Grain dryer shortage needs to be filled urgently; only with every grain safely in the barn can we have security

This summer harvest season, continuous rain in many places caused no small amount of trouble for the harvesting and drying of summer grain. Logically, grain drying machinery should have come in very handy at this time, but when reporters recently interviewed people in Shandong, Jiangsu and other places, they found that some new types of operating entities reported that, limited by difficulties such as land, capital and costs, there is a relatively large shortage of drying machinery. And because the wheat could not be dried in time, it quickly began to mold or even sprout after being harvested, seriously affecting wheat quality and making it very hard to sell at a good price.

On June 13, when reporters were interviewing at Huxi Farm in Peixian County, Jiangsu Province, they heard that at 2 a.m. that day, one dryer at the grain drying service station in Fengda Village of the farm unexpectedly caught fire, and 20 tons of wheat were burned to ashes. "If it had been discovered 30 minutes later and the fire had reached the circuits, all 8 dryers would have been burned up." Feng Jukun, the person in charge of the service station, was very frightened afterward. The dryer manufacturer had already sent people to conduct an accident assessment. For safety reasons, Feng Jukun had to stop drying operations, and nearby farmers waiting to have their grain dried were very anxious.

Feng Jukun's 8 dryers can dry grain from at most 320 mu of land per day, while Huxi Farm alone has 40,000 mu of land. Although there are two or three other drying service stations nearby, they are all operating at full capacity and cannot take on additional work. He had also thought about expanding the scale, but had the will but not the means. At present, he has already invested more than 1 million yuan. Although the state subsidy for the 8 dryers is nearly 280,000 yuan, daily operating expenses such as electricity, coal and labor are about 10,000 yuan, and there is also annual rent of 220,000 yuan for the site and warehouse, so he has always been short of money. Feng Jukun believes that there is almost no place left in the village for drying grain, dryers are in great demand, and the main reasons for such a large shortage now are land and capital. He hopes the government can provide targeted support for dryers.

The drying stage directly affects grain quality and farmers' income, and it needs to be taken seriously and solved with effort. Reporters learned that although in 2014 the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture jointly issued the "Notice on Further Supporting the Healthy Development of Facility Agriculture," clearly supporting the resolution of the land issue for supporting facilities necessary for large-scale grain production. If this policy can be implemented well, farmers will have places to build their own facilities instead of renting factory buildings, and drying costs can be greatly reduced.

Second, although drying equipment is currently included in the catalog of agricultural machinery purchase subsidies, in many places funds are limited and subsidies cannot be provided without restriction. Moreover, existing subsidies only cover dryers but not boilers, and 1 boiler costs more than 100,000 yuan. All localities should, in light of actual conditions, allocate supporting funds from local finance specifically to support the development of grain drying equipment and stimulate farmers' enthusiasm to purchase.

Third, currently the electricity used by dryers is classified as industrial electricity, at 0.8 yuan per kWh. It is suggested to coordinate with relevant departments to change it to agricultural electricity, which would immediately reduce it to more than 0.3 yuan. Calculating on the basis of 2,000 kWh of electricity use per day, 1,000 yuan could be saved, and ultimately the farmers would benefit.

Finally, encouraging the development of drying equipment should not lead to a rush without coordination, because excessive density will also cause idle waste. All localities should, according to their own conditions, scientifically calculate drying demand, and mainly provide subsidy support to new types of operating entities, so that while meeting their own needs they can also extend drying services to surrounding farmers.