Agricultural modernization lagging

The agricultural sector is a drag on the development of China's modernization, with its technological level by the end of 2008 more than a century behind that of the United States, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Sunday.

China's modernization of its agricultural sector began in the 1880s, about 100 years later than in advanced countries, said He Chuanqi, director of the China Center for Modernization Research.

According to the report, China's current agricultural production rate was around one percent of that in the US, Japan and France.

By the end of 2008, its level of agricultural sophistication was 150 years behind the UK, 108 years behind the US and 36 years behind South Korea, He said.

According to the report, China will need to create jobs for 280 million farmers, cutting the rural workforce population from 310 million to 31 millon over the next 40 years.

Currently, China's farmland area per capita is 40 percent that of the world average and its water resources per capita stand at one-third of the global average. "China still faces numerous challenges in modernizing its agricultural sector," He added.