CHANGSHA, China
- While most Chinese consumers, particularly in
urban areas, are relieved at the government's
decision to freeze prices on key household
commodities, some of the country's farmers argue
their interests might be ignored.
The
Chinese government moved this month to restrict
price hikes of daily necessities, such as grain,
edible oil, meat, milk, eggs and liquefied
petroleum gas, in an effort to bring rising
inflation under control.
"Major
enterprises are required to submit the
price-raising scheme
to
the government for official approval 10 working
days before they intend to raise the prices," said
the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) in a circular on January 16. The government
will reject a scheme if it deems price rises are
ungrounded or too high.
Xu Shaohua, a rice
farmer from the Dongting Lake area, a key grain
production base in central Hunan province, hopes
that additional measures will be taken to satisfy
people who live in the countryside.
"Prices of pesticides and chemical
fertilizers have continued to soar, but the price
of rice has not undergone big hikes in recent
years," Xu said. "Rice in 2007 only fetched 80
yuan (US$11)or so per 50 kilograms on the market.
I don't have much left after labor costs are
deducted. It is simply unrealistic to rely on
plowing the fields and becoming prosperous."
Like many other rural families, Xu Shaohua
and his wife take care of their grandson, who
helps farm their land, as their son and
daughter-in-law have left to work in the city.
When the workload on the farm increases,
the elderly couple have to hire several hands to
help them out - the cost of hiring a laborer has
gone up from 20 yuan a day three years ago to 60
yuan. When it comes to farming basics, other costs
are also up - the price for a bag of urea for
fertilizing the land is now 104 yuan from 74 yuan
in 2006.
The rich-poor gap is growing
between cities and villages in a country with 900
million farmers, or three quarters of its total
population.
Chen Wensheng, deputy head of
the New Countryside Research Center with the Hunan
Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, believes
the government should leave the price of goods to
market forces.
"Rises in farm produce
reflect the law of the market, which will in turn
help compensate farmers," said Chen Wensheng,
deputy head of the New Countryside Research Center
with the Hunan Provincial Academy of Social
Sciences.
"Without question, it is a key
challenge for the Chinese government to balance
inflation curbs and steady price increases of
produce for the good of farmers," said Chen.
There is some indication that the
government is aware of the farmers' plight. "The
Chinese government will strive to bring the price
hikes under control ... by expanding [farm]
production for steady supply," said Gao Hongbin,
vice minister of agriculture, at a recent press
conference.
The government has pledged to
enhance rural infrastructure construction, promote
stable development of agriculture and facilitate a
sustained income growth for farmers in 2008.
The pledge should be carried out and a
certain period of time thereafter in accordance
with the requirement of realizing integration of
urban and rural economic and social development,
according to a rural work conference.
Efforts are required to ensure supply of
major agricultural products, ease fundamental
problems concerning people's livelihood in rural
areas and push forward the "new countryside"
scheme, the conference argued. Policies benefiting
farmers should also be improved and investment in
agriculture and rural areas should be increased
substantially, it said.
Among other
measures, basic supply of major agricultural
products should be guaranteed, and farmers' income
should be increased, according to the meeting.
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