Rural Grain Production: Mixed Blessings, Opportunities and Challenges Coexist
China's current agriculture, the overall development situation is good, farmers basically live and work in peace and contentment, and rural production and living conditions have been improved considerably. We visited Shayang County, a major grain and rapeseed county in Hubei Province——part of the “China Agricultural Valley” in Jingmen, Hubei——and gained first-hand experience. There are achievements, and there are also problems that require reflection.
I. The Joys
Among the families we visited, we saw the new face of the countryside, as well as the joy of the farmers and the hope for the rural future. What impressed us most was:
1. Grain production has grown year after year.
On October 1, 2014, we arrived in Shayang County. Most of the rice had already been harvested, and the golden stubble still shone in the rice fields. We asked local friends, and they all said this year's harvest was good, with per-mu yields exceeding 2,000 jin. Calculating on the basis of a family's 9 mu of rice fields, a conservative estimate would be 20,000 jin. Families with more land locally would have a yield of 30,000 jin.
Since 2009, Shayang County has introduced and planted “Shenliangyou 5814” (a new third-stage super hybrid rice combination developed by the Tsinghua Longgang Research Institute of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center using “Y58S” and the self-selected restorer line “Bing 4114”). Cultivation has shown that this variety is a new super hybrid mid-season rice combination perfectly combining high quality, high yield, stable yield and wide adaptability. It is deeply favored by the vast number of farming households and grain processing enterprises, and has been promoted ever since.
Rice production is guaranteed by water conservancy conditions. In the past, the area was mainly irrigated through the Zhanghe Reservoir water conservancy project, which belonged to a collectivized operating model. In recent years, the general public has shown great enthusiasm for drilling deep wells on their own family plots (60 m underground). Many farming families have their own deep wells, which can guarantee water for production and daily life. In some cases, deep-well irrigation between families is even provided as paid support.
Policy support for grain production is an important reason. From 2004 to 2008, Shayang County's grain subsidies included three major categories: direct grain subsidies, improved seed subsidies, and comprehensive subsidies for increased agricultural input costs, with total subsidy funds of 31,700.58 million yuan. The specific distribution situation was as follows:
Shayang County is one of the advanced counties in national grain and oil production, with an annual total grain output of more than 600,000 tons and a total oilseed output of more than 110,000 tons. Shayang County has 5 national-level assured grain and oil demonstration processing enterprises, 11 provincial-level assured grain and oil demonstration processing enterprises (sales outlets), an annual rice processing capacity of 1.1 million tons, an oil processing capacity of 750,000 tons, various types of storage capacity of 500,000 tons (including oil tanks) and related supporting facilities, with purchasing outlets spread across urban and rural areas.
2. Farmers' incomes have increased and consumption has expanded.
According to information released by the Hubei Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first half of 2014, the per capita disposable income of rural permanent residents in Hubei Province was 4,513 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%. The growth rate outpaced that of urban residents and was 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average.
Various places have successively raised rural social security standards such as subsistence allowances, pensions and medical care, and increased the intensity of subsidies to strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers, including direct grain subsidies, improved seed subsidies, relief funds, pensions, disaster relief funds, poverty alleviation funds, insurance compensation and reimbursement of medical expenses. The common people have gained more security and tangible benefits.
According to data released by the Hubei Provincial Bureau of Statistics and the Hubei Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2012 the per capita net income of rural residents in Hubei Province reached 7,851.71 yuan, an increase of 953.8 yuan over the previous year, a nominal increase of 13.8%; after deducting price factors, the real growth was 10.5%, achieving “nine consecutive years of rapid growth.” Hubei farmers' total per capita net income still ranked first among the six central provinces and 13th nationwide, while the growth rate ranked third among the six central provinces.
We visited several local friends and truly felt that the farmers' production and living conditions had changed. Farmers' consumption of goods rose, and conditions improved greatly. Compared with the living conditions of urban residents, they were not inferior at all. Some families had several motorcycles, almost one per person. Those farmers who were good at business had bought mini vans (or sedans). The spread of electrical appliances made life easier for farmers and narrowed the urban-rural gap.
When local young farmers marry, consumption levels have risen. Generally, 500,000 yuan must be spent, mainly to buy an apartment in the county seat or township (about 250,000 yuan), give a betrothal gift of 100,000 yuan, buy electrical appliances for 100,000 yuan, and hold a wedding banquet for 50,000 yuan.
3. Rural urbanization is developing strongly.
Local farmers, especially young people working in cities, increasingly like to buy housing in county seats and townships, which has stimulated the development and sales of commercial housing in county seats and townships. The price of commercial housing in the local county seat is above 2,000 yuan/sq m, and the price of commercial housing in townships is above 1,000 yuan/sq m.
In rural areas close to county seats, townships and roads, there are more and more factories, mainly grain processing and fertilizer production, and local farmers can find employment nearby. The pace of rural urbanization is accelerating.
County seats have gradually become the centers of small regions, concentrating politics, the economy, culture, education and transportation, with complete municipal facilities, buses and living service systems. Because housing prices and prices in general are relatively cheaper than in large cities, they have become the first choice of residence for local farmers.
In our survey of Xiushui County in Jiangxi Province; Dengzhou City, Zhenping County, Neixiang County, Xin County, Shangcheng County, Huangchuan County and Huaibin County in Henan Province; and Yingshang County, Guoyang County, Taihe County and Mengcheng County in Anhui Province, we found the same understanding.
II. The Worries
Amid the great development of rural areas, there are also many prominent problems. We feel the main problems lie in three aspects.
1. The contradiction between grain output and quality.
In the situation of large-scale growth in grain output, quality problems are also quite prominent. This is mainly due to the relatively widespread use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The operation of the market economy and large-scale planting both require high efficiency and emphasize less input and more output, so it is especially difficult to keep farmers from using chemical fertilizers. This situation seems to be some distance from “green products.” Even with supervision, there is great difficulty. Therefore, the general public reports that the taste and flavor of agricultural products such as rice and pork have declined somewhat.
2. The disparity between income from grain cultivation and sideline occupations.
Income from grain cultivation is still relatively low compared with income from sideline occupations. The income from growing vegetables, livestock breeding, aquaculture, and the sale of flowers and nursery stock is relatively high, and farmers are willing to take part. Other agricultural service industries are even more profitable. For example, combine harvester services, well-drilling teams and construction teams pay at least 200 yuan a day (some bricklayers earn 400 yuan a day). In recent years, the local area has held many sessions of the “Rapeseed Flower Festival,” attracting many tourists and increasing economic income. It has already formed a brand in Hubei and is continuing to develop and provide quality services, which also shows that tourism and service industries have relatively high added value.
3. There is a lack of successors among the ranks of farmers.
At present, the people living in rural areas are all the old (the elderly) and the weak (children), and the countryside has taken on a “hollow shell” situation. Young farmers who do not go out to work are regarded as incompetent and may be looked down upon and unable to find a partner. This reflects that in terms of attitudes, some people still neglect, despise and look down on the identity of farmer, and farming is regarded as a helpless and last resort.
Local young people, even if they have not studied up to middle school, can generally earn 3,000-4,000 yuan/month by doing physical labor. The splendor of the city, the convenience of transportation, the sanitary conditions, the orderliness of work, the fashion of entertainment, the stability of income and so on all attract migrant workers. After working in cities for several years, they adapt to the urban living environment, and it is difficult for them to adapt again when they return home. After buying housing in county seats and townships, they gradually become disconnected from agricultural production, leaving the ranks of farmers without successors.
III. Summary
The situation in the rural areas of Shayang County is typical and reflects some advantages and problems in China's rural grain production and rural development. We believe that under China's favorable overall economic, political and cultural environment, the development of China's rural areas has a brilliant prospect and is the general trend. In particular, the central government's policies beneficial to agriculture have brought practical benefits to the vast rural areas and farmers and have won the support and praise of the masses, truly reflecting the will of the people.
Regarding the current grain quality problems in rural areas, we should proceed from the perspective of comprehensive scientific development of grain quality and protection of soil and water resources, with the government, scientific and technological personnel and enterprises jointly guiding and helping farmers use scientific fertilization techniques. What agricultural science and technology work needs to do is how to maintain the same grain output while reducing the amount of chemical fertilizer used. We can draw on the agricultural science and technology countermeasures of the United States and formulate recommended fertilization plans after comprehensively considering factors such as soil nutrient test results, field trial results, economic benefit analysis and environmental protection factors.
We believe that as long as national policies are in place, China's agriculture and grain production, supported by high technology, can guarantee the living needs of the broad masses of the people and can continuously enter a high level and a new stage.