Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300384, China

Abstract According to the requirements of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Cultivation of New Professional Farmers, developing agriculture through science and education, enhancing agriculture through talents, and consolidating agriculture though new professional farmers is adhered to as a major strategy. However, its implementation is faced with the imbalance between the educational level of the agricultural population and the number of agricultural population. To this end, local agricultural universities should be based on regional agricultural development, scientifically analyze the level and structure of the demand for talents in regional agricultural development, and find the right position, committed to cultivating applied talents for regional agricultural development and value linkages between agriculture and secondary and tertiary industries.

Key words Local agricultural colleges, Talent cultivation, Regional agriculture, Industrial value chain

1 Introduction

The Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Cultivation of New Professional Farmers requires to focus on the main line of work on the supply-side structural reform of agriculture, adhere to developing agriculture through science and education, enhancing agriculture through talents, consolidating agriculture through new professional farmers as a major strategy, adhere to government leading, being based on industries and accurate cultivation, give play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, establish a special policy mechanism, increase funding input, improve the cultivation system, and enhance the cultivation ability, accelerate the construction of a new professional peasant team with culture, technology, and good management, providing strong talent guarantee for agricultural revitalization[1]. In 2018, the National New Professional Farmers Development Summit Forum was held in Beijing. Experts agree that farmers are the mainstay of agriculture and the main force in agricultural development. If the farmers are strong, the agriculture is strong; and if the farmers are rich, the rural areas are rich. It is necessary to speed up the cultivation of new agricultural management entities, attract young people to farm, cultivate professional farmers, build a team of professional farmers, and form a high-quality agricultural production and management team, providing solid talent support and guarantee for China’s agricultural modernization and sustainable and healthy development[2]. Faced with the requirements of the times, local agricultural colleges and universities are duty-bound.

2 Analysis of the status of agricultural population in China

Judging from the education level of the population, in the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s population has experienced a qualitative leap in education. Among the population aged 15 over in 1982, the proportion of high school and above education is 10.9%. In 2017, the proportion increased to 35.0%. The proportion of people with tertiary education and above rose from less than 1% in 1982 to 15.5% in 2017[3]. Compared with countries with a higher proportion of higher education population (e.g., the proportion of highly educated people in Russia between the ages of 25 and 64 is as high as 54%[4]), the proportion of people with higher education in China is still relatively low. In 2016, the number of employed people in China was 776.03 million, of which the number of rural employees was 361.75 million, accounting for 46%[5]. China Population News reported that at the end of 2016, the total number of rural practical talents in China was close to 19 million, only 5% of the total number of employed people in the countryside[6]. Based on the proportion of the population with college education or above in China of 15.5% and the traditional consciousness of heavy business and light agriculture in China for a long time, the proportion of rural employed persons who have received college education or above is small. In terms of population, since China’s reform and opening up, the average annual growth rate of China’s population is 0.9%, which is lower than the average annual growth rate of the world population. The level of population aging has increased year by year. The potential opportunities for China to harvest a quantitative demographic dividend are weakening[7]. According to theOpinionsConcerningFurtherFacilitatingtheConstructionofNewUrbanization, by 2020, the urbanization rate of China’s permanent residents will reach 60%. This means that in the next five years, at least 20 million rural people migrate to cities every year[8]. In this way, the number of rural employees will also decline in the future. This shows that China’s agricultural economic development is facing the constraints of the agricultural population’s education level and the agricultural population, which will inevitably hinder the process of modernization and sustainable and healthy development of agriculture. It is necessary to break through the constraints brought about by the double imbalance of the agricultural population. The only way is to fully release the talent dividend. Thus, agricultural colleges and universities should do a good job in training talents.

3 Some thoughts on talent cultivation in local agricultural universities: a case study of Tianjin Agricultural University

The cultivation of talents is exactly the same as the production of products. First, the production process of products is the process of rationally organizing and combining the three elements of labor force, labor means, and labor object in time and space. The quality of manufactured products is closely related to the goodness of the production equipment, the quality of the raw materials and the work proficiency of the workers. The process of cultivating talents also involves three elements, the person who is engaged in the cultivation of talents, the means of training talents and the objects of training. These three elements must be arranged in an integrated manner to ensure the quality of personnel training. Second, every aspect of product manufacturing, from design, trial production, production to market launch, should focus on the needs of the market. The variety and quality of the products must be adapted to the needs of the users. Only in this way, the competitiveness of the products can be enhanced. The cultivation of talents must also take into account the needs of society. The direction and level of talent training must adapt to the needs of society. Only in this way, the talents cultivated can be useful. Third, different kinds of products have different use values. The same type of products should also have different degrees differences in the structure, performance and use. The cultivation of talents also needs to break down the needs of society and develop a detailed talent development goal plan based on the needs of the society, so that the talents cultivated can accurately find their own position in the society. Fourth, in the process product quality formation, the work in the product design phase is the most important. Without high-quality product design, it is impossible to have high-quality product manufacturing. The cultivation of talent should become a national systematic project. Every talent development organization should regard itself as a subsystem in the system. The talent training plan should be organically coordinated with the talent training plans of other subsystems in the system, exerting their own strengths and concentrating the superior resources to train qualified and applicable talents for the society. Fifth, improving product quality often increases product production costs accordingly. Product quality should be controlled at the most appropriate level to unify the improvement of product quality and reduction of product production costs. In China, most of the colleges and above are non-profit organizations. The cultivation of talents requires the government to provide financial support. Under this case, each talent development institution needs to be clear about its positioning in the system, and does not blindly pursuer career development, so that the government’s limited financial resources are effectively allocated. Tianjin Agricultural University is an agricultural college affiliated to Tianjin. Currently, it is manly engaged in undergraduate education. The author is a full-time teacher at this university. Based on the above thinking about talent training, taking Tianjin Agricultural University as an example, the following suggestions are made on how to do a good job in talent training.

3.1ReasonableallocationofteachersTianjin Agricultural University was established in 1976. At the beginning of the school, the vast majority of teachers came from a generation of undergraduate graduates after resuming the college entrance examination system after the reform and opening up. Although most of the teachers were from non-key universities at the time, the proportion of people with tertiary reduction and above was less than 1%. If we can still affirm the objective and impartiality of China’s college entrance examination system at the time, this generation of teachers should be able to adapt to the needs of talent training work in the Tianjin Agricultural College. The history also proves that this generation of teachers was qualified for the teaching and research work that they were engaged in. The three elements of talent development have been arranged in a coordinated manner. With the rapid development of China’s higher education and the rise of postgraduate education, at present, the teachers in Tianjin Agricultural University are dominated by doctors and masters. At present, some colleges and universities only introduce talents that graduate from key universities. The author thinks this rule is reasonable, and it follows the rules of education. The cultivation of talents in higher education is rooted in undergraduate education. If the undergraduate education is not strong, the foundation may be weak. Undergraduate education is at the core of talent training. Undergraduate education is an important foundation for improving the quality of personnel training. Therefore, in the introduction of teachers, when the colleges and universities comprehensively weigh the evaluation elements, it is still necessary to set the rule of graduating from key universities to ensure the quality of personnel training. This will further attract more high-quality students and let more talents join the team to revitalize China’s agricultural economic development.

3.2SettingupthecurriculumsystemintheindustrialvaluechainAt present, China’s agricultural development mode is changing. The agriculture is trying to be closely lined with the secondary and tertiary industries and make full use of the support and driving effects of other industries on agriculture through industrial value chain, guided by value added, promoting the optimization of agricultural structure in China and promoting the improvement of agricultural production efficiency. Tianjin Agricultural University, as an agricultural university affiliated to Tianjin, has formed a distinctive school-running characteristic that serves regional agriculture after years of running school practice. The school takes the service of urban agriculture as its own responsibility, is rooted in the school, adhere to the combination of production, study and research, and actively adapt to the needs of modern urban agriculture development, gradually forming a professional structure system to support the development of modern agricultural economy. Higher education institutions train talents through curriculum and curriculum teaching. They directly determine the knowledge structure and capacity structure of talent cultivation. With the gradual transformation of China’s agricultural development mode, at present, Tianjin Agricultural University should focus on the regional agricultural development needs, and rationally adjust the curriculum system, based on the existing professional structure, providing talent support for the value chain linkage of agriculture and secondary and tertiary industries. Starting from the efficient use and recycling of resources, the integration of ecological, economic and social benefits, adapting to the requirements of industrialization and urbanization, and enhancing the professional advantages of agricultural production, the adjustment of the curriculum system should cultivate qualified and applicable talents for Tianjin’s agricultural development, providing talent guarantee for regional agricultural economic development.

3.3ImprovingthedynamicadjustmentmechanismofprofessionalclassesWith the rapid development of China’s higher education, China’s higher education is entering the stage of popularization from the late stage of massification. In order to avoid colleges and universities pursuing one-sided education of high level, large scale and new pattern, China has formulated theNationalStandardsforUndergraduateProfessionalTeachingQualityinOrdinaryCollegesandUniversities, which requires all institutions of higher learning to take this as the reference for setting up undergraduate majors, guiding professional construction and evaluating profession teaching quality. Simultaneously, this document proposes qualitative requirements and quantitative indicators for teachers, teaching conditions, quality assurance system,etc. This is taken as the minimum requirements for new professions. In principle, the professions that do no meet the standards are not allowed to be set[9]. These regulations have laid the foundation for colleges and universities to dynamically adjust professional categories according to the goal of talent training. After several decades of development, Tianjin Agricultural University has formed a total of 7 professional categories and 45 undergraduate majors and directions nowadays, including agronomy, engineering, management, science, economics, literature, and art. At present, in order to adapt to the transformation of China’s agricultural development mode and provide talent support to realize the value links between agriculture and the secondary and tertiary industries, it is necessary to ensure that the various disciplines of the university, as well as the various professions and directions, closely follow the needs of regional agricultural economic development and the needs to provide talent support for the value chain linkage of agriculture and the secondary and tertiary industries. On the basis of maintaining the existing disciplines, the profession and direction that are not compatible or have insufficient strength should be adjusted, transferring talent cultivation to other colleges with repeat settings, and synchronizing with the personnel training programs of other colleges and universities. Thus, the educational resources will be concentrated to serve the school orientation that is compatible with the needs of modern agricultural development, and the distinctive characteristics of running a school that serves modern urban agriculture will be consolidated, forming a linkage mechanism for employment, enrollment and personnel training.

3.4ReasonablepositioningofschoollevelThe demand for talents in society is divided into professional categories and capacity levels. Based on the role of talents in the process of social and economic development, the scientific talent structure should be a pyramidal capacity level structure. The bottom of the pyramid is applied talents that have received applied knowledge and skills education, and the top of the pyramid is research-oriented talents that pursue theoretical innovation and knowledge creation. Research talents form talent supply for relevant research institutions, and applied talents provide talent guarantee for the normal operation of all walks of life and various public organizations. The demand for applied talents in society is broad, relatively speaking, while the demand for research talents in society is small. Higher education institutions are responsible for the three major functions of personnel training, scientific research and serving the society. Higher education institutions at different levels should be committed to the cultivation of talents at different levels. Tianjin Agricultural University should scientifically analyze the level and structure of talent demand by regional agricultural development, combines its own traditions and advantages, correctly evaluate its own school strength, focus on three aspects of talent cultivation, scientific research and serving the society, and make the right choice and positioning about cultivating research-oriented talents or cultivating applied talents. Based on the existing faculty, teaching conditions, and student status, Tianjin Agricultural University should be committed to the cultivation of applied talents, providing talent guarantee for regional agricultural economic development and value links between agriculture and the secondary and tertiary industries. In the training of talents, the university should ensure that high-quality resources are inclined to undergraduate education. It is conducive to promoting the dislocation competition among colleges and universities and the effective allocation of educational resources in colleges and universities, is beneficial to the academic standards of the university to be objectively realized and the sustainable and healthy development of the university, and meets the education rules of different levels of talents in colleges and universities with different capabilities. At the same time, as a local agricultural university, Tianjin Agricultural University should also give full play to its functions of serving the society. While ensuring that high-quality resources are tilted towards undergraduate education, it should build a bridge between the government and the market, and take on the responsibility of peasant vocational skills training, thereby optimizing the hierarchy of agricultural practitioners.

4 Conclusions

Agriculture is a strategic industry and is also an important source of increasing farmers’ income. Talent is the basic, overall, long-term and strategic factor that determines agricultural development. Facing the requirements of the times and the constraints of the educational level of the agricultural population and the number of agricultural population, local agricultural colleges and universities should shoulder the heavy responsibility of talent cultivation. Local agricultural colleges and universities should be based on regional agricultural development, and committed to the cultivation of applied talents, providing talent guarantee for regional agricultural economic development of value links between agriculture and the secondary and tertiary industries.