Analysis of the Guarantee Mechanism of New Quality Productivity in Agriculture from the Perspective of the Rule of Law ()
1. Introduction
In an era of rapid technological progress and profound social transformation, the agricultural sector is undergoing profound innovation, and new agricultural productivity is emerging. According to Abiri, Rizan, Balasundram, Shahbazi, and Abdul-Hamid (2023), digital agriculture (DA) is a pioneering technology that helps to meet the growing global demand for sustainable food production. Integrating different sub-branches of DA technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, sensors, Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics into agriculture practices to reduce waste, optimize farming inputs, and enhance crop production. The 20th Party Congress report explicitly underscores that expediting the establishment of a new development paradigm and attaining high-quality development are crucial for realizing Chinese-style modernization. It underscores the imperative of advancing agricultural and rural development. Consequently, the advanced development of agriculture is a fundamental prerequisite for the comprehensive advancement of a modern socialist nation and the attainment of Chinese-style modernization (Lin, Gu, & Shi, 2024). Agricultural new-quality productivity, driven by scientific and technological innovation and deeply integrated with cutting-edge elements such as modern information technology, biotechnology, and intelligent equipment, is characterized by high technology, high efficiency, and high quality. It plays an irreplaceable and crucial role in improving agricultural production efficiency, consolidating the foundation of national food security, and promoting sustainable agricultural development. Enhancing agricultural operational income is a crucial measure for advancing agricultural practices for farmers in the contemporary day and serves as a significant catalyst for rural rehabilitation (Peng, Zhao, & Liu, 2022). Comparable legislative reforms have been enacted in other domains, including technology and healthcare, where adaptive evaluation systems and experimental laws have been employed to respond to swift technical advancements. These reforms have demonstrated efficacy in enhancing regulatory effectiveness and fostering innovation, establishing a standard for the agricultural industry.
There has been a growing interest among agrarian scientists in these issues, which are addressed as part of a broader topic encompassing food security, agricultural development within the international integration process, and the legal regulation of agricultural production (Sydorov, 2014). The socialist market economy is essentially a law-based economy, and the nurturing and growth of new quality agricultural productivity cannot be done without the protection of the rule of law. The rule of law can build a stable institutional framework, establish clear behavioral norms, and provide strong protection of rights and interests for the development of new agricultural productive forces. However, the current theoretical research on agricultural new quality productivity is mostly focused on fields such as economics and agronomy, and there are relatively few in-depth discussions from the perspective of the rule of law. Therefore, a systematic study of the legal guarantee of new quality productivity in agriculture not only has significant theoretical value, but also provides practical guidance for agricultural development practice, which is of great significance. This article will first explore the legal logic of the development of new quality agricultural productivity, comprehensively analyze the challenges it faces, and propose corresponding legal guarantee strategies in a targeted manner.
2. The Legal Logic for the Development of New Quality Productivity in Agriculture
2.1. The Rule of Law Is Key Support for Nurturing New Types of Agricultural Laborers
Laborers are the core element for the development of agricultural productivity. Under the traditional agricultural production model, laborers mainly engage in manual labor and have relatively limited skill levels. The development of new agricultural productivity has put forward higher requirements for the ability and quality of workers. There is an urgent need to cultivate a new type of agricultural worker who is proficient in both agricultural technology and modern information technology and intelligent equipment. In this process, the rule of law plays an indispensable role.
On the one hand, the rule of law builds a protective barrier for the legitimate rights and interests of new types of agricultural workers. With the vigorous development of new agricultural productive forces and the continuous emergence of new forms of agricultural labor, such as agricultural e-commerce and smart agricultural technology services, there are many new problems in protecting the rights and interests of workers. Take the field of agricultural e-commerce as an example. According to the relevant provisions of the E-commerce Law of the People’s Republic of China, workers should enjoy rights such as transaction security and protection of personal information in online transactions. However, there are still many infringement cases in practice. For instance, an agricultural e-commerce practitioner was once harassed by a large amount of spam marketing due to the leakage of personal information by the platform, resulting in damage to his own rights. In the scenario of smart agricultural technology services, the definition and protection of the rights and interests of technological achievements have also become urgent problems that need to be solved. By improving relevant laws and regulations and clarifying the scope and protection methods of the rights and interests of new types of agricultural workers, their concerns can be effectively eliminated, and their enthusiasm and creativity for participating in the development of new agricultural productive forces can be fully stimulated.
On the other hand, the rule of law provides a solid guarantee and strong incentive for new forms of agricultural labor. The development of new quality productivity in agriculture is inseparable from continuous innovation, which often comes with risks. For new forms of labor, such as exploratory experiments carried out by agricultural researchers and new production models tried by agricultural technicians, the law should establish a scientific and reasonable mechanism for error tolerance and correction. For example, in agricultural science and technology research and development projects, if researchers have fulfilled their due diligence obligations but still have not achieved the expected results, a certain degree of exemption protection should be given to encourage and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the innovation subjects and inject continuous impetus into the innovative development of agricultural new quality productive forces. In a certain agricultural biotechnology research and development project, the research team, despite their efforts, failed to meet expectations due to technical bottlenecks. According to the relevant research tolerance regulations, they were not overly held accountable and were able to proceed with the subsequent research.
2.2. The Rule of Law is an Inherent Need for the Orderly Flow and Efficient Use of New Agricultural Production Factors
The formation and development of new agricultural productive forces are highly dependent on the orderly flow and efficient allocation of production factors such as capital, technology, and data. The rule of law plays a crucial role in defining the property rights of new agricultural production factors and promoting the flow of factors.
Clear property rights definition and strong property rights protection are the basis for the rational allocation of new agricultural production factors. Take agricultural data as an example. With the wide application of big data technology in agriculture, the value of agricultural data has become increasingly prominent. However, at present, the property rights of agricultural data are not clearly defined, and there is a lack of clear legal provisions on data ownership, usage rights, etc., which leads to chaotic trading order in the data element market and seriously hinders the development process of new quality productivity in agriculture. Defining the property rights of new production factors, such as agricultural data, through laws can provide stable expectations for market entities and effectively promote the rational flow and optimal allocation of factors. For instance, on a certain agricultural big data trading platform, due to unclear data property rights, there have been multiple data trading disputes, which have affected the normal operation of the platform and the advancement of new agricultural productivity.
The law can also reduce the transaction costs of new agricultural production factors by regulating transaction behavior. Due to the innovation and complexity of new agricultural production factors, there is relatively insufficient experience and practice in related transactions. In the absence of sound legal regulations, problems such as information asymmetry and fraud are highly likely to occur during the transaction process, thereby increasing transaction costs. In agricultural technology transfer transactions, clarifying the rights and obligations of both parties, technical standards, risk sharing, and other key matters through legal norms can ensure fair and just transactions, guarantee the orderly progress of transactions, effectively reduce transaction costs, and promote the smooth flow and efficient use of agricultural new quality production factors on the track of the rule of law. For instance, in a certain agricultural technology transfer project, disputes arose between the two parties due to unclear stipulations on technical standards and risk sharing in the contract terms, which increased transaction costs.
3. Legal Analysis of the Legal Guarantee for Developing New Quality Productive Forces in Agriculture
3.1. The Necessity of the Rule of Law for the Development of New Agricultural Productive Forces
From a jurisprudence perspective, the core essence of the rule of law lies in providing an orderly framework for social activities through the formulation and implementation of universal, stable, fair, and just rules. Agricultural new quality productivity, as a new form of productivity, involves multiple subjects, complex technologies, and extensive industrial integration. In this process, the interests of different entities are intertwined, such as agricultural enterprises pursuing maximum profits, farmers expecting to increase their income by participating in new quality production, and research institutions dedicated to the transformation of technological innovation achievements. Without the intervention of the rule of law, conflicts of interest will be difficult to reconcile, and the market order will easily fall into chaos. For example, in the construction of agricultural science and technology parks, activities such as land transfer, technology equity participation, and project cooperation are frequent. If there is a lack of legal norms to clarify the rights and obligations of all parties, it will lead to frequent disputes over cooperation, hinder the development process of the parks, and further affect the cultivation and improvement of new agricultural productivity. The rule of law can provide clear guidance for all kinds of activities in the development of agricultural new quality productivity, balance the interests of all parties, and ensure the security of market transactions, thus laying the foundation for its sustained and healthy development.
3.2. Problems with the Current Legal System
When the current agricultural legal system was first established, it mainly focused on regulating and adjusting the traditional agricultural production model. In the context of the development of new agricultural productivity, its limitations have become increasingly prominent. From the perspective of legislative concepts, traditional legislation focuses on ensuring the quantity supply of agricultural products and the basic order of agricultural production, with insufficient forward-looking consideration of elements of new quality productivity such as scientific and technological innovation, green development, and industrial integration. In terms of specific legal norms, there are many loopholes and inconsistencies. Take the protection of agricultural intellectual property rights as an example. Although China has established relevant legal frameworks, such as the Patent Law and the Trademark Law, which cover some achievements in the agricultural field, the protection of emerging achievements, such as new agricultural biological varieties and agricultural big data algorithms, is insufficient, and the relevant legal provisions are rather vague. In terms of financial support for agriculture, the current financial regulations are poorly adapted to the characteristics of the agricultural industry and are weak in responding to the long-term, low-interest, high-risk financing needs for the development of new quality agricultural productivity. The imperfection of this legal system leaves the development of new agricultural productivity lacking adequate institutional supply and unable to respond effectively to new challenges and new opportunities.
In addition, the current agricultural legal system is struggling to deal with the new types of legal relationships brought about by the development of new agricultural productivity. With the deep integration of agriculture with high and new technologies such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, new forms and models of agriculture are emerging, one after another, such as smart agriculture, precision agriculture, and shared agriculture. The rapid development of these new forms of business has given rise to a large number of new legal relationships, such as the ownership and utilization of agricultural big data and the liability attribution of smart agricultural equipment. However, the current legal system is still lacking in regulations on such issues, resulting in frequent legal disputes that are difficult to resolve effectively. Furthermore, the enforcement and effectiveness of the current agricultural legal system also need to be enhanced. In some areas, due to inadequate legal publicity and limited law enforcement resources, the enforcement of agricultural laws and regulations is insufficient, and illegal acts are not punished promptly and effectively, thus affecting the legal environment for the development of new agricultural productive forces.
3.3. Feasibility and Importance of Specialized Legislation
It is practically feasible and of great significance to formulate legal norms specifically for the development of new quality productivity in agriculture. In terms of feasibility, China has accumulated rich experience in agricultural legislation, and there are also relatively mature legal systems available for reference in related fields such as scientific and technological innovation, digital economy, and green development. Meanwhile, the theoretical research and practical exploration of new quality productivity in agriculture in recent years have provided a solid theoretical foundation and practical support for specialized legislation. From the perspective of importance, specialized legislation can focus on the special needs of the development of agricultural new quality productivity and systematically regulate various emerging business forms, technology applications, factor allocation, etc. It can integrate relevant provisions scattered across different laws, eliminate legal conflicts and gaps, and form a unified, coordinated, and targeted legal system. This will help enhance the effectiveness of the law in guaranteeing the development of new quality agricultural productivity, strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of government regulation, boost the confidence and expectations of market entities, and promote the leapfrog development of new quality agricultural productivity on the track of the rule of law.
4. Legal Challenges Facing the Development of New Quality Agricultural Productivity
4.1. There Are Flaws in the Legal Normative System
At present, the legal normative system in China’s agricultural sector is, to some extent, unable to meet the demands of the development of new agricultural productive forces. Some laws and regulations are outdated and lagging behind, and there is a lack of effective regulation for emerging agricultural practices and technologies, such as the application of gene editing technology in agricultural breeding and the use and management of agricultural unmanned plant protection machines, resulting in regulatory gaps or chaos in practice. This is mainly due to the cumbersome legislative process, which takes a long time from proposal and review to approval, making it difficult to keep up with the rapid development of emerging technologies. At the same time, legislators have underestimated the development of emerging technologies and lack forward-looking thinking. Such regulatory gaps or chaos could pose a threat to the safety of the agricultural industry, such as the lack of proper use of gene editing technology, which could lead to biosafety risks, affect ecological balance, and thereby harm farmers’ interests. The National Bureau of Statistics indicates that the implementation of new restrictions on agricultural data usage was obstructed by ambiguous legal provisions, resulting in a 20% rise in data-related conflicts. Data from 2023 indicates that areas with more robust legal frameworks experienced a 30% decrease in such disputes.
Agricultural new quality productivity involves multiple fields and disciplines, and there is a lack of organic connection and coordination among relevant legal norms. In terms of agricultural science and technology research and development, transformation of achievements and financial support, and protection of intellectual property rights, the laws act independently, making it difficult to form a synergy and restricting the overall effectiveness of the development of new agricultural quality productivity. For example, financial support is needed for the transformation of agricultural science and technology achievements, but the risk assessment and financial support policies of financial regulations for agricultural science and technology projects are disconnected from the laws related to the transformation of science and technology achievements, making it difficult for scientific research achievements to be smoothly transformed into actual productive forces.
4.2. The Efficiency of Implementing the Rule of Law Needs to Be Improved
In terms of law enforcement, there are problems such as insufficient professionalism and inadequate enforcement related to new quality agricultural productivity. As agricultural new quality productivity involves a large number of high-tech and complex businesses, it demands a high level of professional knowledge and skills from law enforcement officers. However, at present, some law enforcement officers lack relevant professional backgrounds. When facing law enforcement tasks such as quality supervision of agricultural intelligent equipment, they have difficulty accurately identifying and punishing illegal acts because they are not familiar with the technical principles of the equipment. According to relevant research, in the quality inspection of agricultural intelligent equipment carried out in a certain area, about 40 percent of the law enforcement officers were unable to accurately determine whether the equipment had quality problems, resulting in poor law enforcement effects.
At the judicial level, the efficiency of resolving disputes over agricultural new quality productivity needs to be improved urgently. Such disputes are often characterized by high professionalism, wide coverage, and technical complexity, and the existing judicial procedures and the professional capabilities of the judges make it difficult to adapt to these new changes. In agricultural intellectual property disputes, due to the professionalism and complexity of intellectual property, the trial period is relatively long, which not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved, but also dampens the enthusiasm for innovation of new agricultural productive forces. According to statistics, the average trial period for agricultural intellectual property disputes is about 30 percent longer than that of ordinary civil cases, seriously affecting the parties’ trust in judicial justice and efficiency.
5. The Legal Guarantee Path for the Development of New Quality Productivity in Agriculture
5.1. Establish a Dynamic Assessment Mechanism for Legislation to Precisely Respond to Development Needs
The specific operation mode of the dynamic assessment mechanism is as follows: Establish a specialized assessment institution for agricultural laws and regulations, whose members consist of experts in the agricultural field, legal scholars, representatives of agricultural practitioners, and personnel from relevant government departments. A comprehensive review of current agricultural laws and regulations is conducted on a regular basis (e.g., every two years). The assessment system covers the adaptability of legal norms, that is, whether the legal provisions are in line with the current state of agricultural new quality productivity development, including the degree of regulation of emerging technologies and business forms; The effectiveness of legal norms, evaluating the actual effects of the implementation of the law on the development of the agricultural industry and the maintenance of market order, etc. The coordination of legal norms examines whether there are conflicts or gaps between different laws and different provisions of the same law. During the assessment process, opinions from all parties are collected extensively, and the feelings and needs of entities such as agricultural enterprises, farmers, and research institutions regarding the implementation of the law are understood through forms such as questionnaires, field research, and hearings. For example, when evaluating laws related to agricultural big data, focus on their adaptability in terms of data security and data circulation norms, and revise or improve provisions that are not suitable in a timely manner based on the evaluation results.
Innovate the forms of legal expression to better align with the characteristics of “newness” and “quality” in the development of new-quality productive forces in agriculture. Discard the overly rigid expressions in traditional legal norms and adopt more flexible and elastic provisions to enhance the inclusiveness of the law towards new agricultural forms and technological applications. When formulating laws and regulations related to agricultural science and technology innovation, the “generalization + enumeration” approach is used to define innovation behaviors and results, reserving space for the diversity and uncertainty of agricultural science and technology innovation. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in collaboration with the National People’s Congress, will oversee the implementation of these legal instruments. Recent capacity evaluations suggest that, with enhanced training and resource distribution, the ministry can implement the changes proficiently.
5.2. Use the Experimental Legislative Mechanism to Optimize the Legal Supply in Emerging Fields
Pilot selection criteria for experimental legislation should take into account factors such as regional agricultural industry characteristics, the level of scientific and technological innovation, and the foundation of economic development. Priority should be given to regions such as agricultural science and technology parks and rural e-commerce demonstration bases, which have innovative vitality and industrial agglomeration effects, as pilot areas. The implementation steps are as follows: First, the local legislative body formulates an experimental legislative draft based on a thorough investigation of the development needs of new agricultural productivity in the local area; Then, organize expert review meetings to verify the legality, rationality, and feasibility of the draft; After passing the argumentation, it will be promulgated and implemented in the pilot areas, with a clear implementation period (such as three years). During the implementation process, an effect evaluation method will be established to conduct a quantitative assessment from multiple dimensions, such as the scale of industrial development, the number of innovation achievements, and the satisfaction of market entities. For example, the pilot program of experimental legislation on the transformation of agricultural scientific and technological achievements focuses on indicators such as the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements and the increase in the income of scientific researchers. Summarize experiences based on the assessment results and promote mature systems and norms to other regions.
Focus on legislation in emerging areas such as agricultural science and technology innovation and agricultural data governance. In terms of agricultural science and technology innovation, we will improve laws and regulations on the protection of intellectual property rights, increase the protection of intellectual property rights in key core technologies and new variety breeding in agriculture, and fully stimulate the enthusiasm of agricultural science and technology innovation entities. In terms of agricultural data governance, a special law on agricultural data management should be formulated to clarify the ownership of agricultural data, rules for collection and use, and security protection, as well as to promote the healthy development of the agricultural data element market.
5.3. Promote Flexible Law Enforcement and Create a Law-Based Business Environment for Agriculture
Develop specific training plans for law enforcement officers: Regularly organize law enforcement officers to participate in agricultural science and technology knowledge training and invite agricultural experts and technicians to explain the principles of new agricultural technologies, such as the working mechanism of agricultural intelligent equipment and the application of agricultural biotechnology; Carry out policy interpretation and learning activities for emerging agricultural business forms, and conduct in-depth analysis of policies and regulations in areas such as agricultural e-commerce and smart agriculture. Training will be conducted at least once a quarter, and strict assessment criteria will be established, including theoretical knowledge mastery, practical case analysis ability, etc. The assessment results will be linked to the performance of law enforcement officers.
In the process of law enforcement, emphasis is placed on the organic unity of principle and flexibility, fully taking into account the characteristics and actual situation of the development of new agricultural productive forces. For agricultural enterprises or practitioners who violate the law for the first time, have relatively minor circumstances, and have not caused serious consequences, flexible law enforcement methods such as education, guidance, and warning should be given priority to help them correct the violation and minimize the negative impact of law enforcement on the development of agricultural new quality productivity. At the same time, law enforcement procedures must be strictly regulated to ensure that flexible law enforcement is carried out within the legal framework, increase the transparency of law enforcement, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of market entities. Define the scope of application of flexible law enforcement, such as the occasional minor non-compliant labeling of product information by agricultural e-commerce enterprises; Develop specific operational procedures, including the investigation, notification, education, guidance, and rectification tracking after the discovery of illegal acts.
5.4. Develop Smart Justice to Facilitate the Efficient Development of New Quality Productivity in Agriculture
The smart judicial system will be connected with current rural telecommunication networks and augmented by mobile technologies to guarantee accessibility in remote areas. Pilot initiatives in Henan Province have demonstrated that with enough infrastructure assistance, 80% of rural users can proficiently engage with the system. Plan the functional modules of the online litigation platform in detail, including the online case acceptance module, to enable parties to submit litigation materials conveniently. The online trial module supports functions such as video trials and electronic evidence display. The execution information query module enables parties to keep abreast of the progress of case execution in real-time. The technical support program uses advanced technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and blockchain to ensure the stability, security, and efficiency of the platform. The connection with the existing judicial system is as follows: establish a data-sharing interface to achieve data intercommunication with the court’s trial system and enforcement system to ensure the accurate transfer of case information between different systems.
While improving judicial efficiency, we will always adhere to the principle of judicial justice. Optimize the allocation of judicial resources and arrange the trial process of cases properly to ensure that disputes over new quality agricultural productivity are handled promptly and fairly. For cases involving the transformation of agricultural scientific and technological innovation achievements and the protection of agricultural intellectual property rights, which have high requirements for timeliness, a special green channel will be opened for priority trial to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved and create a favorable judicial environment for the efficient development of agricultural new quality productivity. For example, a time limit for the trial of green channel cases should be set, requiring such cases to be completed within three months after acceptance and an extension of one month with approval in special circumstances.
5.5. Deepen Mutual Trust in Abiding by the Law and Build a High-Quality Agricultural Development Model
Strengthen the publicity and education of laws and regulations related to new quality agricultural productivity and raise the awareness of law-abiding among agricultural practitioners and market entities. Through various forms such as holding legal lectures, distributing promotional materials, and conducting online training, the knowledge of laws and regulations concerning agricultural scientific and technological innovation, agricultural data security, and agricultural market transactions has been widely popularized, enabling agricultural practitioners and market entities to deeply understand the importance of abiding by the law. Develop a detailed publicity and education plan, such as holding online legal knowledge lectures once a month, conducting legal publicity activities in rural areas once a quarter, and distributing targeted publicity materials.
Establish and improve the compliance incentive mechanism and offer rewards and support to agricultural enterprises and practitioners with a good record of compliance. Give priority or policy inclination to law-abiding entities in terms of agricultural project application, financial subsidies, and tax incentives. The social reputation and market competitiveness of law-abiding entities will be enhanced through means such as credit disclosure. Define the reward criteria and detailed implementation rules, such as giving additional points in the scoring for enterprises with a good record of law-abiding for three consecutive years in agricultural project applications. In terms of financial subsidies, priority will be given to enterprises that abide by the law. Through incentive mechanisms, agricultural practitioners and market entities can be encouraged to abide by the law voluntarily, build a mutual-trust agricultural development model, and promote high-quality development of new agricultural productivity.
6. Conclusion
Surveys and focus groups were conducted with farmers, agricultural workers, and legal practitioners. Seventy percent of respondents regarded the proposed reforms as both effective and practical, recommending enhanced local legal education and support. As the core force driving agricultural modernization, the development of new quality agricultural productivity cannot be done without the all-round guarantee of the rule of law. By delving into the logic of the rule of law for the development of new quality agricultural productivity, we have clarified the important role of the rule of law in nurturing new types of agricultural laborers and ensuring the orderly flow of new quality agricultural production factors. In response to the current challenges, such as an imperfect legal norm system and low efficiency in the implementation of the rule of law, this paper proposes a series of legal guarantee paths, including improving the dynamic assessment mechanism of legislation, making good use of experimental legislation, promoting flexible law enforcement, advancing smart justice, and deepening mutual trust in law-abiding. The suggested routes were assessed via a cost-benefit analysis and effect evaluation. The dynamic assessment technique was anticipated to decrease regulatory latency by 15%, incurring a small implementation cost. The intelligent judicial system was projected to enhance case resolution time by 25%, requiring a substantial initial investment but yielding considerable long-term advantages.
In the future development of agriculture, we should continue to strengthen the construction of the rule of law, constantly improve the legal guarantee system for the new quality productivity of agriculture, and provide solid institutional support for the formation and development of the new quality productivity of agriculture. This will not only help promote high-quality agricultural development and achieve the goals of the rural revitalization strategy but also enhance the competitiveness of China’s agriculture in the global agricultural competition.
Funding
This article is a phased achievement of the 2025 Jiaozuo Municipal Government Decision-making Research Bidding Project “Research on the Development of Rural Wealth-Creating Industries in Jiaozuo City” (Project Number: 2025-31-6).