Heavy pressure on grain procurement and storage: how can all localities resolve this sweet burden?

In the depths of winter, the reporter walked into Zhangjiajie Village, Huanling Township, Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province. In front of every household's gate stood an iron-mesh scientific grain storage bin, inside which newly harvested corn was neatly stacked. Villager Yuan Xiuhua told the Economic Daily reporter, “Last year's corn harvest was bumper, but I am not in a hurry to sell now. I have to wait until the corn moisture reaches the national procurement standard before selling, so I can get a good price.” Yuan Xiuhua said.

If farmers are not in a hurry to sell grain, has the procurement and storage pressure on the grain departments become smaller? “This year the procurement and storage pressure is very great.” Han Fuchun, director of the Jilin Provincial Grain Bureau, told the Economic Daily reporter.

The grain market faces three major contradictions

The pressure on grain procurement and storage is caused by multiple reasons. Ren Zhengxiao, director of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, believes that China's grain market currently faces three major contradictions:

The first contradiction is the contradiction between the tight balance of total grain supply and demand and the阶段性 surplus of some varieties. On the one hand, affected by the rigid constraints of resources and environment such as arable land and fresh water and the rigid growth of grain demand, “tight balance” will become a long-term trend in China's grain supply and demand; on the other hand, domestic grain production has had consecutive bumper harvests, while the growth rate of grain demand has slowed, resulting in the superposition of high grain output, high procurement volume, and high inventory volume, the “three highs,” with varieties such as corn and rice showing phased surplus and increasing sales pressure.

The second contradiction is the contradiction between the support price facing double squeeze and the protection of grain farmers' interests. At present, international grain prices have fallen sharply, while domestic grain prices, supported by the minimum purchase price, have long remained high, and the inversion between domestic and international grain prices is severe. At the same time, domestic grain production costs continue to rise. Under the double squeeze, the space for protecting grain-growing enthusiasm simply by open-ended procurement and raising the minimum purchase price is becoming smaller and smaller, and the effect is becoming weaker and weaker. The current grain procurement and storage policy system faces unprecedented challenges.

The third contradiction is the contradiction between moderate grain imports and the impact on the domestic market. Moderate imports on the premise of relying on domestic supply are an effective means of ensuring China's food security. At the same time, China's grain production and inventory distribution show a trend of concentration in core production areas, the procurement and storage pressure in major production areas is huge, and policy grain inventories have been “snowballing” year after year, with the fiscal burden becoming heavier and heavier.

Selling grain in major production areas is very convenient

Jilin Province is a core major grain production area in China. With consecutive bumper grain harvests, the pressure on grain procurement and storage is very great. However, when the reporter interviewed in Jilin Province, no long queues for selling grain were found at grain depots in various places. “Jilin farmers do not have the problem of difficulty in selling grain. Now farmers can sell grain all year round and at any time, and can choose the opportunity and price to sell grain, maximizing their grain-growing income.” Han Fuchun told the reporter.

Han Fuchun said that in order to ease the procurement and storage contradiction, Jilin Province has eased the grain procurement and storage contradiction through comprehensive measures such as increasing warehouse clearance, cross-provincial warehouse transfers, and grain processing and conversion, freeing up 48 billion jin of warehouse capacity; through building warehouses and tapping potential, constructing house-type warehouses and canopy warehouses, it has increased procurement and storage capacity by 10 billion jin.

Jilin has also expanded the pilot program of grain banks, encouraging state-owned enterprises to open “grain bank” business, providing farmers with storage-on-behalf and sales-on-behalf services. Wherever the grain contradiction is prominent, a “grain bank” is opened there.

In order to ease warehouse capacity pressure and ensure the smooth progress of autumn grain procurement, major grain production areas have encouraged and guided various market entities to actively participate in grain procurement and storage through multiple measures such as building warehouses and expanding capacity, promoting sales and freeing up warehouses, cross-provincial warehouse transfers, and clearing and merging warehouses, doing everything possible to improve grain procurement and storage capacity. At the same time, they have improved and innovated grain procurement and storage service methods, providing new grain business entities with post-production services such as drying, procurement, and storage. On the premise of ensuring absolute security of rations, major production areas vigorously promote local conversion of grain, promote the organic combination of grain storage capacity and processing and conversion capacity, and activate the huge potential of the grain processing industry.

Major sales areas increase their procurement and storage share

While major grain production areas face procurement and storage pressure, major grain sales areas have not “stood by idly,” but starting from the overall situation of “the whole country as one chessboard,” have strengthened production and sales alignment to help major production areas resolve grain procurement and storage pressure.

Beijing is an extra-large major grain sales area, with a grain self-sufficiency rate of 16%. For this reason, Beijing has established long-term stable cooperative relations with major grain production areas such as Henan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, and Jilin through various forms such as signing strategic cooperation agreements, establishing grain source bases, and entrusting the storage of municipal reserve grain. According to estimates, through the three channels of inter-provincial procurement, suburban production, and imports, Beijing currently directly controls more than 4 million tons of grain sources, equivalent to 70% of direct grain consumption.

Shanghai guides and supports enterprises through various policies to establish grain source bases in production areas, focusing on japonica rice for rations, laying out grain source bases in Northeast China and northern Jiangsu, developing integrated operations such as procurement, transfer, storage, processing, and sales, and controlling about 2 million tons of grain sources.

While stabilizing grain production in the province and doing a good job in grain procurement, Zhejiang Province encourages various grain business entities in the province to expand production and sales cooperation channels in major grain production areas. It is understood that Zhejiang Province has currently established 3.52 million mu of grain source bases in 13 major grain production provinces.