Ding Shengjun: to maintain the strategic stability of grain after years of bumper harvests

With the bumper harvest of grain in our country for many years, great changes have taken place in the pattern of grain production and market. the phenomena of high grain output, high purchase and high inventory are prominent, and there are some problems in some places, such as difficult operation of grain enterprises and difficulties for farmers to sell grain. Domestic food security is facing new tests, and there are some restrictive factors. To this end, our reporter interviewed Ding Shengjun, executive director of the China Grain Economic Association.

Reporter: what do you think of the current food security situation in China?

Ding Shengjun: China's grain production has broken the cycle of "two abundant, two flat, one apology" and has attracted worldwide attention. However, China's food security is still faced with many contradictions and problems. For example, the total balance of grain supply and demand in the medium and long term coexists with the periodic surplus of individual varieties, and the price of grain supporting the market is facing the coexistence of "splint squeeze" and the need to protect the interests of food and agriculture. the problem of the "two enthusiasm" of protecting farmers growing grain in major grain producing areas and major grain producing areas has not been fundamentally solved, and the international competitiveness of grain industry and grain enterprises is weak.

Especially at present, there are still risks in China's food security, and the biggest risk is that the understanding of the "double foundation" status of grain tends to be weak, and the idea of "heavy industry neglecting agriculture" and "attaching importance to cities and villages" is widespread. Therefore, while enjoying the joy of bumper grain harvests in successive years, we should not be blindly optimistic. We must tighten the "string" of food security and firmly grasp the grain initiative.

Reporter: at present, grain prices at home and abroad are upside down, resulting in high grain stocks in China and an increase in imports year by year. Some enterprises and people in the industry even think that "it is better to buy grain than to grow grain" and "buy grain at low prices for nothing." What do you think of these phenomena?

Ding Shengjun: grain is a kind of quasi-public goods, which is related to the survival of the people. For grain production, we need to calculate both safety accounts and economic accounts. The assessment of food security cannot simply calculate the economic account of cost and price. No government will allow mistakes in food security. It is understood that in a globalized environment, South Korea and Japan have tried their best to resist the temptation and pressure of low-priced grain and give special protection to their own agricultural production, preferring to produce food at high cost while ensuring the interests of their own farmers and their own agriculture. At present, some enterprises and people in the industry think that "it is better to buy grain than to grow grain" and "buy grain at low prices for nothing." when they see periodically low grain prices in foreign countries, they cannot resist the impulse to be greedy for petty bargains and expand the import of low-priced grain one after another. this has laid a hidden danger for food security.

We actively advocate daring and making good use of the two markets and two kinds of resources, but we should comprehensively and accurately implement the new strategy for food security and import grain appropriately. The so-called moderate import not only means that the import quantity should be appropriate, but also means that the time and space should be appropriate, the variety should be appropriate, that is, the appropriate variety and quantity of agricultural products should be imported from the appropriate place at the appropriate time of the domestic market demand. It is not just considering the price, disregarding the needs of the domestic market and agricultural production, and buying large quantities regardless of bargains. Moreover, grain prices are rapidly changing, and the prices and price differences between domestic and foreign grain markets are changeable. If you can import grain at a low price this year and change next year or the year after next, you may not be able to buy grain at a low price.

Reporter: in the face of the problem of grain "three highs", some people think that we should adjust the grain production structure and reduce the grain acreage. How do you think we should adjust the structure of grain production? How to maintain the stability of China's grain strategy?

Ding Shengjun: it is in line with the objective law to rationally adjust the grain production structure due to time and place. Especially at present, in order to get rid of the "three high" predicament of high grain output, high inventory and high import, it is more necessary to change the mode of grain production and implement grain structure adjustment. However, the adjustment of grain structure, including the adjustment of variety structure and layout structure, is essentially to regulate and control the mode of agricultural development. To regulate and control the mode of agricultural development, we must respect the objective economic laws, otherwise, we will take the detours that have been taken more than once. In the past, adjustments or adjustments were made in a mandatory manner, resulting in a rapid and drastic reduction of grain area and a sharp decline in output. In the mid-1980s, in the adjustment of grain structure, the grain planting area was reduced too much, which led to a "saddle shape" in grain production, which brought losses to farmers' interests and fluctuations in market supply and demand. Therefore, to adjust the grain structure, we must give full play to the decisive role of the market mechanism in allocating resources and the effective guarantee role of the government, and take precise governance measures to realize the transformation from the traditional grain industry to the modern high-end grain industry.

At present, many kinds of contradictions in China's grain market are intertwined. Under the complicated situation, we should not simply understand and deal with the problem of "three highs" of grain, but should proceed from China's basic national conditions and macroeconomic environment, accurately grasp the agricultural and grain situation, and always maintain the strategic determination of grain. It is necessary to enhance self-confidence in development, persist in seeking innovation in change, seek progress in change, and make breakthroughs in change, and work out a new road of development with higher quality, better efficiency, and better structure.