. Starting from historical climate change, “From Agriculture 1.0 to Agriculture 4.0: Ecological Transformation and Agricultural Sustainability” (hereinafter referred to as “From Agriculture 1.0 to Agriculture 4.0”) concludes that for every 1 degree Celsius increase in temperature in the past 50 years, food production has decreased by 5%. However, the author believes that it is not this factor that has the greatest impact on agricultural development, but rather that more and more countries are developing large-scale agricultural production according to developed national institutional systems, resulting in worsening environmental disasters. Since 1990, approximately 75% of crops have disappeared from arable land, impacting the resilience of the agricultural system to disasters. The author believes that this agricultural production has also triggered an ecological crisis. The agricultural civilization of China for thousands of years mainly relies on the harmonious symbiotic relationship between diversified comprehensive management and natural diversity.

There are relatively more developing countries in Asia, with a larger population and fewer per capita resources, especially in China, which has led to the development of East Asian indigenous agriculture, mainly represented by China, Japan, and South Korea. This East Asian agricultural model is an economic form that engages in small-scale agriculture and handicraft production on a household basis, with a self risk and self profit and loss economic operation mechanism. Among them, Yeoman are the most common and representative. The agricultural model in East Asia is mainly represented by China, and even centered around Chinese culture.

The strategy proposed by the author is first to carry out organizational transformation and strengthen the rural collective economy. In 2019, the No. 1 central document of the Central Committee proposed to take the reform of rural property relations as the main content. In the new situation, credit cooperation should be the main body, and production, supply and sales cooperation should be the two wings, forming a “trinity” agricultural complex covering counties, towns, and villages. The second is the pattern reform, which uses the advantages of traditional agriculture for reference to promote three-dimensional circular agriculture and achieve low mining, high utilization and low emissions. The reduced production model and ecological industrial park model can meet the needs of the public for organic food and leisure health culture. Supported by traditional agricultural product planting industries such as fruits and vegetables, combined with agricultural activities such as picking, planting, transplanting, and plowing, the development of circular agriculture characterized by rural entertainment experiences, ecological health preservation, and agricultural fun experiences has a broad development prospect.