In practical terms, Sun has little choice. And prices are likely to keep falling. The corn that he and other Jilin farmers grow can't match in quality and price the corn that is expected to start flooding in from the American Great Plains after China enters the World Trade Organization. While other areas of the economy gradually opened to foreign competition, agriculture hid behind protective barriers. More and more farmers will have to shift out of traditional crops into cash crops or nonagricultural jobs.
All governments seek to protect their farmers, but for China the stakes are particularly high.
Since January, the central government has stopped paying artificially high prices for certain low-grade strains of corn, wheat and rice, in what is likely to be the first step toward abolishing all grain support prices. They are also trying to improve the quality of the province's corn crop by introducing new varieties high in protein and starch, by teaching better farming techniques and by persuading food-processing companies to sign contracts directly with farmers who grow the new varieties so that farmers will have guaranteed sales. At meetings across the province, Jilin officials are passing on market information and offering loans and free building materials so farmers can build greenhouses to extend the growing season. But some local leaders didn't think the situation would be that serious. The quotas will allow corn imports to reach 7.3 million tonnes in 2004, up from 4.5 million tonnes last year, while wheat imports could rise to 9.6 million tonnes in 2004 from 2.5 million tonnes in 1998.