The Research For Evaluating The Pilot Program Of Modern Tobacco Agriculture Base Unit

The 2007 "CCP Central Document No.1" puts forward:"the development of modern agriculture is the primary task for the building of new socialist countryside, and is the inevitable requirement to work in rural areas under the guidance of scientific development concept." Tobacco farming is an important constituent part of general agriculture; therefore, promoting traditional agriculture of tobacco leaf production to modern tobacco agriculture is to implement the central spirit of CCP, to reflect the aspirations of farmers, and also to meet the need of industrial development. The question of how the traditional leaf tobacco agriculture production converts to the modern tobacco agriculture needs to be explored and developed in practice. In 2007, in order to promote the transformation from traditional tobacco agriculture to modern tobacco agriculture, the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau stated development goals of "one basic and four modernizations", and explored a new approach of promoting development of modern tobacco agriculture in the scale of the whole township with the base unit construction as a carrier, with improving tobacco infrastructure being the focus, enhancing the professional level of service as the key and innovating organization form being the breakthrough.Lichuan City, one of the first batch of cities and counties which promoted construction of modern tobacco agriculture in the scale of entire county, development demand of tobacco industry and farmers together gave birth to an operational media—modern tobacco agricultural production cooperatives. Lichuan city plans to construct five base units in three years, and complete the task of constructing two base units of Bo Yang and Wang Ying in 2010. It is noteworthy that the author participated the entire process of planning and creating cooperatives of base unit modern tobacco production in Lichuan City, Hubei Province. Since the construction of the pilot base unit over the past year, what effects have been achieved? Whether the goal has been realized? What are the problems? What are the reasons which cause the problems? And what can be done?......Either policy makers or actors or participants are eager to understand the expected and actual answers to these questions. Hence, the study of modern agricultural base unit of tobacco, objective and scientific assessment to it and identification of problems and attempt to resolve exert vital importance to agriculture and rural development, as well as further development of modern agriculture without any doubt.With tobacco farmers within the radiation range of two base units of Wang Ying and Bo Yang as subjects for investigation, through methods of reviewing literature, conduction questionnaire and case interview to collect data, combining qualitative and quantitative study, this study conducts descriptive analysis on production infrastructure of the base unit, organization and service system and the conditions for sustainable development, conducts the overall assessment of objective facts, and completes value assessment on the basis of further analysis and discussion. Finally, it puts forward suggestions and expectations by integrating farmers’ evaluation and expectation on the construction of base unit.Research indicates that various aspects of base unit have yielded good results. And modern tobacco agricultural production cooperatives as an important component of base unit which is a product of construction of the modern tobacco agriculture in the whole city of Lichuan achieves positive organization effect and demonstration effect, and also to a certain extent, represents the trend of social development. Construction of base unit and development of tobacco agricultural production cooperatives, however, still have many bottlenecks. For instance, national support policies are weak and ineffective; cooperatives provide poor services, farmers were forced to work with no enthusiasm; members are instable; cultural conditions for the development of cooperatives are wanting; the promotion of tobacco cooperatives is a bit hasty; efficiency of cooperatives is not obvious; and demonstration. These issues should be solved. From five aspects, this paper proposes suggestions for improving the construction of base unit:first, the government increase assistance; secondly, tobacco industry enhances capital investment and controls promotion schedule; thirdly, cooperatives improve their services; fourthly, community creates cultural conditions; fifthly, social forces such as universities and insurance companies should be fully employed.