Farmers need more than education

If the government really wants to make people in rural areas feel attached to their homes, it should ensure their ownership of land is not infringed upon by local governments, said an article in the Southern Metropolis Daily (excerpts below).

The Ministry of Education vowed to build a batch of agricultural vocational schools and 1,000 training stations for farmers across the country to train at least 1 million agricultural specialists every year.

This is a timely response to President Xi Jinping's recent remarks that China cannot afford to lose its villages to urbanization.

But to make the countryside more attractive to farmers, the government should improve their welfare. Farmers' property rights must by respected by the authorities and protected by law.

The government should also ensure that farmers get a fair price for their produce and that middlemen do not intervene to give the farmers less while asking the consumer to pay more.