Media reported last weekend that pork prices had continued downwards for 10 days, falling to as low as less than 10 yuan ($1.54) per kg. The news shocked me somewhat, for pork price hike was not a too distant memory for me. I searched online information about the market and found that the prices had remained high for more than a year.
Pork prices began to rise in May last year and the average price once reached 21 yuan per kg while a certain kind of pork product peaked at 28 yuan. The price stayed at around 20 yuan until August this year when it began to fall.
As an urban consumer of farm produce, I certainly rejoice over the price dive. Meanwhile, however, I am a little worried about pig farmers, especially those individual raisers in the countryside. They began to raise more pigs last year when the short supply triggered the price hike of pork. And it was exactly because of their cutting down on pig-raising in the previous year that led to the short supply last year. Now it is the time for them to reap the returns for their last year's investment but the prices fell.
Price hikes trigger increases in pig-raising; more pigs cause the price to descend, which leads to reduction in pig-raising, which in turn pushes up the prices. The cycles continue endlessly. Economists tell us that this is the market rule.
As a layman about economics, I certainly would not challenge this theory. But I cannot help wondering if it is really justifiable and who are to blame for the losses the individual farmers have suffered.
Pig-raisers are not the sole victims of such drastic price fluctuations. People's Daily reported yesterday that farmers in Guizhou province had a bumper harvest of tomato this year but the wholesale price was only 0.30 yuan ($0.05) per kg. The retail price was 3.60 yuan in Beijing yesterday.
In the recent milk contamination scandal, cow farmers had to dump the milk as dairy companies had dramatically reduced production. The farmers have become the largest casualty in the scandal, second only to the children who had contracted illness from drinking the malamine-adulterated milk.
In the whole production-marketing chain from farming to consumption, farmers always bear the brunt whenever a disaster, whether natural or artificial, occurs during the procedure. They are the most vulnerable to risks but the least powerful when it comes to profit-sharing.
Take the milk production, again, for example. China's dairy industry grew at an annual rate of more than 20 percent in the past 10 years. Sanlu, the company at the core of the recent scandal, kept a 20 percent growth rate in its pure profits in the past eight years. A cow farmer earns about 10,000 yuan a year ($1,540) by raising a cow but the total cost of raising it is 9,000 yuan in addition to the market value of the cow itself, which is about 13,000 yuan.
The gap between the profits is apparent.
As a social group, farmers obviously are the weakest sector in the distribution of interests in society. As individuals, they are the least powerful and have the smallest say in the market.
The situation must change. The most important thing is that they should unite to establish "dairy farmers' association" or "pig-farmers' association" to protect their rights. And there should be more State policies and rules with regard to land, resources and financing to guarantee these rights.
The decisions about rural reform made in the recently concluded Third Plenum of the 17th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China are a timely boon for them.
WHO:2017年全球700万人死于空气污染
只是胖了:女子谎称怀孕数月未被戳穿
体坛英语资讯:Bolivia dump coach Villegas after Copa America flop
博文言过其实的危害
美议员批马方贻误时机 搜寻不力
国内英语资讯:Chinas border region to promote AI cooperation with ASEAN
印度寡妇、离婚和单身女性的生活
路透社:中国赴马来西亚游客人数大幅下滑
爱情如此简单 爱上某人只需三个原因
体坛英语资讯:Chinese Football Association to elect new president next Thursday
如何在工作时快速进入巅峰状态
习主席在荷兰海牙核安全峰会上的讲话全文(双语)
大学生愿望清单:毕业前必做的10件事
导盲犬当“红娘” 英国盲人男女相恋结婚
高蛋白饮食和寿命长短有关系吗
研究:父亲年龄大 孩子长得丑
致白领们:你有传说中的下午拖延症吗?
美剧禁令来了!热播大尺度美剧或受打压
外交官罢工致使以色列大使馆关闭
体坛英语资讯:Napoli join race for Ecuadorian teenager Campana
10位“最佳雇主”招聘官解读招聘内幕
爆笑:每天起床我们都要经历的18个阶段
荷兰王后魅力大 奥巴马笑到“见牙不见眼”
如何战胜抑郁
更低价更温和的试管婴儿方案
美国第一夫人米歇尔中国旅游日志
中山装潮流强势回归
5个好习惯拥有人人羡慕的好皮肤
最美北京--京城四日游
沃尔玛关闭中国门店引发抗议
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |