At the beginning of 2020, a serious epidemic broke out, schools were closed and factories were shut down. People all over the country were crowded at home, unable to get out of the front door and enter the second door. Under such circumstances, farmers will naturally not go out to grow food, and many fields in rural areas are barren. In addition to the wheat planted in some areas, there are many fields that nobody cares about in rural areas because of the epidemic, which directly leads to the reduction of grain production. This phenomenon is not only in China, but also in the fields all over the world, because of the epidemic. It never rains but it pours. While the global epidemic broke out, it also suffered the biggest locust plague in decades. Wherever locusts go, nothing grows and a lot of farmland is destroyed. Basically, the farmland and crops that locusts walked through were destroyed. It is said that the first wave of locusts in East Africa this year has destroyed 30% of Kenya's grasslands, and even destroyed countless grains, causing tens of millions of people to starve. Grain output has decreased, but people's demand for grain is not a little less, and the price of grain has naturally increased. Under the influence of epidemic and locust plague, many major grain-producing countries began to restrict grain exports, so food prices rose worldwide.
As we all know, the status quo of farmers is that farming is the lowest profit in all walks of life. It is even worse for farmers to work hard in the fields for a whole year, so many farmers simply leave the fields barren and go to work in cities themselves. There are fewer and fewer people growing food now, and the output of food will naturally decrease. At present, the cost of growing grain is increasing year by year, and the cost of planting crops, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides are increasing year by year, which does not include the time and energy invested by farmers in crops. Farmers' planting income is getting less and less. If food prices do not rise, farmers will be unprofitable, and a vicious circle may be formed at that time.
With the decrease of grain output year by year, people consume more and more food. In the past, people were very frugal in eating and food, but now there is extravagance and waste. The living conditions of people are getting better and better. When they go out to eat, they often give a table of dishes, which is very wasteful. And now a lot of food is processed into more exquisite and high-grade food, and there will be waste in the processing process. What's more, although China has a vast land area, its cultivated land area and per capita cultivated land area are very small, so it still needs to import food. Although our grain self-sufficiency rate has reached 98%, and we can basically achieve self-sufficiency in staple food, we still rely more on imports than non-staple food such as soybeans. If international food prices continue to rise, China will certainly be affected to some extent. In our daily life, we should put an end to food waste. We should cherish the fruits of farmers' labor, carry forward the traditional virtues of diligence and thrift, and cherish food, starting from me.
Food prices in China are relatively stable. Although world food prices are rising, China need not worry too much. At present, China has abundant grain reserves. Even if we don't produce any grain for two to three years, China's grain reserves will be enough for the whole people to eat. Therefore, when food prices rise too fast, China will use its grain reserves to curb the situation of high food prices. What's more, there was a bumper grain harvest in China this summer, an increase of1.2000 tons compared with last year. However, the grain price in China is also influenced by the domestic futures market and the international grain import price. Therefore, in the case of rising world food prices, China's grain will also rise, but the increase is relatively stable. However, the prices of some non-staple foods, such as corn and soybeans, are difficult to guarantee. But don't worry too much, because China is the largest soybean importer, so it has a certain say in this respect.