Scientific and rational regulation of vegetable prices

China is a big country in vegetable production and consumption, and vegetables play an important role in our agriculture. However, vegetable prices have skyrocketed and plummeted in recent years. The abnormal fluctuation of vegetable price has a negative impact on the healthy development of the national economy, and it has also attracted the attention of the party and the government. In recent years, the central government and various ministries and commissions have formulated and implemented many regulation and control policies to ensure vegetable supply and stabilize vegetable prices. The pertinence of regulation and control policies is very obvious: ensuring supply, promoting circulation and stabilizing prices. In this context, in order to regulate vegetable prices scientifically and reasonably, it is necessary to explore the existing problems and causes of vegetable prices in China, and put forward targeted policy recommendations.

Problems in vegetable prices in China

China's vegetable industry has made great progress in the past 30 years. The total area of vegetables has increased from 3331 × 103ha in 1978 to 20899 × 103ha in 2013, an increase of about 527.4%, with an average annual growth rate of 7.3%. Vegetable is the second largest crop in China besides food crops, and the proportion of vegetable sown area in the total sown area of crops in China is on the rise. Vegetable production is gradually concentrated to the dominant areas, the vegetable circulation system is becoming more and more perfect, and the large vegetable market and large circulation pattern are initially taking shape. Vegetable exports are growing rapidly.

The main problems of vegetable prices in China are as follows:

(1) vegetable prices fluctuate frequently and violently. Frequent and violent fluctuations in vegetable prices will lead to a series of negative effects: one is to increase the market risk of vegetable producers. Second, it harms the interests of consumers. Third, it endangers macroeconomic stability. The rise in vegetable prices has become one of the main factors driving up domestic inflation. Therefore, the sharp rise and fall in vegetable prices will have a negative impact on macroeconomic stability.

(2) it is difficult for vegetable producers to profit from rising prices. From 1998 to 2013, the profits of vegetable producers varied between 0.38 yuan / kg-0.74 yuan / kg, with an average profit of about 0.5 yuan / kg. From 1998 to 2013, the price of vegetable production increased by 126%, the cost of vegetables increased by 153%, while the net profit of vegetable production increased by only 97%. However, the profits of vegetable producers in China did not rise with the rise of vegetable production prices. The phenomenon that it is difficult to profit from the rising vegetable prices will affect the income of vegetable producers and reduce the enthusiasm of vegetable producers to grow vegetables, which is not conducive to the development of vegetable industry.

(3) the price gap between production and marketing of vegetables has widened, resulting in the phenomenon of "jumping at both ends and laughing in the middle". The widening price gap between vegetable production and marketing on the one hand reflects that it is difficult for vegetable producers to sell vegetables, on the other hand, it reflects that it is expensive for vegetable consumers to buy vegetables. The widening price gap between vegetable production and marketing has not only dampened the enthusiasm of vegetable growers, but also increased the cost of living of urban residents, which has become a widely concerned social problem.

Analysis of the causes of the problems

(1) the main reasons for the sharp rise and fall in vegetable prices. 1. Abnormal weather aggravates the fluctuation of vegetable prices. two。 The decrease of vegetable plots in the suburbs increases the uncertainty of vegetable price fluctuations. 3. Information asymmetry aggravates the spatio-temporal imbalance between supply and demand of vegetables. Information asymmetry has at least the following harm: first, it leads to "blind planting" and "following the trend of planting". Second, it leads to the "high and low prices" of the same vegetable in different regions. The insufficient information of vegetable employees makes the contradiction between supply and demand of vegetables in different regions can not be reconciled in time.

(2) the reasons why it is difficult for vegetable producers to share the benefits of price increases. 1. The rising cost of vegetable production squeezes the profit space of vegetable producers. two。 Vegetable producers have no pricing power in the process of vegetable trading. Compared with vegetable dealers with wide information channels and strong market forces, vegetable producers are more scattered and single. A single vegetable producer has some defects such as information asymmetry, weak strength and low degree of standardization, which leads to the weak negotiation ability and lack of pricing power of vegetable producers in the vegetable purchase market. 3. Vegetable overcapacity harms the interests of vegetable producers.

(3) the reasons for the widening price gap between vegetable production and marketing. 1. The separation of vegetable production and marketing and the cross-regional circulation of vegetables lead to the increase of circulation cost. Vegetable production in China is gradually concentrated to dominant areas, on the one hand, it alleviates the contradiction between supply and demand of vegetables in off-season, on the other hand, it leads to the separation of vegetable production and marketing and the cross-regional circulation of vegetables. The separation of vegetable production and marketing objectively increases the transportation distance of vegetables, resulting in an increase in circulation costs, which in turn promotes the rise of vegetable prices. two。 Under the traditional circulation mode, there are too many intermediate circulation links, which leads to the increase of circulation cost.

Countermeasure and suggestion

(1) to give full play to the functions of the government to stabilize vegetable prices. 1. We will strengthen the construction of infrastructure in major vegetable producing areas and improve the ability of vegetable production to resist and reduce disasters. We will strengthen the construction of vegetable land infrastructure focusing on water conservancy facilities, greenhouses and greenhouses. Strengthen the construction of hardened field trunk roads and slip roads, equipped with production power facilities. Strengthen the construction of water sources and supporting channels, and improve the capacity of irrigation and drainage. We will gradually build a vegetable production base with high and stable yield that can discharge energy and irrigation, fertile soil, convenient access and strong disaster resistance, so as to effectively improve the comprehensive production capacity of vegetables. two。 We will strengthen the protection of vegetable bases in the suburbs and vigorously develop facility vegetables. The vegetable base in the suburbs is the ballast stone to stabilize the price of vegetables in the city. High-standard vegetable bases should be established in accordance with the principles of scientific planning and step-by-step implementation. In addition, great efforts should be made to develop facility vegetables. 3. Establish a vegetable market price information platform and strengthen the monitoring and early warning of vegetable prices. Establish a public service platform for vegetable production and marketing information covering all regions of the country, standardize information collection standards, improve the mechanism for information exchange and release, strengthen the construction of relevant infrastructure of collection points, information channels and network centers, collect and publish vegetable production, supply and demand, quality, price and other information on a regular basis. Let information guide vegetable growers, reduce "blind planting", "follow the trend of planting" and other phenomena, so as to promote the balance of supply and demand in the vegetable market. Strengthen the monitoring and early warning of vegetable prices, obtain vegetable monitoring data timely and accurately, carefully analyze the dynamics of vegetable market, accurately grasp the price situation of vegetable market, and guide vegetable growers to plant rationally. it also provides a reference basis for the government to carry out macro-control and stabilize market prices.

(2) reduce the cost of vegetable production and improve the profitability of vegetable growers. 1. Use the power of science and technology to reduce the cost of vegetable production. One is to increase investment in vegetable scientific research. We will speed up the research on energy-saving, efficient and practical cultivation techniques and the cultivation of new vegetable varieties with weak light tolerance, low temperature tolerance, strong stress resistance, high yield and high quality. Actively carry out research on related technologies such as facility vegetables, storage and preservation, processing and so on. The second is to cultivate a new type of farmers. Strengthen practical technical training to improve the scientific and technological quality and technical access rate of vegetable farmers. The third is to improve the technical and equipment level of the vegetable industry. Vigorously develop and promote mechanized vegetable sowing, farming and harvesting equipment, greenhouse and greenhouse mechanized operation equipment, prenatal seed processing and coating, intensive industrial production of seedlings, seedling mechanized grafting equipment, postharvest commercial assembly line processing equipment, cold storage and transportation facilities and intensive processing equipment, efforts should be made to improve the technical equipment conditions of the vegetable industry. two。 Improve the pricing power of vegetable producers in the process of vegetable trading. The first is to improve the scale and organization of vegetable growers. Set up collective management organizations such as vegetable professional cooperatives to centralize vegetable producers, improve the degree of scale and organization, and let collective organizations such as vegetable professional cooperatives negotiate on behalf of farmers. The second is to improve the comprehensive quality of vegetable growers. For example, improve the storage capacity of vegetables and the ability of direct marketing and distribution, improve the ability of vegetable growers to obtain information and create brands, and so on. 3. Regulate the scale of vegetable production and the structure of vegetable industry. According to the dietary structure and nutritional needs of residents, we should regulate the vegetable industrial structure, develop high-quality vegetable varieties, develop vegetable deep processing, increase the added value of vegetable products, and promote the vegetable industry to change from quantity growth to quality growth. In addition, actively opening up overseas markets is also an important way to reduce the negative impact caused by vegetable overcapacity.

(3) to reduce the circulation cost of vegetables and narrow the price gap between production and marketing. 1. Attach importance to the local production of land-selling vegetables. The separation of vegetable production and marketing and cross-regional circulation are important reasons for the widening price gap between vegetable production and market. in the future, we should appropriately increase the scale of vegetable production, stabilize the ability of vegetable self-sufficiency, and alleviate the pressure of rising vegetable prices. The construction of vegetable production base in the suburbs of big cities can plant fresh vegetables such as leafy vegetables with short growth cycle and short shelf life. In cities with insufficient agricultural land resources, efforts can be made to build production bases in neighboring areas. The vegetable cooperation bases of surrounding provinces and cities can be included in the assessment index of "vegetable basket Mayor responsibility system". two。 Innovate the circulation mode, promote the convergence of production and marketing, and reduce intermediate links. We will actively promote the convergence of production and marketing in various forms, such as "agricultural super docking", "agricultural batch zero docking" and "agricultural batch zero docking", and encourage circulation enterprises such as wholesale markets and large chain supermarkets. end-users such as schools, hotels and large enterprises establish long-term and stable production and marketing relations with agricultural production bases, farmers' professional cooperatives and leading agricultural industrialization enterprises in major vegetable producing areas, so as to reduce the intermediate links of vegetable circulation. Reduce circulation costs.