Why can't farmers get agricultural subsidies?

According to the forecast of the State Council Development Research Center, in the future 10, China will become the largest importer of agricultural products in the world. In fact, the surge in imports does not mean a food crisis. Compared with foreign countries, the lack of agricultural subsidies leads to the poor competitiveness of agricultural products in China, which is an important reason for the long-standing international trade deficit.

1 China will become the largest importer of agricultural products in the world within 10 years.

China the State Council Development Research Center released a report on June 5438+0 1, saying that China will become the world's largest importer of agricultural products within 5- 10 years due to capacity constraints such as the reduction of rural cultivated land.

According to the data of USDA, in fiscal year 20 1 1, China became the largest export market of agricultural products in the United States for the first time, with an export volume of nearly $20 billion, including soybeans, cotton, nuts and furs.

Guoqiang Cheng, a researcher at the State Council Development Research Center, did not elaborate on which agricultural products China must import. China is already the largest importer of soybeans and cotton in the world. Guoqiang Cheng said that the challenges faced by agriculture in China include: the scale of production is too small, the per capita land use is less than 40% of the world average land use, the organizational structure is not developed enough, and there is too little scientific and technological support.

China is the world's second largest consumer of corn, the largest consumer of pork and the main consumer of sugar. With the sharp increase of domestic demand and the decline of output, the import of these products is increasing. China said that he hopes to achieve food self-sufficiency in the next five years.

In order to meet the rapidly growing demand for agricultural products, COFCO, China's largest grain import group, plans to spend $654.38 billion (about RMB 63.5 billion) on global acquisitions within five years. Jiang Hua, director of the company, said: "Because of the limited agricultural resources in China, we have to look to overseas markets. The next 10 year will be a period of rapid growth of food consumption in China, including poultry, meat, eggs and dairy products. " The main importing countries and regions of COFCO include the United States, Australia and Southeast Asia.

2. Most imports of agricultural products come from less government subsidies.

Soybean has fallen, corn is dangerous, cotton is in a hurry ... "The above warning was issued when some media reported that China was becoming a net importer of several agricultural products. But in fact, the surge in imports does not mean a food crisis. Compared with foreign countries, the lack of agricultural subsidies leads to the poor competitiveness of agricultural products in China, which is an important reason for the long-standing international trade deficit.

The competitiveness of agricultural products comes from subsidies.

Agriculture is inherently weak in industrial society, and the government's "paying the bill" for agriculture can improve economic welfare and the competitive advantage of agricultural products.

Up to now, agricultural subsidies in most countries are the result of the change from agricultural support industry to industrial feedback agriculture policy. From the perspective of economics, agriculture, as the product of natural reproduction and economic reproduction, is inherently weak in industrial society. Such as unstable and fragile production caused by biological characteristics and natural conditions; Agricultural products are widely distributed, time is concentrated, and market signals are lagging behind; Agricultural products are large in quantity, low in value and difficult to store, which leads to inflexible prices and difficult to mediate supply. The government must adopt agricultural support and protection policies to promote the allocation of resource elements to agriculture.

To some extent, this kind of government "paying the bill" for agriculture does not mean losing money. American economist paul krugman analyzed the effect of subsidies in strategic trade policy. With the support of the government, the government actively uses subsidies or export incentives to support those industries that are considered to have economies of scale, external economies or a large number of "leases" and expand the international market share of domestic agricultural products, thereby increasing domestic economic welfare and enhancing the international competitive advantage of their products.

Agriculture has public attributes, and the effective supply of agricultural products and the stability of farmers' income need the hands of the government.

From a social point of view, ensuring the effective supply of major agricultural products is an important basis for maintaining stable economic growth. The agricultural sector not only provides agricultural products and industrial raw materials, but also undertakes social functions such as absorbing surplus labor, protecting ecological environment and maintaining rural landscape. Japan's Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas promulgated in 1999 formally established the theory of agricultural multifunction to protect its "rice culture". Most of these functions are public welfare values that cannot be obtained through market transactions, and need government subsidies and support to make necessary compensation. In addition, the income gap between agricultural and non-agricultural (industrial) sectors, as well as the material and spiritual costs borne by farmers in the process of transferring agriculture to non-agriculture, will make farmers' dissatisfaction soar. In order to alleviate this contradiction and ensure farmers' income, it is inevitable to implement agricultural support and protection policies.

The weak competitiveness of agricultural products does not blame "foreign goods"

The total amount of agricultural subsidies in China is low, and the share of agricultural support policies in total agricultural income is lower than the average level of OECD countries.

In recent years, China's agricultural subsidies have been increasing, but due to the large agricultural population, per capita subsidies still lag far behind developed countries such as Europe and America. According to statistics, from 65438 to 0998, the agricultural subsidies of the United States, the European Union and Japan accounted for 89% of the total agricultural subsidies of the WTO, of which the European Union accounted for 44%, the United States for 24% and Japan for 2 1%. In the same period, the total domestic agricultural support in China is about110 of the European Union and14 of the United States. According to a recent assessment by OEDC, from 2007 to 2009, China's total agricultural policy subsidies averaged $87.8 billion, second only to the European Union ($65.438+0478 billion) and the United States ($65.438+0092 billion), and higher than Japan and South Korea. Relatively speaking, China's total agricultural support rate (the ratio of national income to agricultural subsidies) is 2.05%, which is lower than that of Turkey (3.5%) and South Korea (2.4%).

Since the western countries implemented subsidies to agriculture, the economic operation has been relatively stable, and there are few collapse crises like 1929- 1933. Although the recent financial crisis was very serious, there was no widespread famine. The role of agricultural subsidies is indispensable. At the same time, adequate food supply and stable prices have laid the foundation for countries to provide financial crisis relief, and they can quickly inject funds through the central bank to save the financial system without worrying about the crazy rise in food prices.

Indirect subsidies violated the rules in circulation, and most of the grain and oil subsidies, accounting for 75% of the total agricultural subsidies, were given to urban consumers, and farmers benefited little.

China follows the path of agricultural subsidies in developed countries, and mainly adopts indirect subsidies policies, such as fixed-price purchase, temporary purchasing and storage, etc. Subsidy funds mostly focus on price support and reducing the price circulation of agricultural means of production such as seeds and fertilizers. For example, buying agricultural products from farmers at a price higher than the market price level constitutes agricultural subsidies. However, because this part of the funds is not directly supplied to farmers. Most of the benefits are infringed by illegal businessmen in the circulation of agricultural products. Through such subsidies to the circulation links, the part that is really subsidized to farmers is very small. For example, the annual subsidies of the central and local governments for the circulation of grain, cotton and oil account for almost 75% of the total agricultural subsidies, most of which are used as consumption subsidies for urban residents, and farmers can only get a little benefit from them.

The contribution of farmers' direct subsidies to family net income is less than 5%, and the scale of special subsidies is small, and the implementation scope is limited to the project area.

When developed countries gradually reduce price support and turn to direct income subsidies, China has also introduced income subsidies for grain farmers, such as direct grain subsidies and comprehensive agricultural subsidies, but the implementation of these policies is not ideal. Special subsidies such as improved seed subsidies and agricultural machinery subsidies are small in scale, and the implementation scope is limited to the project area. According to a survey conducted by the State Council Development Research Center, 33% of the farmers interviewed don't know the amount of subsidies, even though they have received subsidies for grain production. And 40% of the farmers who know the total amount of subsidies don't know what kind of subsidies they get. The contribution rate of farmers' income subsidies to farmers' per capita net income does not exceed 5%. In areas with cash subsidies for improved varieties, 65% of farmers said they should get subsidies for improved varieties, but only 23% were sure.

In addition, from the mechanism of subsidy policy, China's financial subsidies to agriculture lack prior planning and arrangement, and the objects and amounts of subsidies are arbitrary. There is no corresponding legislative provisions and annual budget, and there is a lack of foresight and consciousness. In the shady scene of "Jifeng Bribery Door" in Chongqing, it is a common phenomenon to resort to deceit and deduct housing subsidies. Agricultural machinery purchase subsidies are limited to the machines and tools purchased this year, and some dealers issue false invoices to agricultural machinery households due to business needs, illegally obtaining subsidy funds.

In order to fight inflation and maintain stability, artificially lowering food prices is equivalent to letting farmers' agriculture subsidize cities and industries in turn, and farmers no longer regard land as their "lifeblood"

The weight of food price in China Consumer Price Index (CPI) is 33.6%, and the increase of food price caused by cost change is often considered as the leading factor of inflation. Therefore, although China's agricultural productivity is lower than the world average, domestic food prices should be higher than international food prices, but under the policy control, food prices are low all the year round, and the grain reserve system has played a significant role in it. The government usually collects and stores grain according to the guidance price. When the price rises rapidly during the grain purchase period, the State Grain Administration quickly lowers the price by increasing the market in the short term. In March 2009, Bao Kexin, general manager of China Grain Storage, revealed that the figure of China's grain reserves was 200 million tons. The phenomenon of food price inversion created by the government to curb inflation has greatly dampened farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain and even led to food smuggling.

In the reality of "one price" of grain, the already weak COFCO farmers can only leave the land, and it is a natural choice to abandon the wasteland and go out to work. 1995-2008, the national grain planting area decreased by 3 167 thousand hectares, while the per capita net income of rural residents increased significantly. The proportion of wage income in the per capita net income of rural residents increased from 22.42% in195 to 38.94%, and the proportion of agricultural income in the per capita net income of rural residents decreased significantly from 50.67% in195 to 29.98%. The villagers explained: "It takes time, energy and money to water the wheat fields. Even if there is a bumper harvest, an acre of wheat can't sell for hundreds of dollars. The income of a few acres of wheat is not as good as working for a month. "

In recent five years, the grain import volume is less than 1% of the total output, and the so-called "import threat" of agricultural products mostly comes from soybeans.

More than 60% of imported soybeans have been the reason for others to criticize China's food security. But in fact, this single imported variety does not constitute a denial of China's healthy food ecology. Except soybeans, the grain import of China in recent five years is less than 1% of the total grain output. In 2009, China imported 42.645 million tons of grain, including 42.2 million tons of soybeans. In other words, the so-called "import threat" of agricultural products mostly comes from soybeans and is not global. And the importance of soybean to economic development is relatively low. The soybean industry allocates resources according to market principles, soybean imports surge, and foreign capital accelerates the integration of soybean processing industry, which are all manifestations of giving full play to China's comparative advantages. In 2009-20 1 1 year, China's soybean crushing capacity reached 44.5 million tons, surpassing Brazil and Argentina to become the second largest soybean crushing country after the United States.

According to The Economist, food is safer through exchange: the danger comes from emphasizing self-sufficiency.

Whether it is between provinces within a country or between countries, grain trade is definitely to transport grain from places with low prices to places with high prices in order to obtain profits. Where the production cost is relatively low, where more food is produced and the cost is relatively high, less food is produced, so that the total cost can be reduced under a certain output. To some extent, importing grain is actually importing cultivated land, water and resources. Assuming that importing 30 million tons of grain is equivalent to saving 300 hectares of cultivated land and 30 billion cubic meters of water, rational use of these saved resources can create greater value. From the perspective of food security, distorting the resource allocation mechanism through high-intensity agricultural protection policies will not only increase the cost of domestic food security, but also reduce the efficiency of global resource allocation. The Economist once suggested in the article "Don't let your neighbor (country) starve" that "the danger comes from the fact that all countries emphasize self-sufficiency and are not allowed to export or import. At this time, the largest reserve in the international market will lose its function. "

3 US agricultural exports reached a record high in fiscal year 20 1 1.

According to the data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 5438+00, the U.S. agricultural exports reached1137.4 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year 20/kloc-0, a record high. According to the data, in fiscal year 20 1 1, American agricultural products exports created 1 15000 jobs for China, and the export surplus reached 42.7 billion US dollars, which is also the highest level in history.

On the same day, US Secretary of Agriculture tom vilsack said that the agricultural development prospects of the United States in the next fiscal year are still optimistic. The free trade agreements signed by the Obama administration with South Korea, Colombia and Panama this year will increase exports by $2.3 billion and create nearly 20,000 jobs in the United States.

Vilsack said that agriculture is the bright spot of American economy, the driving force of export growth, job creation and national competitiveness development, and the world demand for American agricultural products is also increasing.

4 US federal government's agricultural subsidy policy

One third of the income of industrialized farmers in the United States comes from government subsidies. Recently, the agricultural subsidy ratio of 10 has increased by 80% compared with 1995.

The United States was one of the first countries to subsidize agriculture. Since the enactment of the agricultural adjustment law during the Great Depression in the 1930s, the agricultural subsidy policy has enabled farmers who account for less than 2% of the national population not only to feed nearly 300 million Americans, but also to make the United States the largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. According to OECD estimates, of the average agricultural output value of $ 100, $ 20-30 comes from government subsidies.

Although the United States advocated the abolition of production subsidies (agricultural products processing) and export subsidies in WTO agricultural negotiations, the latest agricultural bill continued to strengthen the total amount and scale of domestic agricultural subsidies. The bill clearly stated that the annual government subsidy to agriculture in 2002-201/kloc-0 was about $20 billion, reaching a total of $19 billion. Compared with recent years, the United States began to pay attention to the guiding role of the market mechanism, that is, from the traditional target price, protective price and loan differential payment to the income with the emphasis on farmers' direct income payment subsidies and countercyclical payment subsidies.

Agricultural Law of 2002

At present, the operation mode of American agricultural subsidy policy is based on the Agricultural Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (the 2002 Agricultural Act). In the United States, the basis of the 2002 Agricultural Act is to provide farmers with a reliable income safety net, which not only retains income subsidies, but also creates some price subsidies. The main contents of the Agricultural Law in 2002 include: implementing fixed direct subsidies, expanding the types of subsidies, increasing countercyclical subsidies, raising loan interest rates, expanding planting flexibility, raising the subsidy ceiling, implementing export and food aid programs, and expanding the field of resource protection.

The main subsidy plan is the agricultural product plan, and its projects include: fixed direct payment, counter-cyclical income support plan and agricultural loan. Farmers are free to choose subsidy schemes.

Fixed direct payment plan replaced the previously used output flexible contract. In the new Agricultural Law of 2002, wheat, corn, oats, cotton and rice were paid at a fixed rate, and new items such as soybeans, oilseeds and peanuts were added. In the fixed direct payment plan, the amount of fixed direct payment is the same regardless of the type, production quantity and price of agricultural products planted. The payment plan is very flexible for farmers. Farmers can make planting decisions according to the expected prices and production costs of agricultural products, and freely change crops and adjust output. Under the correct planting decision, the fixed direct payment plan will increase the extra income of farmers, expand the planting area and thus increase the output of agricultural products; The payment rate is the same as the payment income, so farmers tend to continue planting, expand production and maintain production history, so as to expand production area and increase payment in the future.

Counter-cyclical income support plan is a new plan based on historical output. When the price of agricultural products is lower than the target price, the countercyclical income support plan will be launched to subsidize farmers' income. The plan can support and stabilize farmers' income, and the lower the price, the more subsidies; The method of determining the current payment level through past production will affect the existing production decision. In order to get more subsidies, farmers will deliberately maintain the planting area to expand the basic area and establish historical output, thus limiting their ability to respond to market prices.

The Farm Service of the United States Department of Agriculture established the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to manage agricultural loan projects. The agricultural loan scheme allows producers to use agricultural products as collateral. Lend money to the government according to the production quantity. When the market price is lower than the loan interest rate (the unit is the amount), farmers are allowed to repay at a relatively low amount, which is called the repayment interest rate of sales loans, and the difference between it and the loan interest rate is the subsidy given to farmers. The repayment rate of sales loans will be calculated and published regularly. Farmers can also directly apply for the same amount of subsidies without going through the process of loan and repayment, which is the so-called loan differential subsidy. The agricultural product loan subsidy program has increased the loan targets for peanuts, wool, angora goat hair, honey, chickpeas, lentils and dried beans, while the loan interest rates for wheat, feed grains and cotton have increased, while the loan interest rates for soybeans and oil-pressed seeds have decreased. At the same time, the loan interest rate of each commodity is stipulated, while the previous farm law stipulated the loan interest rate according to the market price of the previous year. When the market price of agricultural products is lower than the loan interest rate, the subsidy amount is more; When the market price of agricultural products is low, producers will compare the relative rate of return and take the production direction as the decision of planting plan. The increase or decrease of loan amount will prompt producers to increase the production area of agricultural products with increased loan amount.

According to the Agricultural Act of 2002, the United States plans to invest another $22 billion in agricultural resources protection projects from 2002 to 2007, mainly including land fallow plan, farmland water and soil conservation wetland protection, grassland protection, farmland and pasture environmental incentive projects, etc.

The Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 provides subsidies to producers suffering from climate-related disasters and other emergency losses, including three agricultural subsidy policies: crop disaster plan, livestock compensation plan and livestock assistance plan. This Act once again expanded the scope of subsidies for agricultural products, timely repaired some loopholes in the implementation of the 2002 Agricultural Act, and further improved the competitiveness of American agricultural products. In addition, it also makes up for some loopholes in direct subsidies and countercyclical subsidies.

On July 19, 2007, the Agriculture Committee of the US House of Representatives voted to pass the American Agriculture Act of 2007. Compared with the Agricultural Law of 2002, the biggest difference lies in increasing the proportion of agricultural loans, including agricultural products such as wheat, barley, oats, soybeans, cotton and fine sugar, and extending the scope to agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables, giving agricultural subsidies, and extending the period of subsidies for renewable resources and cultivated land protection to five years.

In May 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed a five-year new agricultural bill, namely, the Food, Environmental Protection and Energy Act of 2008, amounting to nearly $300 billion. In addition to the continuation of the new agricultural law in 2007, the agricultural law in 2002 not only met the domestic agricultural and national financial needs, but also ensured agricultural safety and farmers' income, and also introduced ACRE project subsidies.

5 conclusion

Agriculture needs government support more, and the amount of subsidies determines the gold content of a country's agricultural products in the international market. Through agricultural subsidies, we can develop stable agriculture, make farmers rich and benefit other related agricultural industrial chains. Western developed countries have established a "harmonious society" model. As far as agricultural subsidies are concerned, China's agricultural system is at least 50- 100 years behind that of western developed countries.