The problem of "the last kilometer" of agricultural products in circulation

Unoptimistic circulation of agricultural products

In the past two years, the words "cheap vegetables hurt farmers" have often appeared in the domestic media. When it comes to this topic, people have to think of what happened to Han Jin, a 39-year-old vegetable farmer in Jinan, Shandong Province. On April 16, 2011, Han Jin suddenly committed suicide, leaving a 38-year-old wife and two underage daughters. The reason for Hanjin's suicide is said to be very complicated, and the introverted Han Jin has suffered a series of setbacks in the past two years. 6 mu (1 hectare = 15 mu) of cabbage, two or three months of intensive farming, but ushered in the worst situation-the price of 50 grams for 8 cents. The sudden blow became the last straw to overwhelm him. In a similar incident, vegetable farmers in Panyu, Guangzhou committed suicide by drinking pesticides.

On the one hand, cheap vegetables and fruits hurt farmers, such as Beijing rape was shoveled, Fujian lettuce was destroyed, Shandong cabbage was rotten in the field, and Hainan bananas could not fetch a good price. On the other hand, the price of vegetables and fruits in the terminal is still very high, and there is a strange phenomenon that cheap vegetables or expensive fruits occur at the same time. For example, Chinese cabbages in Beijing and Shanghai are often sold for 4 yuan / kg, while these cabbages are sold by farmers for only a few cents per 500 grams. The price of fruit from the place of origin is also quite different from that of the market.

One of the main reasons why there is such a big gap between the terminal vegetable price or fruit price and the wholesale price is that there is something wrong with the circulation of agricultural products.

The problem of "last kilometer"

Agricultural product circulation system refers to the sum of agricultural product business flow, logistics, capital flow and information flow. Normal agricultural products in each stage of the circulation process will consume a variety of resources, cost and increase value, thus resulting in appreciation and profit, which forms the value system of agricultural products (or agricultural value chain).

At present, domestic agricultural products from the place of origin to the consumer table, at least through farmers-dealer procurement-wholesale market-distributor-retailer and other links, each link has to increase the price by at least 10% Mur15%, which not only results in poor circulation channels, but also artificially increases the price of end products. The end result is that most of the decline in vegetable prices is borne by vegetable farmers, while the increase in vegetable prices is paid by consumers.

According to the results of a follow-up survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture for four consecutive years, in the winter and spring season and the climate is relatively normal, cucumbers produced by farmers in greenhouses in Qingzhou City, Shandong Province are sold at the Shouguang Wholesale Market at a price of about 50 cents per kilogram. Shipped to Beijing Xinfadi Wholesale Market wholesale to middlemen or stall owners at a price of 1.00-1.30 yuan per kilogram The bazaar sells at a price of about 2.20-2.80 yuan per kilogram. Based on this, it is estimated that among the retail prices of cucumbers per kilogram, the selling price of producers, that is, farmers, accounts for only 17.9%, 22.7%, and the retail price is equivalent to 4.4-5.6 times the selling price of farmers in the place of origin.

The more trading subjects in the circulation of agricultural products, the lower the circulation efficiency. Therefore, in theory, the main body of the transaction should be reduced as much as possible to improve the circulation efficiency and optimize the value chain. In particular, it should be noted that the last link in the circulation link from the urban wholesale market to the retail market is called the "last kilometer", and the cost generated by this "last kilometer" accounts for more than 50% of the total price. it is the highest price increase in the whole circulation process.

The main reason for the sharp increase in the price of the "last kilometer" is that the fees paid by merchants in circulation have increased substantially. According to the survey, merchants in circulation have to pay at least five kinds of fees in the wholesale market, such as booth fees, admission fees and bidding fees, and the amount of fees is increasing and the payment cycle is getting shorter and shorter. Excessive costs directly lead to a rise in the price of agricultural products.

"small production and small circulation"

At present, restricted by the small-scale operation mode of peasant households, farmers are lack of interest spokesmen, but professional cooperatives, which have always been placed high hopes, can not play a good role in practical operation. This makes farmers lack the ability to negotiate in the face of the market and circulation, so it is not only difficult to predict the risks, but also impossible to participate in the distribution of benefits. Therefore, most domestic farmers can only transport their agricultural products to the nearby origin wholesale market for sale, or by the market purchasers directly to the land purchase, and then by the long-distance transportation merchants to the large and medium-sized city land sales wholesale markets, and then through these wholesale markets will agricultural products turnover spread to community bazaars, supermarkets and group consumption units. Therefore, for a long time, the current situation of farmers "relying on heaven for a living" has not been fundamentally changed. Most farmers have been squeezed at the end of the circulation system of agricultural and sideline products, coupled with information asymmetry, which makes "cheap grain hurts farmers" and "cheap vegetables hurt farmers" from time to time.

In fact, the production and consumption of agricultural products are scattered at both ends of the household. Therefore, at present, the establishment of a "large-scale production and large circulation" pattern adapted to the development of modern agriculture is particularly important for the marketing of agricultural products. It is necessary to drive the circulation of local agricultural products as a whole through leading enterprises, in which leading enterprises are undoubtedly the main body and core of brand management of agricultural products.

Judging from the successful experience of the national agricultural brand enterprises and regions, the expansion of the brand must rely on the two-way cooperation and mutual promotion between the leading enterprises and the government. For example, Changyu in Shandong, Sanquan and yearning in Henan, Mengniu, Yili and other enterprises in Inner Mongolia fully reflect the backbone role of leading enterprises in brand construction. Therefore, cultivating and supporting leading enterprises is an important way to develop agricultural industrialization and create more brands.