Garlic yields a net profit of 1500 yuan per mu, higher than corn

Recently, the Price Bureau of Lanling County conducted a survey on the 2015 autumn grain production, procurement and returns. The survey shows that over the past three years, garlic planting returns in Lanling County: each mu produces 2000 jin of garlic and 1200 jin of garlic scapes. The planting cost is 5100 yuan (including family labor and the imputed rent of self-owned land), the average selling price of garlic is 1.80 yuan/jin, and that of garlic scapes is 2.50 yuan/jin, the total output value of garlic (and garlic scapes) per mu is 6600 yuan, and the net profit from planting garlic is 1500 yuan per mu. If labor and land costs (totaling about 3400 yuan) are not calculated, the net profit is 3400 yuan per mu.

For corn, the profit per mu is 557.5 yuan when family labor and the imputed rent of self-owned land are not counted, and -322.5 yuan per mu when family labor and the imputed rent of self-owned land are counted. Compared with garlic planting, the gap is very obvious, which also reflects the huge gap in returns between grain crop and cash crop cultivation at present.

However, the importance of autumn grain necessarily requires maintaining autumn grain production. In this regard, experts put forward the following suggestions:

First, the state should introduce corresponding corn price subsidy measures. While the state gradually lowers and cancels the corn support purchase price, it should correspondingly formulate emergency control measures for when grain prices fall excessively, so as to give farmers certain price subsidies or grants and minimize the economic losses of farmers growing grain.

Second, under the current market pattern of corn prices, many purchasing enterprises say that the current instability of grain prices is increasing, which adversely affects the formulation and implementation of purchase plans. It is suggested that price departments release grain price information more accurately and promptly and reasonably predict future price trends.

Third, introduce a grain price insurance mechanism. With the opening of the market, grain price instability increases and the risk for farmers growing grain becomes greater. Following the approach of developing vegetable price insurance, consideration can be given to carrying out grain price insurance work, setting a specific “floor” price below the support price to prevent excessive grain prices from causing economic losses to farmers. At the same time, the state's standard for improved seed subsidies for corn planting can be raised accordingly on the existing basis.