Why are bananas so cheap in Guangxi in 2009?

As the weather turns colder, banana prices fall - natural disaster or man-made disaster? On the morning of November 21, in the biting cold wind, the reporter drove to Tanluo Town, Xixiangtang District, Nanning City, the largest banana production base in Guangxi. Along the way, scenes of banana farmers anxiously hawking bananas could be seen everywhere. At the Tanluo purchasing point, Zhuhu Village villagers Ma Guangqi and his wife were lifting bunches of bananas from a tractor to a scale for weighing. Ma Guangqi said that his family of four planted 50 acres of bananas this year, with an output of more than 2,000 kilograms per mu and more than 100,000 kilograms per mu. If calculated based on last year's average of 1.5 yuan per kilogram, it could be sold for at least 150,000 yuan. "But this year it only sells for about 0.4 yuan per kilogram. If the weather doesn't improve, we will probably lose more than 100,000 yuan." Ma Guangqi looked worried. At the fruit wholesale market in Gutan Town, Long'an County, Li Pinyong, a villager from Madaopotun, Fushu Village, Tongfu Village Committee, pulled in a load of bananas from a farm truck and was waiting to be weighed. The quality of his bananas is average, but buyers know that local bananas are unsaleable and have lowered their prices. Li Pinyong said that his family has planted more than 20 acres of bananas and has harvested more than 8,000 kilograms, selling for only 0.5 yuan per kilogram. It is understood that the banana planting area in Guangxi this year is about 1.06 million acres, an increase of 150,000 acres over the previous year. However, due to the adoption of improved seeds and methods, this year's banana harvest will be bumper, and the total output will reach 2.1 million tons, an increase of 116.4% over the previous year. According to Zhang Mingpei, director of the Guangxi Department of Agriculture, the opening price of bananas in Guangxi this year was slightly lower than last year since they were launched in large quantities in October, but prices dropped sharply after November. Among them, the selling price was 1.4 yuan per kilogram on October 25, 0.9 yuan per kilogram on November 2, and dropped to 0.6 yuan per kilogram after the cold wave occurred on November 11. Recently, after the cold and rainy weather, the selling price was about 0.4 yuan to 0.6 yuan per kilogram. At present, about 50% of Guangxi's bananas have been sold, and about 900,000 tons of bananas are still unharvested. Among them, about 600,000 tons were on the market from November 20 to December 31. Why are Guangxi bananas so unsaleable? Lu Xiangdi, a Hebei buyer who was purchasing bananas in Tanluo, told reporters that the early arrival of heavy snowfall in the north and cold wave in the south were the main reasons for the slow sales of bananas. This year, there were consecutive heavy snowfalls in the north one month ahead of schedule, and snowfall and cold wave weather also occurred in some provinces and cities in the south, causing local traffic obstructions and overall transport capacity being unable to keep up. In previous years, when Tanluo Town in Nanning City was not affected by the disaster, there were more than 500 banana trucks transporting bananas every day, but during the same period this year, there were only more than 10 trucks. "More importantly, the cold weather has reduced consumer demand for bananas." Zhang Mingpei said. 70% of Guangxi's bananas are sold to the north. After a long period of ice and snow in the north, consumers have difficulty traveling and their willingness to buy has decreased, resulting in a backlog of inventory in the sales area. In addition, it is difficult to ripen bananas after they are transported to the north, and business risks increase. Many purchasers do not dare to take risks, resulting in a drop in banana selling prices. Guangxi increased production by 116.4%, but the country still needs to import about 400,000 tons - more or less? Changes in my country’s banana market structure have also intensified sales tensions. Li Biao, director of the Guangxi Fruit Production Technical Guidance Station, said that this year's national banana output is about 9.04 million tons, an increase of about 10% over the previous year. The original banana market pattern was from March to April in Guangdong, from May to August in Hainan, and from October to February in Guangxi. Fujian was balanced throughout the year, and the main domestic production areas basically staggered the market. However, in recent years, Yunnan has expanded banana planting, and newly planted bananas have been launched at the same time as Guangxi, and their starting prices are low, which has had an impact on Guangxi bananas. In addition, some disaster-hit banana orchards in Guangdong and Hainan last year were replanted at the same maturity period as Guangxi, which to a certain extent lowered the price of bananas in Guangxi and even the country. Therefore, the next step is to adjust the structure and implement staggered response to the market in major production areas. In 2008, my country's banana planting area was 5.0529 million acres, with a total output of 8.0451 million tons, mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Fujian, Yunnan and other provinces. This year, Guangdong's output is expected to be about 3.5 million tons, Guangxi's about 2.1 million tons, and Hainan's about 1.7 million tons. In the "Migration of Bananas from East to West", especially after the "Hainan Banana Cancer Cause Rumor" incident, the debate about whether the development of the banana industry is more or less, and whether the banana industry is a sunrise industry or a sunset industry, has once again aroused attracted the attention of all parties. "Banana production is an important industry that enriches the people. It is developing less rather than more. We cannot give up this industry due to the impact of this unsalable incident." Zhang Mingpei said. Since the beginning of the new century, Guangxi's total banana output has basically grown steadily. Only in 2002, 2003 and 2008, production was reduced due to unsalable sales or disasters in the previous year, and all other years increased. Especially since 2002, the price of bananas in Guangxi has basically remained above 2 yuan per kilogram, and has remained so for 7 years. "Guangxi is less affected by typhoons, has suitable light and temperature, abundant rainfall, long frost-free period, acidic soil, and large temperature difference between day and night, which facilitates the accumulation of nutrients and sugar, making it suitable for the development of the banana industry." Li Biao said that in recent years, Guangxi's banana industry has grown Basically, they are developed on barren hills and slopes, without occupying farmland. The benefits are better than those of sugar cane, cassava and other agricultural and sideline products, and they are very popular among farmers. my country's banana production accounts for 8.7% of the world's total, ranking third after India and Brazil. However, my country is still a banana importing country. In recent years, the country has imported about 400,000 tons per year, accounting for about 6% of total consumption. The prospects for the development of my country's banana industry are promising.

Lack of a complete production and marketing early warning system and deep processing capabilities——How can weak industries be strengthened? Banana is a bulk fruit in international trade. Its annual trading volume ranks first among all kinds of fruits and its trading value ranks second. Although my country's banana industry has broad prospects for development, the unsaleable banana incident in Guangxi still exposed many problems. Experts believe that the banana industry is a weak quality industry, and there is still a lot of work to be done to get rid of the weak quality situation. "First of all, we should strengthen the construction of early warning systems for the production and marketing of tropical fruits such as bananas, strengthen market monitoring, and grasp market trends in a timely manner." Liu Shusen, director of the Department of Commerce of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, believes that in addition to Guangxi and other southern provinces and regions should speed up the construction of production and marketing early warning systems, they can also Bananas are included in the daily monitoring projects of major sales areas such as Northeast China, North China, and Northwest China, so as to timely grasp the banana demand and price situation in various regions, and guide the national banana production and marketing work. "If we have enough banana refrigeration facilities, dealing with this weather change will not be a problem at all." Chen Zhangliang, vice chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, gave an example. Jinsui Company, also in Long'an County, has built a cold storage and has done a good job in large-scale expansion. , standardized production and brand management, so far the selling price of bananas per kilogram is still 1.7 yuan. Therefore, he believes that it is necessary to further strengthen the construction of cold storage facilities and large wholesale markets, and at the same time vigorously cultivate large leading enterprises to effectively help banana farmers improve their ability to deal with market risks. Insufficient processing capacity and too short industrial chain are also major problems that plague the development of my country's banana industry. Experts believe that at present, Guangxi's output of sugar cane, silkworms, cassava, fast-growing and high-yield forests, star anise, rosin and other agricultural and sideline products ranks first in the country, and its banana industry ranks second in the country after Guangdong. However, these industries all have outstanding problems such as short industrial chains, low levels of product processing, low added value, and high impact from market fluctuations. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant national departments increase support for the construction of agricultural product processing capabilities in Guangxi, actively cultivate and develop leading agricultural product processing enterprises, and enhance the development level of Guangxi's agricultural industrialization. On the morning of the 22nd, a joint research team composed of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Transport held a symposium in Nanning to discuss countermeasures and measures to deal with Guangxi's banana sales difficulties. Special banana transportation subsidy funds have begun to be directly subsidized to drivers. Under the influence of rising temperatures and comprehensive measures, the sales price of bananas in Guangxi increased by 10% on the 22nd compared with the 21st.

Reporter Pang Geping