Autumn Grain Payment Is Not Discounted, Farmers Take a Reassurance Pill

In the golden autumn season, it is harvest time once again. After a year of hard work, farmers not only hope for a good harvest, but also look forward to selling that good harvest at a good price. Heilongjiang, as a major grain-producing province, has set aside funds for purchasing autumn grain and safeguarded the rights and interests of grain-growing farmers, which is equivalent to giving farmers a reassurance pill.

As an ancient poem says, “Who knows that every grain on the plate is the fruit of hard toil?” Farmers put their heart and sweat into growing grain, and the things they fear most are at least three: first, fear that the wind and rain will not cooperate and there will be no good year; second, fear that grain will be hard to sell in a bumper year, and that increased production will not bring increased income; third, fear that selling grain will run into IOUs, and that in the end it will all be empty joy.

A poor year is a natural factor, a force majeure, and the only response is to fight disasters and rescue crops so as to ensure harvest despite drought or flood. But grain being hard to sell and IOUs are human factors. If farmers are not to be made miserable after increasing production, then the worries of grain being hard to sell and money being hard to collect must be resolved, so as to boost farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain.

Heilongjiang Province has clearly stipulated that “grain sold by farmers that meets quality standards shall be purchased to the fullest extent possible, with no limits on purchases, no refusals, and open purchasing,” and has publicly promised that it will “not accept favor-based grain, not use favor-based scales, not abuse power to extort or obstruct, and not make things difficult for farmers delivering grain,” so that farmers can sell grain with peace of mind and fairness. This is equivalent to eliminating farmers' worry about the difficulty of selling grain.

Now Heilongjiang Province has also set aside grain purchase funds and solemnly promised farmers with a bulging money bag: “Settle grain payments promptly, and absolutely do not issue IOUs.” This lets farmers put their anxious hearts completely at ease, and they need only wait peacefully for the sweet days of both increased production and increased income. This is equivalent to resolving farmers' worry about IOUs.

Of course, setting aside grain purchase funds does not mean everything is assured. In actual operation, whether any department will play tricks, and whether anyone will pull stunts, are questions that still need to be investigated and guarded against. Only when autumn grain payments are truly not discounted, and only when the reassurance pill is actually fed into farmers' stomachs, can this practical benefit to the people truly be considered well implemented.

Nothing about grain is a small matter. When grain payments are “not discounted,” farmers have hope in growing grain, and the country's food security will also be guaranteed.