Ensuring post-disaster vegetable supply requires a coordinated mix of measures

To guarantee the market supply of vegetables and other agricultural products after a disaster, we should, on the premise of following market rules, effectively leverage the guiding role of administration and properly resolve the problems in post-disaster agricultural production, circulation and market order. Only in this way can we ensure supply, stabilize prices and provide a "safety net" for people's livelihoods after a major disaster.

The severe floods that have hit southern China since June have not only posed a serious threat to people's lives and property, but also dealt a heavy blow to agricultural production. According to a statistic by Huachuang Securities in early July, the vegetable planting area in the 15 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions covered by this rainfall is roughly 0.16 billion mu, accounting for 74.6% of the national total, among which the 7 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions that were more severely affected account for about 32%, close to one third of the national total. The floods have caused notable rises in the prices of fresh vegetables, melons and fruits and other agricultural products. Ensuring the supply of daily necessities for the people after a disaster has always been a major matter concerning people's livelihoods and social stability. At such a time, there is an urgent need for local governments to implement regulatory measures, adopt a multi-pronged approach and deliver a well-coordinated "combination punch" to ensure the market supply of vegetables and other agricultural products.

First, we should actively organize the sourcing and transportation of goods to ease the pressure on stabilizing the prices of vegetables and other agricultural products. Because agricultural production has a certain cyclical nature, local self-rescue efforts alone cannot meet supply for a time, and a serious imbalance between supply and demand can easily cause major market fluctuations. This requires first working hard on the circulation link to address the urgent shortage in the supply of vegetables and other agricultural products. In particular, we should fully mobilize large and medium-sized vegetable suppliers, including large chain enterprises, agricultural product wholesale markets and other circulation enterprises, to actively contact vegetable bases in other provinces and other sources of goods, expand the scope of procurement and stabilize prices. At the same time, we should also encourage rural brokers and other groups to give play to their initiative. Most of them have a relatively good understanding of the vegetable market and are more sensitive to places of origin and prices, and they can play a very good supplementary role.

Second, we should strengthen price supervision and stabilize the market order of vegetables and other agricultural products. When the floodwaters have receded but homes are still soaked in muddy water, for ordinary people, being able to eat a bowl of hot rice and pick up a bite of fresh vegetables is such an important thing. This is not only a basic need of daily life, but also the best tonic to soothe the soul. However, the period after a major disaster is often also a time when market prices are relatively chaotic, and some unscrupulous vegetable traders may collude to raise prices, hoping to profit from the disaster. Therefore, it is especially necessary for price authorities in all localities to strengthen monitoring and inspection. During this period, supervision and crackdown efforts must be intensified to prevent middlemen from artificially creating market chaos and panic, and to ensure the market supply and price stability of vegetables and other agricultural products.

Third, we should actively carry out self-rescue in production and make efforts on the supply side of agricultural products. Ultimately, the stability of the prices of vegetables and other agricultural products still depends on sustained supply from production. These floods submerged many farmers' vegetable gardens and orchards, and pigsties and chicken coops also suffered heavy losses. Therefore, every possible means should be used to encourage farmers to resume production, help farmers overcome difficulties through insurance payouts, production technical support and other means, and guide farmers to sow and plant quickly for self-rescue. At the same time, relevant departments should also conduct investigations in markets and production bases to grasp market conditions and supply and demand information, and promptly release accurate market information to farmers through various means, so as to prevent farmers from blindly following trends and guide them to plant vegetables and other crops that sell well.

Fourth, for urban and rural disadvantaged groups in disaster-hit areas, the linkage mechanism that ties social assistance and security standards to rises in prices should be activated promptly, and temporary price subsidies should be issued to people in difficulty, so as to ensure that the lives of disadvantaged groups are not too greatly affected by post-disaster vegetable price rises.

The effective supply of agricultural products after floods connects the city on one end and the countryside on the other. It involves not only urban residents, but also vegetable farmers, brokers, middlemen and other groups, and often goes beyond the scope of regulation by a single locality. Therefore, it requires systematic coordination among departments, regions and industries, coordinated and orderly efforts on multiple fronts, integration of various resources and timely response to changes in demand.

It should be made clear that the damage to agriculture caused by natural disasters, which leads to a temporary shortage in the supply of vegetables and other agricultural products and a phased rise in prices, is a normal phenomenon. In addition, this flood disaster mainly occurred in the Yangtze River Basin, which has had a great impact on the southward transport of northern vegetables in summer. Some rural brokers who transport and sell vegetables need to overcome many difficulties to open up transport routes, and the labor costs of raising goods are also increasing. Their higher profit expectations are also understandable. Therefore, while stabilizing the supply and prices of agricultural products, we should also take into account the specific circumstances of the production and circulation links, balance the multiple interests of vegetable farmers, brokers and citizens, and avoid overreacting, so as not to dampen the enthusiasm of the production and circulation sectors.

Price is the most effective regulator of the market. The rise in vegetable prices caused by disasters will inevitably guide more market entities to participate, thereby gradually bringing market supply toward balance. Therefore, remember that price cannot simply be "suppressed" and left at that. Only by following market rules, effectively leveraging the guiding role of administration, and properly resolving the problems in the production, circulation and market order of vegetables and other agricultural products after a disaster can we ensure supply, stabilize prices and provide a "safety net" for people's livelihoods after a major disaster.

A flood disaster tests the emergency response capacity of society as a whole. Moreover, in recent years, extreme climate and weather events have shown a clear trend of intensifying, and the resulting rises in agricultural product prices are nothing new. Clearly, it is not possible to introduce a temporary measure to suppress prices every time an extreme event occurs. Doing so would mean forever "patching holes" and being in a state of passive response.

For events such as the supply of vegetables and other agricultural products after disasters, which have major impacts and also follow certain patterns, it is necessary to establish a systematic and effective emergency response plan. This requires fundamentally improving the post-disaster emergency supply guarantee system, doing a good job in the supply management, material reserves and preparation system for post-disaster emergency materials, and the post-disaster material mobilization and preparation mechanism, so as to ensure that the supply process for agricultural products and other emergency materials after a major disaster can proceed smoothly. Just as hot weather automatically triggers a blue warning, yellow warning, orange warning and red warning, when floods and other disasters occur, different warnings should also be activated for the supply of vegetables and other agricultural products according to different situations, with correspondingly different disposal measures. Only in this way can we break free from the mindset of "treating the head when the head aches and the foot when the foot aches," and this is precisely the best manifestation of whether a society has a self-repair mechanism.