Will the disaster affect the country's grain harvest
Recently, extreme rainstorms have occurred in Henan and other places, causing serious damage to agriculture in some areas.
What impact did the disaster have on local agricultural production and my country's grain market?
Will it cause fluctuations in domestic food prices?
How to fight disasters and reduce disasters and win a bumper harvest?
Various focal issues of social concern were answered by Pan Wenbo, Director of the Plant Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Tang Ke, Director of the Market and Information Department, at a press conference on July 30.
There is still a foundation for the national grain harvest
From July 17 to 24, Henan experienced extreme rainstorms that were rare in history.
While paying attention to the flood disaster, the recovery of agricultural production after the disaster has also become the focus of attention.
What is the current situation of agricultural disasters?
According to Pan Wenbo, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as of July 29, 14.5 million acres of crops were affected, 9.4 million acres were damaged, and 5.5 million acres had no harvest.
"The disaster-stricken areas are mainly concentrated in Xinxiang, Zhoukou, Kaifeng, Anyang, Jiaozuo, Hebi, Zhengzhou and other places. The crops affected are mainly autumn crops, corn, peanuts and soybeans. Due to the high water level of rivers in some areas, farmland drainage is difficult. Still developing." Pan Wenbo revealed.
To withstand the disaster, all regions are working together to overcome the difficulties: organize agricultural machinery operation service teams to quickly drain the field water and speed up the repair of water-damaged farmland; after drainage, continue to replant and replant. One season is one season, and one acre is one acre; guide farmers Timely disease prevention and reduction of secondary disasters caused by floods; dispatched 4 disaster relief expert teams and 20 additional expert teams to guide farmers in production and self-rescue on the front line...
Non-stop, the effectiveness of disaster relief is confirmed in the figures: At present, 11.9 million mu of farmland water has been drained, 150,000 mu have been replanted and replanted, 2.4 million mu of disease and pest control after the disaster, and more than 1 million mu of topdressing fertilizer have been applied.
Will the disaster in Henan affect the overall situation of national food production?
In this regard, Pan Wenbo gave answers from two levels.
From a local perspective in Henan, more than 10 million mu of grain crops have been affected in Henan, mainly in flood storage and detention areas.
The area of autumn grain in Henan is more than 75 million mu, and more than 60 million mu has not been affected, and its growth is better than usual.
In the unaffected area, if there is no large-scale disaster in the later period, field management measures are in place to make up for part of the output loss in the disaster area.
From a national perspective, the current double-season late rice planting has basically come to an end, and the sown area of autumn grain has basically landed.
It is estimated that this year’s autumn grain area will be over 1.29 billion mu, which is an increase from last year, especially the corn area.
With the exception of Henan, the disasters in most areas of the country were lighter than the previous year. The autumn crops are growing well, and there is still a foundation for harvesting.
No obvious fluctuations in food prices
Henan is the main producing area of winter wheat and summer corn in my country. After the severe floods in some areas this time, public opinion is quite concerned about the trend of grain prices.
Did the price go up or down?
In response to this, Tang Ke responded that from the monitoring situation, my country's grain prices did not show obvious fluctuations, and the market operation remained basically stable.
Wheat is the main body of summer grain purchases.
According to Tang Ke, the current wheat market purchases and sales are generally normal, and prices continue to show a steady but weak trend.
After the heavy rainfall disasters in Zhengzhou, Xinxiang and other places this time, it was more difficult for some farmers and traders to keep grain in their hands, and the willingness to sell grain was strengthened, which led to the continued weakening of wheat prices, but the decline was not significant.
Market price information shows that on July 26, the average purchase price of common wheat in the main producing areas was about 1.25 yuan per catty, which was about 1 cent lower than before the disaster.
After the heavy rain disaster in Henan and other places, corn prices in some parts of North China rebounded slightly in the short term, and the purchase price rose by 2 to 3 cents per catty, but this did not drive the increase in national corn prices.
On July 26, the national average purchase price of corn was about 1.3 yuan per catty, which remained basically stable.
“In general, although the operation of the grain market is affected by market expectations, capital speculation and other factors, it mainly depends on the fundamentals of supply and demand. The overall impact of grain production and supply is relatively limited. At this point, the judgments and expectations of all parties in the market are basically the same.” Tang Ke pointed out that this year China’s summer grains have been harvested, and autumn grains are growing generally well, plus the total grain inventory. Sufficient, the foundation of food supply and price stability is solid, and the price of food is expected to continue to be stable in the later period.
Although the price is stable, scientific grain storage cannot be taken lightly.
Tang Ke reminded that the summer is hot and rainy, the grain is not easy to keep, and the current demand for flour is in the off-season, the price of low-quality wheat may continue to weaken.
Farmers and traders who still have surplus grain in the affected areas should store grain scientifically and sell grain in a timely and orderly manner to prevent losses caused by damp, mildew and price drops.
Replenishing abundance and reducing disasters to win a bumper harvest
Disasters have occurred, how to reduce disasters and achieve a bumper harvest?
Reduced production in the hardest-hit areas, maintained stable production in the light-hit areas, and increased production in the non-disaster-stricken areas-Pan Wenbo emphasized the key word of "compensating with abundance" when answering a reporter's question.
To ensure that the annual grain production is maintained at more than 1300 billion catties, three major measures have been on the line-tightening the management of autumn grain fields, focusing on disaster prevention and mitigation, "graining food from the dragon's mouth", and grasping pest control and "graining food from insects".
If you don’t have autumn food for a day, you don’t relax your management for a day.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated that it will continue to organize experts and agricultural technicians to carry out technical guidance and services in the front line, guide farmers to strengthen classification management, and do a good job in fertilizer and water regulation.
Disaster prevention and mitigation, with clear goals, and action after plan.
Continue to focus on preventing floods in Northeast China, droughts in summer and early frost, floods in the Yellow Sea, high temperature and heat damage in the Yangtze River, droughts in the southwest and northwest, and typhoons in South China.
To prevent and control diseases and insect pests, a good early warning is a prerequisite.
The focus should be on the prevention and control of major diseases and insect pests such as Spodoptera frugiperda, rice planthopper, rice leaf roller and rice blast, so as to minimize the damage of pests and diseases.
(Reporter Li Hui)