Today, after reading “Introduction to Political Economy,” I saw the section on the agricultural crisis and started thinking about the situation of China’s agricultural crisis. Since the capitalist restoration in China, there has definitely been an economic crisis, but the industrial crisis is more obvious and more well-known. There has been less research on China’s agricultural crisis, and it is not well understood by people. So I started to wonder how many agricultural crises have occurred in China since the capitalist restoration, and what each of these crises was like. I have very little understanding of this aspect, so I want to discuss it with everyone to clarify the issues. China has about 700 to 800 million farmers, but I really care too little about farmers’ lives. Now, I really want to deepen my understanding of Chinese farmers’ lives and strengthen my class feelings by establishing an awareness of China’s agricultural crises.
I checked and found that since 2017, the prices of Chinese agricultural products have generally been declining, except for 2019 and 2020 when prices surged due to lockdowns and speculation. The agricultural product price index has been below or just equal to 100.
“Cabbage was free a couple of days ago, just go to the field and pull it out yourself, using a tricycle to transport it, 5 yuan per cart,” said Li Xi (pseudonym), a fresh produce wholesaler in Shouguang, Shandong, to reporters.
According to her, it is difficult to break even planting cabbage locally this year. “Cabbage and radishes are sold by cart, not by weight. Because pulling them from the field doesn’t even cover labor costs, so whoever wants it has to go pull it themselves.”
Vegetable farmers in Yifengdian Town, Jimo District, Qingdao, also encountered similar situations. Local grower He Qiao (pseudonym) told reporters that the vegetables grown in open fields are mainly cabbage and kale, “They are hard to sell, the cheaper they are, the less they sell; many vegetables are directly left in the field. If sold, they are very cheap, not enough to cover costs, so they can only make some profit.”
He Qiao calculated that. The village’s large-scale cabbage market started at the end of October, with wholesale prices at 500-600 yuan per mu. Recently, prices have fallen to 200-300 yuan per mu, and have risen slightly in the past two days, but the increase is minimal. The cost to plant one mu of cabbage exceeds 2000 yuan, including land rent, loosening soil, buying seedlings, planting, fertilizing, watering, and more.