Don't Let Backdoor Grain Selling Break the Hearts of Grain Farmers

Since the beginning of this year, Henan, a major grain-producing province, has encountered difficulties in selling grain after a bumper harvest. Queuing to sell grain has become the norm, and in some places there have even been cases of selling grain through the “backdoor”: paying the quality inspector 500 yuan per truck as a “kickback” allows the grain to go straight through quality inspection and weighing. This bizarre grain-selling situation undermines the country's preferential agricultural policies and directly harms farmers' interests. Such corrupt behavior occurring right around the people should be severely punished, so that the policy dividends truly return to farmers' hands.

According to a announcement by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's total grain output in 2014 was 1214.2 billion jin, an increase of more than 10 billion jin over 2013. Relevant parties predict that grain output in 2015 will hit another record high, thus achieving “twelve consecutive increases”. Against the backdrop of consecutive bumper harvests, the shortage of state-owned grain storage capacity is growing. Taking Northeast China as an example, before the autumn grain came onto the market, its overall shortfall was about 60 billion jin, and in some places it was even hard to find land on which to build simple warehouses.

On the surface, heavy storage pressure is the cause that makes it difficult for farmers to sell grain and even leads to “backdoor” dealing, but conversely, heavy storage pressure is also an effect, because as the state's grain purchase price has risen year by year, farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain has continued to rise. As for wheat, since the launch of the minimum purchase price policy in 2006, the price has risen from 0.68 yuan/jin at the time to 1.18 yuan/jin now, almost doubling. The other two major staple grain varieties, rice and corn, have also seen price increases to varying degrees.

⟦NL> Farmers are producing more grain, while warehouse capacity is relatively insufficient and has even become a scarce resource, so the phenomenon of difficulty in selling grain is naturally hard to avoid; and if oversight is weak, some warehouse staff will find room to “rent-seek” and harm farmers' interests, so that the money the state originally intended farmers to earn actually ends up in certain people's pockets.

To break through the current difficulty in selling grain and put an end to corrupt purchasing chaos such as needing to “go through the backdoor” to sell grain, in the short term it is necessary to revitalize storage resources, increase warehouse capacity supply, and strengthen oversight of grain purchasing personnel such as quality inspectors to prevent “living off the mountain one relies on”. In the long run, it is necessary to innovate grain purchasing models and business methods, effectively protect the interests of grain-growing farmers, and maintain the stability of the grain market.