Chinese scholars have called for more intellectual and financial support from the government to boost the country’s agricultural machinery manufacturing industry, as China-made products are less competitive on the market than their foreign counterparts.

“It’s true that many Chinese farmers choose foreign agricultural machinery over domestically-made equipment, as our products are not good enough in terms of efficiency and lifespan,” Fan Yuntao, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences, told Science and Technology Daily.

Fan’s remarks were in response to recent reports released by Chinese media outlets comparing Chinese and German plows. The report indicated that Chinese farmers prefer to buy foreign plows, even though the price can be 10 times greater than for plows made in China.

“Though over 90 percent of agricultural machinery used in China is manufactured domestically, the price advantage is losing its appeal to Chinese farmers, as large-scale agricultural operations, requiring high efficiency, have become a trend in China,” said Lv Huangzhen, another research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Mechanization Sciences.

According to experts, the gap between China and developed nations is growing wider and wider, as very few Chinese companies are carrying out new research on agricultural tools. This is because, in addition to a lack of financial support, fewer and fewer students in China are interested in studying agricultural engineering, according to Fan, who noted that less than one-third of graduates majoring in agricultural engineering choose jobs in the agricultural machinery industry.

“The government should provide favorable policies and financial support, in an effort to encourage the country’s automobile and engineering companies to focus on researching and manufacturing better machinery. National standards should also be set to manufacture higher-quality products,” said Lv.