Major farm reform on near horizon

Highly skilled managers on larger farms seen as key to increased productivity to feed the nation

China is about to enter its second major period of agricultural reform since the 1980s, with the goal of shifting to large farms and "professionalized" farmers who are more productive than those working on a small scale, a high-level central government official said on Wednesday.

The coming 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) will start the change, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Central Rural Work Leading Group.