Who received the 110 billion yuan in agricultural machinery purchase subsidies? Enterprises became the most direct beneficiaries
[On June 25, 2004, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization" was promulgated, stipulating that “the central finance and provincial finance should separately arrange special funds to provide subsidies to farmers and agricultural production and operation organizations for the purchase of advanced and applicable agricultural machinery supported and promoted by the state.” That year, the central finance arranged 70 million yuan in subsidy funds. In the following years, subsidy funds grew exponentially. Over 11 years, the state finance invested as much as 110 billion yuan in agricultural machinery purchase subsidies. So what does this agriculture-benefiting policy actually mean for farmers and agricultural machinery manufacturers?]
Since 2004, China began rolling out subsidies for the purchase of agricultural machinery. Over 11 years, state finance invested more than 100 billion yuan in agricultural machinery purchase subsidy funds, playing an important role in safeguarding food security and increasing farmers' incomes. However, recently, more than 80 farmers from 8 provinces across the country complained to us that after purchasing corn (2399, -20.00, -0.83%) harvesters from an agricultural machinery enterprise in Baoding, Hebei, they found that the machines were constantly breaking down and were simply unusable, and that the more than 200,000 yuan they paid for the machines was almost completely wasted. What is even harder to understand is that this machine was actually a recommended product in the national agricultural machinery purchase subsidy promotion catalogue. Let's look at the reporter's investigation.
Corn harvesters develop quality problems; promotion appraisal certificate of a Hebei agricultural machinery factory's product revoked
Li Baojuan is a farmer from Beisongying Village, Ceying Town, Mancheng County, Baoding City, Hebei Province. He told the reporter that every day when he sees the corn harvester parked at his door, he feels sick at heart.
Li Baojuan, a villager from Beisongying Village, Ceying Town, Mancheng County, Hebei Province: Oh, my head aches just looking at this machine. There's no way around it. It's not easy for ordinary people to earn a little money. A machine worth several hundred thousand yuan, and it can't do the work.
In August this year, Li Baojuan and two other villagers jointly funded the purchase of this corn harvester from an agricultural machinery factory in Shunping County, Baoding City, spending a total of 274,000 yuan. But as soon as they took it to the field for a trial, the machine had problems.
Li Baojuan: It didn't even finish one row before it broke down. It broke the machine. After that, the manufacturer only came very late. It wasn't repaired that day; it was only repaired the next day. It took two days.
Li Baojuan said that the machine, which had just been repaired, would develop other problems again not long after going back into the field. After repeated back-and-forth repairs, it still ultimately could not be used.
Li Baojuan: In about 20 days, it harvested a total of 40 mu of land. This machine just kept breaking down, two or three times a day, and it couldn't be repaired. There was no way to work. The villagers wouldn't let me work. I didn't dare take on jobs.
Li Baojuan told the reporter that he had originally planned to make some money this autumn with this corn harvester, but now not only had he not earned money, he had instead lost a lot of money.
Li Baojuan: In two or three months, I must have lost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan myself. In these two months, hauling corn could have earned me over 10,000 yuan. Now I haven't done any business for two months, just dealing with this. I even paid out of my own pocket. I've lost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan.
Li Baojuan not only failed to earn money, but instead lost a lot of money
⟧ Just like Li Baojuan, Tian Yugang from Shangpingzhuang Village, Cuizhuang Town, Xushui County, Baoding City, also purchased the same manufacturer's same model of corn harvester in August this year, and even the problems that appeared were basically similar.
Tian Yugang, a villager from Shangpingzhuang Village, Cuizhuang Town, Xushui County, Hebei Province: On the first day I drove it back, before I even got home, the side guards and everything all had their welds break open. They fell off halfway. There was scrap iron all over the machine, all with broken welds, and several pieces fell off on the way. The first time it went into the field, this machine basically broke down wherever it went.
Tian Yugang: It took 7 days and still didn't finish harvesting 5 mu of land. We asked the manufacturer's repairman to come fix it, but after one repair it still wasn't fixed. There was really no other way, so we found another machine to harvest for them, because the grain loss was especially severe and the husking was also incomplete. The farmer refused to let it harvest no matter what.
Tian Yugang said that because they didn't know when it would break down, when they went out to harvest, they still had to bring this kind of repair vehicle.
Tian Yugang: Every time we go out to work, we have to drive this small truck, carrying electric welding equipment, gas welding equipment, wrenches of all sizes, and so on.
Even so, this corn harvester still kept breaking down and simply could not work. Half a month later, Tian Yugang had no choice but to park the machine completely in his yard.
Tian Yugang: It's basically scrapped. It has no power at all. It burns oil especially badly. Adding two barrels of oil a day isn't even enough. It can't do the work either. There's no way. It's just sitting at home.
Tian Yugang said that most of the more than 200,000 yuan used to buy this machine was borrowed, and he now doesn't know what to do.
Tian Yugang: I borrowed about 150,000 yuan. Our loan interest is also high, 2 fen interest, which counts as usury. When I was considering it, it seemed good. I thought one big autumn harvest could recover the cost, and the loan wouldn't be too troublesome and could be paid back. But the result wasn't like that. Now the people urging the loan come to my home several times a day, just pressing me to repay the loan. Up to now there's still no way. What do I do if I can't repay it?
The reporter learned that Tian Yugang's and Li Baojuan's corn harvesters were both purchased from Baoding City Shunping County Huixing Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and both were model 4YZB-4. Moreover, not only in Baoding, Hebei, but across 8 provinces nationwide, at least more than 80 farmers purchased this model of harvester, involving an amount of nearly 20 million yuan, and during use, this harvester without exception developed various problems, and now almost all of them are unusable.
Farmer: Before it even did any work, the gearbox had problems.
Reporter: If it hasn't done any work, how could it have problems?
Farmer: Then I don't know either. The bearings just fell apart. There's no second gear or third gear, only first gear and reverse. It breaks down wherever you can imagine. In just these few days, this many parts have already been taken off.
According to the farmers who purchased the machines, this kind of corn harvester was almost unusable because of quality problems. So why did the villagers still buy it in the first place? The villagers said that when they first searched online for the keywords corn harvester, the first thing that popped up was the introduction and advertisement for Huixing Company's product.
Li Baojuan: The advertisement said, and I also wanted to recover the cost quickly, that harvesting corn wouldn't cost money, and that just harvesting straw could also bring in money. That money would come back quickly.
Tian Yugang: At the time I looked online. Their advertisement was very well made. They said harvesting corn was free, and that just harvesting straw would make money. I also saw that this product had a promotion certificate and a qualification certificate, and there were subsidies. It was because of these reasons that I bought this machine.
The villagers saw this company's good advertisement online, so they decided to buy this machine
The villagers said that not only did the advertisement claim the cost could be recovered quickly, but they had also all personally visited the manufacturer. The manufacturer also showed a promotion qualification certificate issued by the agricultural machinery department of Hebei Province, and the product also fell within the scope of the national agricultural machinery purchase subsidy catalogue. Purchasing this model could enjoy more than 70,000 yuan in state financial subsidies. Only under these circumstances did so many farmers spend more than 200,000 yuan to purchase this kind of harvester from the Huixing manufacturer.
Qi Yunlong, a villager from Tianlan Village, Hanfeng Town, Tangshan City, Hebei Province: This appraisal report says that a questionnaire survey was conducted with 15 users, and the applicability evaluation results were 92%, 97%, and 95%, far higher than the national outline requirement of 70%.
According to the contents of this appraisal report, the 4YZB-4 corn harvester produced by Huixing Company is a good machine with excellent quality and reliable performance. So, since the provincial agricultural machinery department's promotion appraisal result was qualified, why did so many quality problems still appear, and why was it even completely unusable? The reporter went to the manufacturer of this agricultural machine, Hebei Province Shunping County Huixing Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. A person in charge there told the reporter that the reason quality problems appeared was mainly improper operation by the farmers.
Wang Xuesong, person in charge of Hebei Province Shunping County Huixing Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.: I think 60% to 70% is an operation problem, because this machinery operation is relatively advanced and the operation is relatively complicated. There are 7 or 8 gear levers alone. We also conducted training on the mechanical problems. As a result, some users came here for training themselves, but after they went back, they hired a driver, and someone else drove it here, so it was equivalent to them not having been trained.
The farmers who purchased the machines did not agree with this explanation.
Sun Shuangxi, a villager from Dongchengfang Village, Dongchengfang Town, Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province: You say you're harvesting grass, but when harvesting grass, the grass drops and can't be picked up. The corn cobs are all damaged. Can that be improper operation? Why is it that when you get on other harvesters and try them, they can work just fine?
Qi Yunlong, a villager from Tianlan Village, Hanfeng Town, Tangshan City, Hebei Province: And if we talk about problems again, for example, its rear axle and gearbox are basically unrelated to operation. They are all major components, so how can quality problems still appear? I question the authenticity of this promotion certificate.