Avian Influenza Deals a Heavy Blow to the Breeding Industry, Experts Call for Increased Subsidies for Large-Scale Agricultural Production

A sudden outbreak of avian influenza has brought the importance of increasing agricultural subsidies into sharp relief.

According to reporters' investigations, since April of this year, in areas where avian influenza outbreaks have occurred, the breeding industry has been significantly affected. Many small-scale farmers are struggling to keep going, while large-scale farmers are barely holding on. Some farmers not only lose their entire investment but also have to sacrifice years of savings. Experts are calling for action: if the poultry industry, under the impact of avian influenza, does not receive corresponding remedial support policies and measures, not only will farmers suffer severe losses, but the poultry consumption market in the second half of the year will also be greatly affected.

Therefore, it is already very necessary to increase agricultural production subsidies, including those for farmers, in a timely, targeted, and location-appropriate manner. Judging from the subsidy measures adopted in various places after the avian influenza outbreak this year, some places provide a certain amount of compensation per bird for poultry culled in live poultry markets, basically ensuring that farmers do not lose money; some provide one-time corresponding subsidies to breeding farms to minimize farmers' losses; some places provide certain subsidies for breeding poultry in order to reduce the impact on poultry supply after the market recovers, but non-breeding poultry receive no subsidies. These measures have, to a certain extent, compensated for farmers' losses, prevented farmers' confidence from being severely undermined, and played a positive role in the subsequent recovery and development of the market.

Fiscal subsidies have produced obvious, direct, and positive effects for farmers. However, the intensity and scope of direct fiscal subsidies are, after all, limited. Especially when dealing with sudden "natural and man-made disasters" such as avian influenza, increasing agricultural subsidies requires more pathways and more instruments. Agricultural insurance is precisely one of the most effective and most direct pathways. During this avian influenza outbreak, some places provided certain compensation to farmers through agricultural insurance. However, on the whole, the current intensity of agricultural insurance is limited and its coverage is relatively narrow, so its protective role for agricultural production is not very significant.

Why is this so? In addition to the inherently weak characteristics of agricultural production, such as being susceptible to natural factors like weather and to various pests and diseases, this avian influenza outbreak being a case in point, there are also various factors such as the small returns and difficult claims payouts of agricultural insurance. Therefore, commercial insurance companies lack enthusiasm for agricultural insurance. To solve these problems, China has made agricultural insurance a policy-based insurance, with government fiscal support at different levels for agricultural insurance. But in practice, because the fiscal wealth of different regions varies and the degree of understanding of the importance of agricultural insurance varies, the intensity of support for agricultural insurance also varies. As for insurance companies, they likewise have problems such as differing degrees of understanding of the importance of agricultural insurance, so in practice they actively develop insurance types with high profits while lacking enthusiasm for promoting and developing agricultural insurance with relatively small profits, resulting in a situation where agricultural insurance has policies but lacks instruments.

Increasing support and protection for agriculture through agricultural subsidies is a common practice among countries around the world. In recent years, China's agricultural subsidies have gradually increased in intensity, but compared with developed countries, compared with the subsidy rules allowed by the WTO, and compared with the realistic requirements of China's agricultural development, there is still a considerable gap and considerable room for improvement. The relative lag of agricultural insurance is only one aspect of this. Therefore, the outbreak of this avian influenza should prompt us to better understand how to cope with the high costs of agriculture and defuse the high risks of agriculture. As national and local fiscal resources continue to grow, we are in a better position to gradually expand agricultural subsidies and improve subsidy mechanisms. All localities should also take measures suited to local conditions in agricultural subsidies, so that agricultural subsidies truly become an effective policy tool for developing agriculture and benefiting farmers. Qu Changfu