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Nutrient Solution Replaces Chemical Fertilizer: Cutting Back on Fertilizer and Pesticides, Raising Quality and Efficiency
Editor's note: Starting this year, the Ministry of Agriculture officially launched the action to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use, striving to have both the chemical fertilizer utilization rate and the pesticide utilization rate for major crops reach above 40% by 2020, an increase of 7 percentage points and 5 percentage points respectively over 2013, achieving zero growth in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on crops.
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From Farm to Table: How to Fix the Weak Links in Agricultural Product Logistics
Jilin Province promotes agricultural products into the cities and onto tables, and agricultural supplies down to the countryside and into households. The dual logistics channels satisfy urban residents and earn farmers' praise. Since the green channel for agricultural products was implemented, our cooperative has saved more than 30,000 yuan a year in toll fees on rice shipped out, all thanks to the policies of the state and the province
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Supply and Marketing Cooperatives Stage a Comeback to Take On E-Commerce Giants' Rural Strategies
Yi Nong's note: The return of supply and marketing cooperatives to rural areas is of great political significance. It marks a directional turning point in the rural strategy of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. Yi Nong believes that the organization of farmers has been placed on the political agenda. Of course, that is a story for another day. This article only provides an analysis from the economic perspective.
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Price standoff emerges in summer grain purchasing; farmers hold back sales as grain prices rise
As the wheat harvest gradually draws to a close, summer grain purchasing is slowly heating up, and a standoff among farmers, grain traders and processing enterprises is quietly unfolding. A reporter recently learned from Qihe, a major grain-producing county in Shandong, that although the current wheat purchase price is level with the same period last year,
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Who is growing grain under the background of land transfer? New models emerge among grain-growing entities
According to land transfer data from the Henan Provincial Department of Agriculture, as well as special research data from the Henan Provincial People's Congress, the area of non-grain land in Henan has reached about 15%, and the impact this will have on grain production is worth watching. Henan, a major grain-producing province, has strong momentum in land transfer. The provincial agriculture
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Soybean meal market faces pullback pressure after weather-driven speculation
Over the past two months, soybean meal futures contracts have seen a sharp decline followed by a rapid rebound, and the current price is already close to the high at the start of the decline. Does this mean the soybean meal market has already reversed? First, let us analyze the reasons for the earlier decline in soybean meal: First, sluggish domestic demand for soybean meal led to price declines. Weak demand in the livestock and aquaculture industry constrained soybean meal consumption. China's hog inventory and breeding sow inventory fell sharply year on year; prices of meat, eggs and poultry were sluggish, and farming losses were severe; demand in aquaculture slowed, constraining demand for protein meal. Second, soybean meal supply increased substantially, spot prices fell sharply, some basis contracts faced default risk, and selling off occurred.</P><P> Now let us look at the reasons for the rapid rise in soybean meal. The author believes that the rise in soybean meal came partly from a return of prices after the earlier excessive decline; on the other hand, it came from speculation driven by heavy rain in the main U.S. soybean producing areas, which caused market concern about U.S. soybean planted area and good-to-excellent ratings. The planted area data and weekly soybean good-to-excellent ratings data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 30 both confirmed the market's concerns about U.S. soybean planting. These data will, in the short term, still support U.S. soybean futures in maintaining high-level oscillation, which will substantially raise the cost of China's imported soybeans, forcing crushing plants to passively raise the prices of soybean meal and soybean oil.</P><P> But in the short term, speculation over the impact of severe weather on planting may cool somewhat, and the loose fundamentals will bring great pressure on soybean meal prices.</P><P> From the perspective of soybean meal supply, global soybean supply is ample. After U.S. soybeans hit a record high last year, soybean output in Argentina and Brazil also hit record highs, which will suppress legume prices over the medium and long term. Domestically, China's soybean imports in June may reach 8.53 million tons and in July reach 8 million tons, so soybean sources are very abundant; at present, the operating rate of domestic crushing plants remains at an extremely high level of about 54%, and soybean meal supply has recently remained high. The volume of domestic rapeseed meal and imported DDGS remains high, suppressing plant protein prices.</P><P> On the demand side, although the hog farming industry currently shows restocking demand, truly driving soybean meal consumption may still require waiting for hog inventory data to stop falling and rebound before it can be confirmed. The meat, egg and poultry farming industry remains sluggish. Due to oversupply, prices of meat poultry and eggs fell sharply earlier, severely dampening the enthusiasm of farming enterprises to restock. In aquaculture, because oversupply last year led to sharp price declines, pond stock levels in the south are relatively high this year, constraining the release of fry. Recently, rainfall has been excessive, feed placement in ponds has decreased, which is bearish for meal consumption. Later, as large quantities of stocked fish are sold, demand for protein meal from newly released fry may decline substantially, so demand for protein meal from aquaculture later is also worrying.</P><P> Based on the information on both supply and demand, the author believes that soybean meal supply and demand will remain loose, and after the bullish U.S. heavy rain weather factor is fully priced in, soybean meal prices will return to fundamentals in the short term, with the possibility of oscillating pullbacks.</P></p>
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Garlic prices surge again, yet trading volume drops noticeably
Take Beijing as an example: in June, the average wholesale price of garlic at the Xinfadi market was 2.5-3.2 yuan per jin, a full doubling compared with two months earlier. Right now is the peak season for vegetables coming onto the market, and oversupply has pushed down the prices of most vegetables. Yet there is
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Why are rural people still a byword for backwardness?
A survey recently conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily shows that over these years, 51.2% of respondents have changed their impression of rural people a great deal, yet 40.3% of respondents believe the term "rural people" is still ambiguous, and 53.9% of respondents believe the gap between
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How did the potato make a comeback to become a staple food in China?
For hundreds of years, the potato has always been an everyday dish on the dining tables of ordinary Chinese people. However, since the beginning of this year, as China proposed expanding potato planting area and gradually making it a staple food crop to safeguard national food security, the unassuming potato has begun to step into the spotlight.
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Green agriculture does not mean returning to traditional farming
Driven by modern science and technology, China's agricultural output growth has outpaced population growth, successfully achieving the goal of "producing more." However, under the output-oriented development model, the long-term continuous increase in agricultural production has also come at a heavy cost to resources and the environment. Fertilizers,
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