Boosting farming to deal with rising aged population in the countryside
促进农业发展应对农村人口老龄化
The rapidly aging rural population has made it more challenging for China to ensure food security.
农村人口迅速老龄化给中国保障粮食安全带来更大挑战。
People visiting villages in China can see that many houses are locked all year round and those living in the villages are either elderly people or children, because the young and middle-aged farmers have mostly left their villages in search of non-farming but better-paying jobs in cities.
到中国的村庄去走访的人都可以看到，很多房子常年锁着，住在村里的不是老人就是孩子，因为青壮年农民大多离开了自己的村庄，不再从事农业生产，去城市寻找报酬更高的工作。
In a country with nearly 500 million people identified as farmers, a typical rural family can toil on its small farm of 0.3-0.5 hectare and earn enough to survive but not enough to improve its economic lot. As a result, many young and middle-aged farmers have migrated to cities in search of better-paying jobs, leaving the land to their parents and grandparents. When the aged are too old to work, their plots are left untended, which is a waste of precious land resource in a country like China.
在一个拥有近5亿农民的国家，一个典型的农村家庭可以在0.3至0.5公顷的小农场里辛勤劳作，赚到的钱足以维持生计，但不足以改善其经济状况。这样一来，许多青壮年农民进入城市寻找收入更高的工作，把土地留给了父母和祖父母。当老年人太老而无法工作时，他们的土地就无人照管，这对中国这样的国家来说是对宝贵的土地资源的浪费。
In China, arable land is collectively owned and allocated to rural households in accordance with the number of their family members. So the famers can only transfer their land right use, not the ownership. By transferring their land right use to investors, farmers can earn not only transfer fees but also year-end profits while getting wages for the work they do in cities or, more importantly, working on these huge farms and getting paid for it.
在中国，耕地属于集体所有，并按照家庭成员人数分配给农户。因此，农民只能转让土地使用权，不能转让所有权。通过将土地使用权转让给投资者，农民不仅可以赚取转让费，还可以赚取年终利润，同时他们也可以在城市打工赚钱，更重要的是，他们也可以在这些大农场里工作并获得报酬。
As a result, intensive farming is emerging in China with some new farms being as big as 200 hectares. With the help of new equipment and technologies, the investors need fewer people to the land and harvest crops, and make bigger profits.
因此，集约化农业在中国兴起，一些新农场面积达到200公顷。在新设备和新技术的帮助下，投资者需要更少的人来耕种土地和收获农作物，并获得更大的利润。
This new way of farming seems attractive to young people, many of whom are returning to their home villages to operate tractors, use harvesters and even drones for cultivation. Over the past few years, there have been reports of young people with higher education taking up modern farming to earn decent incomes.
这种新的耕作方式似乎对年轻人很有吸引力，他们中的许多人正在回到家乡村庄操作拖拉机、使用收割机甚至无人机进行耕种。过去几年，有报道称，受过高等教育的年轻人开始从事现代农业，收入不菲。
With modern farming becoming more profitable, rural working and living conditions are fast improving, prompting more young people to choose farming as a career. Also, modern farming has been creating new employment opportunities in villages in some areas.
随着现代农业效益的提高，农村生产生活条件迅速改善，越来越多的年轻人选择务农为业。此外，现代农业还为一些地区的村庄创造了新的就业机会。
The fast-paced development of e-commerce is also prompting many young people to return to their villages to operate homestays or engage in other profitable employment.
电子商务的快速发展也促使许多年轻人回到家乡经营民宿或从事其他利润丰厚的工作。
