Committee member refutes excessive grain reserves: once the production cuts and the price rises, it is too late to cry

As a big agricultural country, it is impossible for China to avoid the issue of food security. As a result of China's implementation of the minimum protective price policy, stocks of wheat and rice are full. This is a microcosm of the "eleventh consecutive increase" in total grain output. However, the fact that some domestic grain prices are higher than abroad has led to a continuous increase in grain imports.

In the face of higher than the internationally accepted inventory-to-consumption ratio, as well as the financial burden brought by inventory, this provides the ground for the ferment of "China has too much grain". Chen Zhangliang, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese people's political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and vice chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said in an exclusive interview with China Business Daily during the two sessions in 2015 that we should not just see the granary full while ignoring the increase in grain imports.

Chen Zhangliang said that the strategy of China's agriculture should be to reduce production costs and improve competitiveness, rather than simply thinking that when the granary is full, there should be fewer production points, which is actually very dangerous.

The granary is full. You can't fail to see the increase in imports.

China Business Daily: China has achieved an 11th consecutive increase in total grain output. There is a comment that "there is too much grain". What do you think of this remark? Is there more or less grain in China?

Chen Zhangliang: since the founding of the people's Republic of China, grain production has always had a law: grain output decreases after every three to five years of increase, which is the result of the joint action of natural climate, policy and other factors. Directly speaking, every time there is too much grain, and then do not pay attention to it, coupled with natural disasters, grain output will come down.

The "11th consecutive increase" is related to the stability of grain prices and the stability of CPI, and has played a very important role. According to this year's government work report, grain output should be stabilized at more than 1.1 trillion jin in 2015. Although there is the word "above", the final result may be near the quantitative index.

However, compared with last year, this means that total grain production will decline this year. This worries me.

At present, many experts are saying that China has a surplus of grain. The reason is that when the granary is full, the grain reserves will become aged grain, and the cost of the reserve is particularly high. For the relevant departments that need financial storage, so much food can not go out, it naturally appears to be more.

In addition, for many years in a row, China's annual import of 80 million tons of grain is equivalent to the use of 700 million mu of foreign land. If we do not pay attention to this data, we can only see that there is a surplus of grain in front of us, which is not comprehensive. Under the background of too much grain in grain depots, the reason is that the price of grain in China is higher than that in foreign countries.

Therefore, two points should be paid attention to in formulating agricultural policies. First, continue to maintain a steady trend of slight growth, because the population is growing; second, lower food prices. At present, the increase in labor costs, the rising prices of means of production and the low degree of mechanization have contributed to the increase in the cost of grain production. If subsidies are given in these areas, food prices will naturally be reduced.

Therefore, speeding up land circulation and implementing large-scale operation can not only increase farmers' income, but also improve agricultural production efficiency and reduce production costs. This is the strategy for the development of China's agriculture, rather than simply thinking that when the granary is full, there should be fewer production points. This is actually very dangerous.