Peanut chaos 03 "if peanuts are in chaos year after year, can the government keep the price and buy it forever?" Farmers: looking forward to perfecting the production and marketing chain

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The "Peanut Rebellion" in Yunlin has been burning for a week, and the issue of peanut production and marketing has been mixed with a political war of words. Although the government has quickly stepped in to stabilize public sentiment with a "insured purchase", some farmers think that "government intervention" is not a long-term solution for the industry. some farmers' associations say frankly that the purchase volume is close to saturation, and this time it is in line with the difficulties of the central "community". They are also worried about buying large quantities of peanuts at high prices, and there will be sales pressure in the future. (for the opinions of the peasant association, please click here to read)

Farmers generally believe that the production and marketing chain of crops must be improved so that the "peanut riot" will not repeatedly deal a blow to farmers' confidence. in this regard, Hu Zhong, director of Agriculture and Food Administration, pointed out in an interview a few days ago that a "production registration system" for peanuts will be established next year. Only by making the production area, output, quality, price, import volume and other information open and transparent, can the processing plant rest assured to take over. Only in this way can the government respond and prepare ahead of time for the problem of imbalances.

Harvested peanuts should be fully exposed to the sun and then selected manually. Taking advantage of the strong sun these days, farmers hurriedly let peanuts cover the ground in the sun. (photo / Lin Shijun) the price of peanuts in November is like a roller coaster, and farmers are frightened.

Farmers describe the fluctuation of peanut prices this year as riding a roller coaster. Peanut fields originally planted in the second phase (sown in early July) were affected by 812 torrential rain, resulting in a 20% to 30% reduction in output and an increase in quantity. The opening price in early November was 45 yuan (per jin). Then it rose to 48 yuan, but in less than five days, the price fell by nearly 10 yuan. Then, on November 12, when the result of the gold award for import quota rights was announced, Yunlin County Mayor Zhang Lishan also made a slip of the tongue "import news" in the parliament, making the gas purchase of frozen peanuts even more depressed.

It was originally thought that the final purchase price was 35 yuan (per jin). "in fact, this is also the average land price of peanuts in the second phase of previous years. As long as there are not too big typhoons and disasters, the purchase price is almost always like this (35 yuan). Unexpectedly, the government suddenly stepped in." so that the peanuts at the end of the production period can also be harvested at a premium of 40 yuan higher than the market price, and Kang Tiancai, who grows oil beans (specially used to make edible oil), sighs. "with 40 yuan, I'm going to chuckle now. I can't think of anything higher."

At present, the quotation is 35 or 36 yuan, and Peanut Nong Kang Tiancai thinks that the government's purchase of 40 yuan is already higher than the market price. (photo / Lin Xiejun) the loss of harvest is small, and farmers had expected prices to rise, but fell rapidly.

Huang, a farmer surnamed Huang, who grows peanuts in the Turkmen town, said that there was indeed a loss of harvest this year. In previous years, his field could produce 800-900 Taiwan jin per share, but this year it was only 200-500 (Taiwan jin). "at the beginning, the output is very scary, and people want to say why there is only so little, so the purchase price has been going up all the time." but as the stocks purchased by the merchants have been replenished and the supply of the producing area has increased, the overall purchase price began to decline. It falls at about 35 or 36 yuan.

In addition to the market supply and demand mechanism, some farmers also think that it is too sensitive to announce the decision of the tariff quota "royalty" during the harvest period.Although the bidding orders have been issued in mid-November over the years, this year's second phase of peanuts clearly has the opportunity to push up the price, but it is severely suppressed by the "import news."

No matter the quality of peanuts is high or low, they are purchased at the same price, and farmers are in a very different mood.

Afterwards, the Council of Agriculture shouted "guaranteed purchase", hoping to stabilize the land price as soon as possible, but this also made peanuts of varying quality to the same fate. Lin Jiansheng, who helps the social market "examine" the acquisition quality one by one, says that some pods fail at a glance, and the price of 40 yuan for such quality is simply hard for the processing plant, but if they don't do it, they will be torched in the face of the farmers' hard work for four months. he was in a dilemma as to whether he was qualified or not.

On the contrary, Chang Wen-huo, a peanut farmer in Ma Guangcuo, has a high quality and good rate of peanuts, with an output of 600 jin per cent, which is considered a "leader" this year. "Last year, the quality was better, the pods were whiter, and there were many three kernels. The output even reached as high as 900 (Taiwan jin)." However, he failed to follow the earlier purchase price of 47 yuan. He had expected a second wave of increases, but now the government says it will be charged at 40%, and he can only accept it.

The purchase price is the same, but the mood of the farmers is very different. "40 yuan is the insured price and the ceiling price!" Farmers surnamed Lin in Dongshi Township are equally resentful and aggrieved. How to buy peanuts at the same price of 40 yuan, although helpless, but can only be accepted. Chen Bingzhou, president of the Yuanchang Township Youth Farmers Association, planted Black King Kong (that is, black peanuts). He said that the growing period of Black King Kong was 20 days longer than that of oilbeans, and the field materials and management costs were higher. The difference between the purchase prices of the two places of origin is 10-20 yuan (per jin). Now the purchase price of 40 yuan is equivalent to declaring the upper limit of Black King Kong's price, which is unfair.

Early growers of peanuts in the second phase of this year were hit by Rain Water and their output decreased greatly. Lin Jiansheng (left) is evaluating the peanut quality in Liu Ming Village (right). (photography / Lin Xiejun) "if you haven't got the money yet, you can't feel at ease about anything."

Only the day before, he went to the Dongshi Township Peasant Association to handle the purchase registration, and was still waiting for the Agriculture and Food Administration to mediate with other social markets to buy the peanut farmer. He still had no confidence in whether the "Peanut Rebellion" would come to an end. "I haven't got the money yet, and I don't feel at ease about anything. Although the government said it would be collected with 40 yuan, it didn't say who would collect it, and no one came to see our land. I don't know if it would be all collected, or if there were any quality standards." We'll just have to wait. "

After seven days of exposure, the harvested peanuts are completely dry. If they are left in the open space for one more day, the risk will be one more point. He is worried that the quality of peanuts that have been kept for too long will deteriorate, or even lose oil. If the climate is unstable, the weather changes instantly, and there are even doubts about mildew or insects, not only the peanuts will suffer, but the farmers waiting for the government to buy will also be full of suffering.

Therefore, it is true that a small number of peanut farmers did not participate in the central government's acquisition policy and still chose to sell them to familiar traders at a price of 35 or 36 yuan. A farmer surnamed Hong, who planted nearly 1 hectare of peanut fields, said frankly that he was worried that the government would break its promise or there would be a change in policy, and that the peanut would be sold for a long time and its quality would decline, and the later the purchase price would be even lower.

In the face of this year's poor peanut harvest, Zhang Baocheng (second from left) participated in the government price-insured acquisition. (photo / Lin Xiejun) this year, the good rate is low, the farmers lose their harvest, and the processing cost of disk merchants is also high.

During the torrential rain in August this year, there was rain in the flowering stage, which led to poor pollination, and the later growth was dry without Rain Water, which also affected the fruit development of peanuts. The changeable climate not only affected the yield, but also affected the quality. "it used to be one-third of the land laid like this, but now it's only like this for all six points of land." Liu Ming-cun, who grows Bairen peanuts, says that in previous years, the output of 700 jin per cent of land has been reduced by half this year, leaving only 400 jin. Chang Baocheng, who switched from rice to peanuts, also says that this year's output is low and the quality is not good, so he has to hire special workers to do screening, and the cost has increased by another 10%.

The observation standing at the purchase end is even more impressive. We walk into the peanut shelling factory, where the machines are rumbling and have to open their throats and talk loudly. The production and sales class of fallen flowers in Huwei Town has one of the best shelled machines and equipment in China. It can handle 300 packets of shelled peanuts and about 10 tons of shelled peanuts a day. Almost all harvested and sun-dried peanuts have to be shelled before processing.

Ding Minggui, director of the National Peanut Association, points out that the yield of peanuts this year is extremely low. 15 metric tons of shelled peanuts can only pick out 8.5 tons of peanut kernels that can be used for processing. "only half of the peanuts bought can be used." (note)