Applying the concept of tight balance to regulate the Market of Agricultural products

Marketization is the soul of agricultural modernization. The understanding of agricultural modernization under the new normal can be understood from the perspective of marketization. In the fifties and sixties of the last century, agricultural modernization was summarized as mechanization, electrification, water conservancy and chemistry, which is agricultural modernization in the traditional sense. At present, the modernization of agriculture depends on the approval of consumers. Only in this way can modernization be truly realized.

If agriculture has no market-oriented mechanism, no supporting modern market system, no establishment of modern supply and demand, production is arranged by the government, and growth is driven by the government, then such agriculture can only be regarded as planned agriculture and traditional agriculture. Only the power from the market is the most fundamental driving force to promote agricultural modernization. Modern agriculture is not determined by the government, but based on the modern market system. It is an agriculture in which consumers can express their wishes through market choice.

Since the launch of the market-oriented reform in the 1980s, China has formed an agricultural market operation and management mechanism dominated by market regulation and supplemented by government regulation, which has played an important role in ensuring the effective supply of agricultural products and the smooth operation of the market. Over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, the process of agricultural marketization is actually a process of "letting go", letting go of what can be put into the market for agricultural products. Now, in order to achieve modernization in the real sense, we must add the word "help". The third Plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made it clear that the market should play a decisive role in the allocation of resources and give better play to the role of the government. If the government wants to "help", the ways and means of "help" should be constantly studied and improved.

So in the process of marketization, what kind of standard should be established to measure the success of the agricultural marketization system with Chinese characteristics? The author believes that this standard is "tight balance", which is the best market state that takes into account the interests of both producers and consumers, and it should be the goal of market-oriented reform.

The essence of tight balance is a kind of management of supply and demand of agricultural products. Tight balance should be understood from three levels: the first level, tight balance is the state of supply and demand. At present, the supply and demand of our agricultural products, especially grain, is in a state of tight balance. The tight balance of grain should pay attention to two core issues: one is to solve the basic balance between grain supply and demand, and the other is to prevent grain prices from falling and affecting the enthusiasm of growing grain after the loosening of grain supply. This shows that the tight balance is first of all a state, the supply of agricultural products is not the more the better, the tight balance of supply slightly less than demand is the best. There is a similar term in marketing called "hunger therapy", that is, the goods provided by manufacturers are always slightly less than demand, which can stimulate demand, and we should use the principle of tight balance to control agriculture.

The second layer, tight balancing is a technical activity. A tight balance is like walking a tightrope. If it is not adjusted properly, it will be out of balance. The author believes that tight balance means that supply and demand are not 100% equal. Realizing this requirement is definitely a technical problem and a test of the ability of regulation and control. In the traditional sense, we have always emphasized increasing production, which is the way of thinking under the shortage mode, while tight balance requires a change of ideas, so that the market can spontaneously adjust the relationship between supply and demand in a tight balance.

The third layer, tight balance is the measure of the success of market modernization. A tight balance mechanism must be used in the management of production, even if it is too much or less. If the tight balance is destroyed, it will either sacrifice the interests of farmers or harm the interests of citizens. A tight balance depends on our level and on the general environment. When we formulate evaluation indicators, we should put forward a reasonable range in which price fluctuations are reasonable, rather than saying that the more the better, it is unscientific to emphasize that "cheap vegetables hurt farmers and cheap grain hurts farmers".

Tight balance is the primary issue for our agricultural marketization to study, especially when grain production is "increasing in November", some people say too much, others say that it is not enough, on the one hand, there is a large amount of imports, and on the other hand, there is not enough storage capacity. this requires us to study and master the methods of tight balance management from the perspective of market economy management departments.

The price formation mechanism is the core of the market mechanism. Whether the price formation mechanism is reasonable or not determines whether the market mechanism can play a normal role. The price formation mechanism of agricultural products directly determines the interests of farmers, the enthusiasm of farmers to plant, and the stable supply of agricultural products. Let's talk about two problems that urgently need to be solved in the reform of the price formation mechanism of agricultural products.

The first is to improve farmers' ability to negotiate prices as soon as possible. At present, the outstanding problem in the pricing process of agricultural products is that farmers do not have the corresponding pricing power in the transaction process. Generally speaking, the income of agricultural producers in China accounts for 14% of the final selling price, while producers in developed countries can get 30%. China's agricultural producers have almost no pricing power, and their bargaining power is extremely unequal. There are two solutions: one is to centralize farmers and, through large-scale and organized operation, let collective organizations such as cooperatives negotiate on behalf of farmers; the other is to improve the existing bargaining ability, focusing on improving farmers' four abilities: the ability to "do not sell", that is, to improve farmers' cellar storage capacity; the ability to "sell", that is, to improve the ability of direct marketing and distribution of agricultural products. The ability to obtain information, that is, to establish a socialized peasant household information service system, so that farmers know "what is right to grow in spring, what is expensive to sell in autumn, and what means of production to buy is the most affordable"; brand creation ability, that is, the ability to create brands based on their own products.

The second is to solve the problem of information asymmetry as soon as possible. First of all, we must solve the problem of transparency of information. In fact, farmers need three aspects of information: area, output and price, which can be calculated by the government, which is what farmers need to know most, but now the government's data lags behind, and it is too late for farmers to get it. Secondly, it is necessary to solve the problem of unified caliber of information. The unity of caliber solves the problem of the unity of standards. The information collected by different standards and different samples cannot be compared.

The third is to solve the authoritative problem of data release. At present, in addition to the information collected by different market subjects themselves, the information of government departments is also numbered, and farmers do not know who to trust. Such data not only have no baton effect on the market, but also may mislead the market. It can be seen that it is urgent to establish an authoritative monitoring and early warning system in China.