BEIJING, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese history is rich with grain
adages such as, "To the king, the people are heaven; to thepeople,
food is heaven."
That importance has carried through to modern China as Chairman
Mao Zedong once said, "with grain in our hands, there is no panic in
our hearts."
No one has a better understanding of these words than Hou
Zhanying. He has worked for nearly 20 years at the Bureau of Grainin
Xinmi County, central Henan Province. Henan produces a quarter of
China's wheat and is known as country's breadbasket.
"China relies on itself to feed more than 1.3 billion people. Food
supply and security is important under any circumstance," Hou told
Xinhua.
With less than seven percent of the world's arable land and more
than one fifth of the global population, Hou says Chinese officials
need to be extremely careful with the country's food supply and
safety.
NATIONWIDE CHECK ON GRAIN RESERVES
It's why he's agreed to take part in a three-month, nationwide
government audit of China's grain stocks.
On April 1, more than 100,000 auditors began checking granaries
and inventory books.
It's the second time since 2001 Hou has participated in this type
of food supply check.
"This time, we were asked to check more thoroughly. We are
checking all grain reserves except those stored in personal homes," he
said.
As of April 10, county-level grain companies had completed self-
inventories. That's the first step of the nationwide audit.
Next, city governments will verify county data, which will then be
rechecked by provincial authorities. Nationwide, granaries will then
be subjected to random, surprise audits.
"My top priority is to make sure that there is no cheating or
fabrication of figures. During the city-level check, I will be
assigned to places out of Xinmi," Hou said.
The State Administration of Grain said the audit will mainly
target reserves kept by state-owned companies, however, selective
checks on grain stocks owned by private companies will also be
conducted.
The purpose of the accounting is to "find out the true volume of
our grain stocks" for national policy-making, Chinese Vice Premier Li
Keqiang said at preparatory meeting on March 25.
ALARM ON FALSE FIGURE OF RESERVES
Last April, Premier Wen Jiabao said China had grain reserves of150
to 200 million tons. That's equal to about 30 to 40 percent of China's
annual grain consumption or double the 17-18 percent level regarded by
the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) as a safe minimum for
global stocks.
One year later, there continues to be questions over whether those
figures are accurate as some Chinese leaders and experts believe false
volumes were reported by local grain authorities and companies.
According to governmental policies, granaries receive around
75yuan (11 U.S. dollars) per ton of stored grain. Therefore, the more
they store, the more money they are eligible for. This has led to the
exaggeration of grain volumes.
Yuan Longping, a well-respected agricultural scientist, dubbed the
"father of hybrid rice", told the Guangzhou Daily last week that he
believed there were some granaries "reporting phony figures of stocks
to get subsidies".
"Since it is an open audit, they (granaries) might have been
prepared and borrowed grain from others. As a result, inspectors will
be cheated."
Yuan suggests secret investigations and more spot checks. He said
that's what helped "catch two big fish" last year -- one in Northeast
Heilongjiang Province and the other in Anhui.
The Heilongjiang scandal, which was exposed last May, involved one
of China's largest granaries, Fujin No. 90. Its managers stole then
sold grain that was supposed to be stored there. They lied about stock
volumes to get government subsidies. The corruption resulted in public
losses of more than 100 million yuan.
The same thing happened in Anhui, where granaries of several state-
owned companies were found empty last April.
That's not the only problem with China's reserve food system.
Companies have been reluctant to store grain because its become
more costly. They have to purchase grain from farmers based on set
government prices. For example, white wheat is fixed at 1,740 yuan per
ton this year. Prices to sell that grain in the Chinese market,
however, are much lower than that, so companies end up illegally re-
selling state-owned stocks to private buyers at higher prices.
The result is that there is no concrete number for just how much
grain China really has in national reserves.
Zheng Fengtian, an agricultural scholar with Beijing-based Renmin
University of China, said the latest audit reflects concerns within
the leadership over the real figure.
"There is a big difference between official statistics and private
calculations," Zheng told Xinhua.
RESERVED FOR FOOD SECURITY
Wrong figures pose a big threat to China's strategic policy of
grain self-sufficiency and food security.
"Grain is a strategic material. In case of natural disasters, what
can you do if you don't have grain? You have to store reserves," Yuan
said.
The country set up a grain reserve system in 1990. Reserves are
divided on their importance into four categories: central, local,
national temporary and commodity.
According to the State Administration of Grain, China's 1.3
billion people use approximately 500 million tons of grain annually,
or more than 300 kilograms per person. Of that, China produces nearly
95 percent of the grain it consumes.
Lester R. Brown, known for his book "Who Will Feed China?", which
was published in 1995, said food security in China is a highly
sensitive issue.
During 1959-61 when China was hit by a severe famine, 30 million
Chinese starved to death.
"This is why Beijing has worked so hard in recent decades to try
and maintain grain self-sufficiency," Brown wrote in a statement
emailed to Xinhua.
He warned that aquifer depletion is now a particularly serious
threat to grain production in China since about 80 percent of its
grain harvest comes from irrigated land.
Yuan, the 79-year-old rice scientist, echoed Brown's view.
"In 1959, a severe drought hit China and badly damaged grain
yield," he said. "I saw five bodies of the starved besides farm fields
and roadsides. It was really miserable."
Yuan called on the central government to ensure more grain
reserves and to make them last for at least 100 days at China's
consumption rate. That's 30 days more than the minimum 70 days of
consumption set by the UNFAO.
"Currently, we don't know how many days our grain stocks can
sustain. That's why we need such a nationwide audit," he said. "The
best target will be 180 days given China's population."
The entire national grain audit is supposed to be completed by the
end of June. Then a final report will be submitted to the State
Council, or cabinet.
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"World-thread" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
