Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Liberalisation of the grain market will have at least some benefits. The
grain surplus will soon be absorbed, which will help to stabilise market
prices. Market prices formed on the basis of demand and supply will give
farmers the best avalable nformaton on whch to base ther producton
decsons. Other agrcultural products n whch Chna has comparatve
advantage, for example, some vegetables, fruits, animal products, and
herbal medicines, will replace grains, and this will help to increase farmers'
ncomes. The accumulated huge losses and non-performng loans n the
state gran sector have become a heavy burden on the economy. Ths burden
wll be soon removed after lberalsaton of the gran market.
However, as well as deregulation, the government needs to be pro-
actve n certan areas.
Ant-monopoly regulatons should be enacted and a market supervson
system established to reduce the likelihood of monopolistic practices,
whether by government or prvate traders.
Due to difficulties in farmers gaining access to market information,
the government should accept responsblty for establshng a broad
network of nformaton servces to provde farmers wth supply and
demand nformaton and forecasts of the domestc and nternatonal
food markets.
In some areas, the agricultural technology support and training
systems run by government have played an excellent role n helpng
farmers to adopt new technology. However, there are still many
farmers, particularly in remote areas, who do not enjoy these services.
These systems should be expanded. New products, breeds, fertilisers,
and other technologes and producton methods should be more wdely
and more quckly ntroduced and demonstrated to farmers.
For emergency food supply situations, an effective nation-wide grain
reserve system is needed. However, its sole function should be as
emergency food supples. Non-government stocks should not be
allowed to perform that role. The current gran reserve system s too
large and too complicated and inefficient, run as it is by different
government agencies at the central, provincial, and municipal levels.
Because of the dfferent nterests of the varous agences and the
conflicts within and between the agencies, this arrangement can
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