Pesticide and Fertilizer Price Increases: What Countermeasures and Ways Out Do Farmers Have?

Recently, farmers who work the land will notice that when they go to buy pesticides and fertilizers, the prices have changed a lot compared with the first half of the year - not lower, but the cost per ton has risen by several hundred yuan. Many people cannot help but ask: it is already the end of the year, hasn't the farming season already reached its slack period? Why are pesticides and fertilizers still rising in price? But it is precisely in these last few months of the year that pesticides and fertilizers have seen a relatively large price increase.

People who do not farm may say that rising pesticide and fertilizer prices have no impact, but for farmers who work the land, this may be the last straw that breaks them. Why is that? In rural areas, many of those who farm are relatively elderly people. Because they cannot go out to work, they can only farm at home. Lacking the assistance of large machinery, their farming efficiency is already very low, and the area of crops they plant is limited. The income per mu of land may be only a few hundred yuan, but now that agricultural input prices have risen so much at once, the profit margin from farming will be squeezed to almost zero. So what can farmers do? Because in rural areas there is no other way to earn money besides farming.

Logically speaking, when the prices of pesticides and fertilizers rise, the price of grain should rise accordingly. But why does the price of grain still fall? Since last year, the price of corn has been in a downward channel, falling from one yuan to more than 0.7 yuan. At such a price, it is almost very difficult to make money selling corn on the market. Now, with pesticide and fertilizer prices rising, how can farmers still make any money? How should farmers respond to this wave of pesticide and fertilizer price increases?

First, farmers can choose to grow some crops with relatively high economic returns,such as greenhouse vegetables, Chinese medicinal herbs, and so on, but the premise is that farmers must take the initiative to learn advanced cultivation techniques and introduce a batch of advanced planting equipment, which will inevitably increase the economic pressure on farmers in the early stage.

Second, transfer the land out.Transfer the land to large-scale growers with technical skills. They have technical advantages and better sales channels, and will certainly operate the land better than we can. Farmers can not only receive part of the land rent, but also free up a large amount of time to work nearby and earn some money to supplement the household income.

Third, farmers should take the initiative to learn internet technologyand sell agricultural products online for a good price. Online shopping is very popular now, and many people buy and sell goods through the internet, while our farmers' agricultural products cannot fetch a good price precisely because they lack sales channels. If we could sell agricultural products directly to consumers through the internet, the profit margin would certainly be much larger.

These are the editor's suggestions for the broad community of farmers regarding the current rise in agricultural input prices. If you have good suggestions, you can leave a comment below!