Kaifeng: Carrot price encounters "roller coaster"

While vegetable farmers are still lamenting the cheap sale of spring onions, there has been frustrating news from the carrot market in our city recently that the price of carrots this year is too low. Our reporter went deep into the market and the countryside, interviewed businessmen, farmers and experts and scholars, and investigated the reasons for the big rise and fall of carrot prices.

市十次党代会提出要“打好农业产业化提升攻坚战”， 加强农产品物流销售网络建设，加快发展农业合作经济组织，促进农产品顺畅流通。 The current situation requires us to speed up the process of agricultural industrialization and help farmers read agricultural products sales well.

Due to the renovation of the carrot trading market in Kaifeng County, the roadside of Taipinggang Village in Huanglong Park in Kaifeng County has become a temporary carrot trading market. On December 11, the reporter came here and looked around. Carrots were on the carts and carts. Some were going to be sent to other places, and some were just harvested for sale. Carrots are also piled on the ground like hills waiting to be sorted or cleaned. Vegetable farmers either lean on their cars to wait for buyers or bargain fiercely with buyers. This year is a harvest year, but vegetable farmers did not feel the joy of harvest.

"My family planted an acre and a half of carrots, sold less than 1,000 yuan, except for the cost is nothing, these months have been busy." Li Suying, a 14-group villager from Matou Village, Wangtun Township, said. "My family has planted three and a half mu of carrots, and the harvest of one mu of land can only fall 300 yuan, except for the previous investment." Geng Meiqin, a group of four villagers in Wangtun Village, Wangtun Township, sighed.

Carrots are not doing well this year. Those good-looking carrots can be sold at 0.6 yuan per kilogram, while ordinary carrots can only sell at 0.24 yuan per kilogram. The price of small and thin carrots is lower. No one wants 0.06 yuan per kilogram.

Vegetable farmers said that at this time last year, carrots could sell up to 1.6 yuan per kilogram, especially bad carrots could also sell 0.6 yuan per kilogram. In one year, the price of carrots plummeted. The previous year, carrot prices ranged from 0.8 yuan to 1.2 yuan per kilogram. In 2008, carrot prices were very low, similar to this year. How could that be? Vegetable farmers are puzzled.

"Last year, the provinces suffered from drought, and the carrots on our side were expensive. It was very profitable to grow carrots. This year's good weather, many provinces have a good harvest of carrots, it is not easy to sell. Ms. Xing, who has been in the carrot business for fifteen or sixteen years, explains why the price of carrots has fallen sharply this year. "Like garlic, carrot prices are volatile. I mainly send goods to Guangzhou and Changsha. Sometimes I know by telephone that the price there has gone up, so I rush to deliver the goods. But when carrots arrive, sometimes the price falls again. If I can't make good money, it's not enough for freight. Business is not easy to do! _______. Guo Hongchang, who has also been in the carrot business for many years, said.

Carrot prices fluctuate greatly, vegetable farmers are helpless. They said that they did not know which year the price of this dish was higher or lower, and planting land depended on luck.

"Can we set up a carrot cooperative like the Lotus Root Cooperative in Yanling, Xuchang, with tubes planted, sold and processed? Carrots may not be so hard to sell!" Chen Guoxiang, a group of villagers in Wangtun Village, expects that there will also be associations in his hometown to provide services such as carrot planting, acquisition, processing, storage, sales-related technology and information to help farmers change their planting methods, take the road of agricultural industrialization and cope with the changing market.

Carrots piled up and nobody asked for help, desperate for the peasants

On December 11, the reporter came to the ground of Wang Village, Xiaodian, Zhuxian Town, Kaifeng County, and saw Jia Jinbao, a farmer, shaving carrots. As he planed, he picked out some different carrots. He took a carrot of the same thickness as the top and bottom and said, "Only this kind of good carrot can be sold well. The almost carrot can not be sold at all. They are fed to cattle."

There is a simple carrot trading point in Zhuxian Town, Kaifeng County. In the afternoon of November 11, reporters interviewed here saw that there were only a few cars to buy. Most farmers were busy packing carrots.

Chen Tianxiang is a purchaser in Xijiangzhai Township of Kaifeng County. When the reporter asked him about the sales of carrots this year, he waved his hands and said with tears in his eyes, "I have a headache when I mention carrots!" At this time of the past year, many businessmen came to buy it. But this year, there are very few businessmen coming. No one has bought them for several days in a row.

Chen Tianxiang told reporters that last year, the net income of one mu of land was more than 1000 yuan, but this year it did not make money at all. He made a rough calculation. This year, the yield of carrots per mu is about 3,000 kilograms. At the purchase price of 0.3 yuan per kilogram, the carrots can only be sold for 8900 yuan. Planting a mu of carrot, chemical fertilizer, manure and other inputs of about 600 yuan, plus irrigation, pesticides and other costs, planting a mu of carrot does not make money but lose money.

Chen Tianxiang is not alone in worrying about the unsalability of carrots. Reporters know that Chen Tianxiang's situation is not the worst. At present, more than 100 villagers in Xijiangzhai Township grow carrots. This year, the area of carrots planted in the whole village is more than 1000 mu, with an average of 89 mu per family, and the largest number of households planting 20 mu. Many farmers say that there are fewer customers to buy this year, and they don't know what to do even if they can't sell the price down again. Reporters in the east of Zhaodian Village, Xijiangzhai Township, see that some plots, farmers piled up the pulled carrots on the ridge; some plots, farmers simply do not pull out. Cui Liuju, a villager in Zhaodian Village, pointed at the carrots piled aside and said helplessly, "Carrots this yearCarrots on the side of the face helplessly said: "This year, the carrot harvest is very good, worrying about no market, now more than 200 yuan per mu of land has not been purchased. The weather is getting colder and colder. If no merchants buy it, the carrots will freeze to the ground. What shall we do?

Talking about the reasons for the unsalability of carrots, Ma Weitao, a businessman who has been engaged in vegetable wholesale business for many years, said: "This year, more people grow carrots. With a bumper harvest, the output has increased greatly, and the price has come down. Guangdong, Shandong, Hebei, Henan and other places have a large number of carrots waiting to be purchased. The purchase price of carrots in all places is about 1 cents, which is enough to be purchased around.

It is understood that at present, farmers are themselves in contact with merchants to purchase, more farmers have no choice but to wait silently in the cold wind.

The vegetable grower sighed helplessly

"How are carrots sold this year, fellow countryman?" Faced with the reporter's inquiry, vegetable farmer Wu Laohan put carrots on the car and said, "Hey hey, almost, almost lost, alas!"

Wu Laohan, a vegetable farmer in Dingzhuang Village, a southern suburb, planted 5 mu of carrots this year, yielding more than 25,000 kilograms. However, no one came to collect the carrots all over the land, which spoiled the Wu Laohan family. Wu Laohan said, "When are the dozens of carrots going to be sold at home?" These days, Old Wu was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night.

At 13:00 on December 12, in the east gate of the vegetable wholesale market in eastern Henan Province, vegetable farmers stood beside the car full of carrots and warmly greeted customers. However, when people came and went, vegetable farmers did not see the carrot reduction in their cars.

Liu Lanxiu of Canglou Village, Wangtun Township, entered the vegetable market at 6 o'clock with a cart of carrots. Five hours later, less than a third of her carrots were sold. At noon, Liu Lanxiu was hungry, but she still stood by the stall and refused to leave. I was afraid someone would come to buy carrots as soon as she left. Look at Liu Lanxiu, her relatives sent her two pancakes, not because she had no money in her pocket, but because she only sold a few dollars in the morning, she really can not bear to spend.

In order to sell carrots hungry vegetable farmers more than Liu Lanxiu, Dingzhuang Village vegetable farmers Wu Zhenpu to 13:30 did not eat. 吴振普说，他家今年种了4亩胡萝卜，他算了一下，一亩胡萝卜要800元的本钱，今年是赔血本了。

Buy more when it's cheaper

"Two cents a kilo, carrots sold cheaply, two cents a kilo!" On the morning of December 12, near the instrument district, Ms. Zhang Feng, a citizen, heard the hawker's cry and stopped her bicycle to buy some carrots.

Zhang Feng picked up carrots and said, "Eat more carrots! The main vegetables in winter are Chinese cabbage and carrots. Now carrots are cheaper, so buy more.

After a while, Ms. Zhang Feng picked up five kilograms of carrots and paid the vendor two yuan. Ms. Zhang Feng said with a happy face, "Steamed carrots at home, loved ones and children like to eat them."

The price of carrots has fallen sharply, bringing joy to the public. You can buy more if it's cheaper. Vegetable farmers are eager to buy more.

Let Farmers'Professional Cooperatives Really Play a Role

In recent years, vegetable prices have been increasing year by year. As a daily necessities, the fluctuation of vegetable prices is directly related to the people's life and social stability. Large fluctuations in vegetable prices will destroy the order of economic operation, affect the balance between supply and demand, bring unstable factors to society, and also greatly waste social resources. One side is connected with vegetable farmers, the other side is connected with the citizens. We should not only promote farmers'income, but also enrich the "vegetable basket" of urban residents, which must find a combination point.

"In 2010, garlic, pepper, potatoes, cauliflower and carrots were the main vegetable crops in the city. Among them, 150,000 mu of carrots produced 500,000 tons, mainly distributed in Kaifeng and Xuxian counties." On the morning of December 12, Song Jianhua, deputy director of the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Forestry, who had just returned from a survey in Kaifeng County, said with his brows locked: "I met many carrot farmers in Kaifeng County..."

Song Jianhua told reporters that the price of vegetables in our city is increasing year by year. Especially in 2010, the domestic vegetable production and supply were affected by disastrous weather, artificial hype, production and logistics costs, which led to the high price of vegetable sales, so that the words "garlic you ruthlessly" and "Jiang you jun" appeared on the network. During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, vegetable sales prices in Kaifeng increased by 84.1%, which had a significant impact on the lives of urban residents, especially low-income families. In 2011, vegetable prices have again appeared "roller coaster" situation, ups and downs. Vegetable prices in January (compared with 100% in the same period last year) fell by 6.7%, in February, by 7.8%, in March, by 7.5%, and in April, by 16.6%. Especially after mid-April, the price of some vegetable varieties dropped sharply. It can be said that in recent years, vegetable prices have seriously deviated from their value in many periods, resulting in the alternation of "expensive to buy vegetables" for residents and "difficult to sell vegetables" for farmers.

According to Song Jianhua's analysis, the effective way to solve these problems is to improve the organizational ability of vegetable production and marketing and set up farmers'professional cooperatives. By the end of September 2011, 1632 farmers'professional cooperatives had been registered through industry and commerce. These cooperatives share cooperation, intensive management, unified management, professional operation, the implementation of modern agricultural planting and marketing model, but how to let these farmers'professional cooperatives play a role, to achieve scale efficiency is the key.

EssenceFarmers'professional cooperatives play a role, and scale benefit is the key.

"Hardbound" carrots are expensive

Rainfall is plentiful this year, and carrot harvest is very good in our city. In urban agricultural markets and supermarkets, carrots are also a problem. But the price of carrots varies considerably.

During the interview, the reporter found that carrots were sold in almost every vegetable stall in some farmers'markets in our city. Yang Ling, operator of Tokyo's big market, said, "Better carrots are 4 cents 1 jin or 1 yuan 3 jin, and nobody wants a small carrot or two cents that sells poorly. There are many people growing carrots and selling carrots. The price of carrots can't be sold, and few people buy them. But there are also high-priced carrots on the market. They are clean in appearance, big in size, well-coloured and smooth in appearance. Their prices are also higher than those of "earth carrots" covered with mud. They are sold between 2 yuan and 2.4 yuan per kilogram, and some people buy them. In the vegetable and fruit area of a supermarket on Xijie Street, the price of hardbound carrots is not low, 1.76 yuan per kilogram.

In Liangyuan market, Mr. Wang, who sells "hardbound" carrots, said, "Carrots washed and packed are pleasant to see. The price is similar to that of last year." There are also merchants who say that in Department stores, some people are willing to pay high prices for good things, processed carrots are naturally more expensive than unprocessed ones. He reminded his farmer friends that in such a unsalable situation, they might as well think of a number of ways and more ways.

Accelerating the Process of Agricultural Industrialization

Over the past few years, vegetable prices have been rising and falling like roller coasters, which has led to the frequent occurrence of the phenomenon of "low vegetable prices hurting farmers". How to view this phenomenon? How to speed up the process of agricultural industrialization in our city?

Liu Ye, associate professor of the Party School of the Municipal Party Committee, analyzed that the main vegetable planting types in our city are garlic, pepper, Chinese cabbage, carrot, etc. These road vegetables are relatively concentrated on the market, low income from planting, and can not bear to store, which can easily lead to a backlog, leading to "difficult to sell vegetables".

Although there are already a number of brand vegetables in our city, such as "Jinqi" garlic and "Biannancui" cucumber, the development of famous agricultural products in our city is not commensurate with the status of our agricultural market in terms of quantity, scale, taste and quality.

Most vegetable production areas in our city are relatively independent and scattered small-scale farmers as the main body, with strong blindness in production. Blind phenomenon of "planting vegetables next year and looking at this year" prevails among vegetable farmers in our city. Planting is arbitrary and easy to cause the development situation of "rushing up and rushing down".

At present, the number and scale of farmers'economic cooperation organizations in vegetable field in our city are small, and they can not achieve seamless docking between the large-scale production of thousands of households and the ever-changing market.

Vegetables for export in our city are basically sold as original products. The ability of fresh-keeping and processing after picking vegetables is insufficient, the processing technology level is low, the transportation and circulation system is not perfect, and the marketing system is not perfect.

Liu Ye suggested that it is not feasible for government departments to completely hand over the price of vegetables to the market. The government should do something to strengthen intervention and regulation.

1. Drawing on the successful experience of foreign countries, such as the "Green Box" policy, we will provide various measures of reduction and preferential treatment for agricultural products. The "Green Box" policy covers a wide range of subsidies, including government subsidies for supporting food research, technology promotion, infrastructure construction, food security reserves, crop insurance, poverty relief, environmental protection and so on. European and American countries have made agricultural industrialized enterprises "light load" through large-scale "undercover" measures such as agricultural science and technology, agricultural extension system and peasant education system.

2. Promoting land transfer and developing high-efficiency and large-scale agriculture. The vast majority of farmers are basically helpless in the strange circle of cheaper and more expensive vegetables in one year. Our city should promote land circulation, transform agricultural production from individual operation mode to company operation mode, establish diversified investment mechanism, adopt modern production mode, organize farmers to carry out large-scale production, and improve the efficiency of large-scale operation.

3. Establish a comprehensive information platform for agricultural products, provide real-time price information for the whole country, and strengthen market forecasting. The basic reason of "vegetable hurting farmers" is the problem of information circulation. Only by understanding the national market, can we avoid blind planting; only by publishing local information in real time, can we attract customers.

Fourth, the production and marketing docking, the farmer-supermarket docking, to solve the problem of the disconnection between the supply income of agricultural products and the sales profit. The circulation of agricultural products is not only a "vegetable basket", but also a problem of "low grain hurts farmers" and "high grain hurts people". We must do a good job of "the last kilometer" of agricultural products on the market. Government departments should strictly supervise the intermediate wholesale links and crack down on price manipulation in order to ensure the stable and orderly operation of vegetable prices. 

Fifth, do a good job in the deep processing of agricultural products and lengthen the chain of agricultural industry. Vegetables sold abroad in our city are basically sold as original products. The ability of vegetable preservation and processing in our city is seriously inadequate. We should rely on vegetable planting bases to plan agricultural products deep processing projects, widely publicize and attract investors. For example, carrots can be processed into carrot juice, extracting carotene and so on.