In 2014, agricultural product market regulation was further improved, giving price the full play to boost agriculture production and increase farmers5 incomes.
1. Minimum-purchase price policies were carried on In order to ensure food security, the minimum-purchase price policies for wheat and rice were carried on in major grain producing areas. The minimum-purchase price for wheat was announced in October 2013. The minimum was raised to 118 yuan per 50 kg, with an increase of six yuan from last year. The minimum rice purchase price was announced in February 2014. The minimum-purchase price per 50 kg for early-season indica rice, middle and late-season indica rice, and japonica rice were 135, 138 and 155 yuan respectively, with an increase of three, three and five yuan respectively from last year. In the peak sales seasons of wheat and rice, the minimum-purchase price policies were launched in major grain producing areas, which effectively alleviated farmers, difficulties of selling crops. Before the autumn and winter farming seasons of 2014, the minimum wheat purchase price for 2015 was announced. The price remained the same as 2014, which stabilized farmers' price expectations.
2. The purchase and temporary storage policy for corn, rapeseed and sugar was enacted at an appropriate time
To protect farmers' interests, the purchase and temporary storage policies was carried on in 2014. The purchase price per 50 kg for corn was 111 yuan in Heilongjiang, 112 yuan in Jilin, and 113 yuan in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Liaoning. The purchase price for rapeseed was 255 yuan per 50kg. To address the issue of over- standard mildewed corn in Heilongjiang Province, the central government released a document on the purchase of corn with over 5 percent of mildewed kernels, which protected the interest of farmers. A policy of subsidizing sugar companies was released to encourage them to store 3 million tons of sugars, which protected the interest of sugarcane farmers.
3. The pilot program on subsidizing target prices of cotton and soybean was initiated
In order to improve the agricultural product pricing mechanism, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the MoA jointly released a document on announcing cotton target price for 2014, which initiated the reform pilot program on cotton target price in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. After the State Council's approval, the price was set at 19,800 yuan per ton. In May, the ministries released another document to initiate the soybean target price reform pilot program in northeast China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which set the price at 4,800 yuan per ton. After the implementation of the two policies, the temporary storage policies for cotton and soybean were abolished. When market prices for cotton and soybean were lower than the target prices, governments would subsidize farmers in the pilot areas based on factors such as price difference, planting area, yield and sales volume; the subsidies would stop when market prices were lower than the target prices. The specific subsidy procedures were decided by local governments and were published.
4. Spared no efforts in addressing the issue of insufficient grain storage capacity
To deal with insufficient storage capacity issues in provinces such as Hunan and Jiangxi, the ministries discussed policies of auction, the enlargement of capacity, and the regulation of import and export. The ministries also sent experts to research in Hunan and other provinces to have a better understanding of grain production and sales, so as to ensure early-season rice and autumn harvests to be purchased and stored.
5. Market monitoring and early warning system for key agricultural products was improved
The establishment of market monitoring and early warning system was adopted by many countries and international organizations to guide agriculture production, regulate markets and support the development of modern agriculture. In 2014, the MoA continued to enhance services of agricultural information monitoring, early warning and public notification.
Firstly, the ministry convened meetings on prices for 18 kinds of agricultural products on monthly, quarterly and yearly base to conduct better analysis. Monthly reports on supply and demand of agricultural products were released to help authorities make decisions.
Secondly, researches were carried out in producing areas when abnormal fluctuation in prices emerged, in order to stabilize production. Researches were conducted in the harvest seasons of early-season indica rice, soybean and corn, the sowing season of wheat, and when pork and mutton prices dropped continuously. The market situations were analyzed and market expectations were stabilized.
6. The China Agricultural Outlook Conference was held
In order to enhance the construction of agricultural monitoring and early warning system and market management guidance, the China Agricultural Outlook Conference was held on April 20th and 21st, 2014. The China Agricultural Outlook Report (2014-2023) was released at the conference, which used modeling methods for the first time to predict the medium and long-term tendency of agricultural product supply and demand. The report stated that there would be a stable 10-year development of China's agriculture; consumption would increase a little faster than production, but the agricultural product supply would fulfill the demand of constructing a well-off society in an all-round way by 2020.
