On Attitudes And Behaviors Of Farmers About Grain Product, Storage And Sale

Based on the questionnaire survey from farmers in Jiangsu Province(including village cadres), attitudes and behaviors of farmers about grain product, storage and sale are studied. The main results are as follows:(1)Since 2004, the government has taken a series of measures to encourage grain product, however most farmers investigated are not satisfied with grain production benefits, not confident with grain planting prospect. Meanwhile, the satisfaction rate for grain benefits and the confidence rate for grain prospect of farmers in southern Jiangsu Province are lower evidently than those in Middle and Northern Jiangsu Province. The poor rural households have more optimistic recognition of grain planting benefits than the ordinary or rich rural households in northern Jiangsu Province. On the whole, as the rural household economic condition improved, farmers' grain planting enthusiasm will decline. But most farmers' attitudes are relying on family self-sufficient on grain, though as the rural household economic condition improved, the ratio of farmers with self-sufficient attitudes drops down continuously.(2)The main motivation of investigated farmers on grain planting is to meet a self-requirement for rations. Most farmers think of eating self-planted grain better than bought from market. One basic goal in grain production is to fill the family's basic ration requirement. The attitudes of farmers in northern Jiangsu Province where farmers plant for grain rations will decrease as rural households economic condition improved.(3)The main problems farmers met in the process of grain production are lower grain price, higher grain production cost, which affect grain production benefit. Secondly important problem farmers met is grain production technology. Farmers in middle and northern Jiangsu Province have more expectations of grain price, hoping the grain price to increase. While farmers in southern Jiangsu Province pay more attention to grain production cost, hoping the grain cost to decrease. The most need in grain production service for farmers is good seeds, secondly being labor-saving technologies. Besides these services, farmers need new pesticide, good fertilizer and so on. With the economic improvement of rural households, farmers will need labor-saving technology more accordingly. In northern Jiangsu Province, farmers with different economic condition have similar demands for grain planting service.(4) 65 percent of rural households often store grain for half a year to one year. The main goal of farmers' grain storage is to meet self-requirement. The main factor which farmers think about in grain storage or grain sale is farmers' self-requirement for grain ration and spot price in grain market. Sometimes, farmers will sell grain passively because o f some factors, such as the needs for consumption in education, living and sociality. At the same time, inconvenient in grain storage or the huge cost for grain storage is an important factor for farmers ,which force them to sell their grain. Rural households in southern Jiangsu Province store grain longer than those in middle and northern Jiangsu Province. The rate of farmers in southern Jiangsu Province storing grain for grain rations is higher evidentlythan in central and northern Jiangsu Province. In southern and middle Jiangsu Province, when the investigated farmers are forced to sell their grain, the primary reason is that grain storage is too inconvenient, the other reason is that they should sell grain to get educational fee for children, etc. In northern Jiangsu Province, the first caution for farmers to sell grain is to continue the children's educational expenses; the second is for the basic family livelihood. The ordinary level and rich rural households in northern Jiangsu Province have grain retained more longer than the poor rural households. The initial reason for grain storage in different economic levels of rural household is to meet their own family grain rations.(5) Most of investigated village cadres think that grain production in our country will be more and more important. However, only a few of them think that grain planting will have good prospect. Nearly a half of village cadres said that the local government had really paid attention to grain production. It is said by investigated village cadres that there are many primary factors which affects grain production, which are arable area's continually dropping down, the lower grain production benefit, the arable quality continually going down and the insufficient science and technology input in grain production ranked according to its importance. The investigated village cadres think that farmers need grain productive technology very eagerly, among which, good seeds, labor-saving planting technology and mechanization planting technology are most needed. The main problem farmers met in grain production are the high grain production cost, the unstable grain price, the disorderly in chemical fertilizer, pesticide and seeds market.