Unified bidding management for agricultural supplies makes quality and price stand up to public scrutiny

“Agricultural supply prices are posted publicly, so we know where we stand when buying them, the prices are transparent.” On the morning of May 18, Ji Rentai, a worker of the 11th Company of the 81st Regiment of the Fifth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, said while looking at the price notice board in the agricultural supply supermarket that all agricultural supply prices are open and transparent, and everyone has more choices.

At present, spring plowing and spring sowing have fully finished across Xinjiang, and the focus of work has shifted to field management. The prices of pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other agricultural supplies are closely tied to production costs and workers' income, and have drawn widespread attention. To further let workers consume with clarity and confidence, the 81st Regiment this year carried out a “price display” of agricultural supplies at the agricultural supply supermarkets of all 15 agricultural units of the regiment, which was welcomed by the vast number of farming households.

In recent years, incidents of counterfeit and shoddy agricultural supplies harming farmers have occurred from time to time. To further regulate the agricultural supply market, starting in 2009 the 81st Regiment tried out an agricultural supply supermarket operating model, and in 2010 formally established agricultural supply supermarkets in each of the regiment's 15 agricultural units, ensuring that agricultural supply management work is carried out in an orderly and efficient manner, with ample sources, excellent quality and smooth channels for all kinds of goods.

It is reported that the agricultural supply supermarkets adopt a “five unifications” business model, namely unified signage, unified brand, unified management, unified service, and unified operation of various pesticides, chemical fertilizers, agricultural films, seeds and other agriculture-related goods, making up for the shortcomings of traditional operations. Li Jiangxin, manager of the 81st Regiment's materials supply station, introduced that after the regiment surveys the materials needed for the agricultural supply supermarkets, the varieties and quantities are reported in a unified way to the Corps, which conducts unified bidding through the Corps centralized procurement center, and then manufacturers produce directly. The regiment does not deal in agricultural supplies, and is only responsible for collecting, organizing and reporting related information on agricultural supplies. Agricultural supply prices are formed through unified bidding by the Corps centralized procurement center and are basically in line with the market; the price of the same brand of agricultural supplies is not higher than the local market price for the same period, and the supplies are delivered directly to workers' fields, while farmers are also given technical guidance.

Li Jiangxin introduced that this year, after listening to workers' opinions on making agricultural supply prices open and transparent, the regiment decided to publicly publish agricultural supply prices. To let workers consume with clarity, the regiment requires that the agricultural supply supermarket of every agricultural company hang an “agricultural supply price notice board” in a prominent position, publicly posting the latest prices of seeds, pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other agricultural supplies, ensuring that workers know where they stand when buying agricultural supplies. This measure has received workers' support and praise.

To ensure the smooth implementation of this measure, the regiment also set up a supervision team composed of agriculture, discipline inspection and other relevant departments to supervise and inspect the agricultural supply supermarkets and companies in carrying out the policies of “centralized procurement and supply” and “one invoice to the household” for sales, resolutely preventing substandard agricultural supplies from entering the supermarkets, fundamentally solving the problems of too many links in agricultural supply provision, price markups at every level, and increased economic burden on workers. The agricultural supply supermarkets have formed a complete management method covering the purchase, storage, safekeeping, use and settlement of agricultural supplies.

Li Jiangxin said that whenever agricultural supplies affect farming households because of quality problems, they are always refunded or exchanged, and losses are compensated. He told this author that the biggest current difficulty for the agricultural supply supermarkets is the difficulty of recovering funds, because when regiment workers buy agricultural supplies at the supermarkets, settlement is made uniformly at the end of the year, so a large amount of funds is tied up. At the same time, because needs are reported first and supplies are delivered afterward, in the prevention and control of some sudden pests and diseases, delivery of medicines is not timely, which to a certain extent affects farming households' agricultural production. In the future, monitoring of pests and diseases will be strengthened to better serve agricultural production.